Identifying furniture and replacing risers with castor wheels

[Transplat]

Hi all, 

I have two pieces of furniture - both are tv unit type. I would like to identify them so I can find the exact material and exact specs/dimensions and then replace the furniture risers I've put on both with castor wheels that can be locked in place. 

The longer unit is having metal powder coated legs and what seems to be plastic on the bottom of the metal legs. Not sure if the plastic on the bottom could be taken out before putting in the wheels.

The shorter unit seems to be plastic-y/glass-y material and the bottom of the legs seems to be a flat surface that is integral to the legs.

Ideally, Id like to have them on wheels that can be locked in place and that are okay quality and similar color to the furniture (not a hard requirement). They should be sturdy enough to handle the weight and not break and let the tv go down and big enough to allow for robot vacuum to go under.  

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Transplat. It's great to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about identifying furniture.

Is it necessary to identify these units in order to retrofit them with castors? 

As long as there is a solid end to the unit's legs, there is a possibility of attaching castors. However, you'd typically need a castor with a mounting plate like this Easyroll 50mm Black PVC Swivel Castor With Brake. The mounting plate for this wheel is 70 x 52mm and likely too big for the leg ends. The other style of readily available castor is one with a spigot similar to the Easyroll Black Skate Furniture Swivel Castor. But these are more designed for when you can insert a nylon plug for the wheel spigot to push into. Nylon plugs would be suitable for solid timber, but you might find the connection not so great into thin steel.

I found the Move It 50mm 34kg Black Nylon U Bracket Swivel Plate With Brake Castors, which could fit the larger unit's rectangular legs but are likely too short to allow the vacuum to go under. The only way you'll get a castor high enough for the vacuum would be by going with a bed-leg style castor.

I think the biggest issue you'll need to overcome here is that the units are simply not designed to have castors attached to their legs. For that to be done with any amount of rigidity, the manufacturer would have needed to weld threads into the ends of the legs for the castors to screw into. Always worth checking the ends of the legs to see if they have a thread installed.

Let me mention @TedBear to see if they have any thoughts.

I'm keen to assist you further with your project. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Transplat]

Hi Mitchell, 

thank you for that post. It is very good info. 

It is not necessary to identify the items first but I thought that would give me a lot of good info such as the material used, its weight, and dimensions that will be useful to determine whether this is possible and how to go about it. I am pretty sure there is 

I like both of the options you found in terms of their looks and they would fit colorwise. But you are right that they might be too short for the vacuum to go under. I'd say that wheel that adds 10 cm to the leg should be good enough. That narrows the options a bit but there are still options The bigger concern for me is safety and longevity, meaning it needs to not break. The longer steel unit is quite heavy and a lot of these wheels have a weight rating. 

[MitchellMc]

I can certainly understand that safety is a large concern @Transplat, especially with the larger unit and a TV. 

I'll be keen to see the bottom of the legs to determine the best method of fixing the castors in position.

Mitchell