Furniture Casters to Boom Your Business

• Brass Casters
• Furniture Casters for Hardwood Floors
• Furniture Casters Wheels
• Antique Furniture Casters
• Ball Castor
• Brass Furniture Casters
• Decorative Casters
• Furniture Wheels
• Heavy Duty Furniture Casters
• Plastic Caster Wheels
• Floor Locks

These related search terms fall in the category of Furniture Casters, as there are different names for the same style of Furniture Casters.

Our furniture casters move your furniture easily and smoothly for relocation for cleaning, and are great for furniture dolly, office chairs, dining chairs, sofas, tables, beds, cabinets, desks, stools, cabinets, and more.

For many of us, the knowledge of caster wheels is somewhat of a mystery. You might be surprised at how many different factors can affect the performance and function of furniture casters wheels.

There are a few factors to consider, including weight capacity, wheel size, attachment style, and the type of surface you’ll be rolling on.

Furniture casters come in a variety of weight capacities to determine what kind of capacity you need to use this equation. Take the weight you anticipate the casters bearing and divide it by the number of casters minus one; this will give you the recommended weight per caster.

Plus, a bit of a safety margin for wheel size; there’s only one rule of thumb, the larger the wheel, the easier it’ll roll and raise your furniture further off the ground.

So, what kind of attachment is best? Suppose you’re replacing an existing caster; it’s usually best to stick with what was already there, but if you’re adding casters for the first time, here’s a rule.

If there’s space on the piece, use a plate caster, they’re usually sturdier and offer more flexibility. But if there’s no room like a table or chair leg, try a grip ring caster or a threaded stem caster.

Finally, what kind of surface are you rolling on? If it’s a carpet or a chair mat, go with plastic or a metal caster, they move nicely and easily. If it’s a delicate tile or a wood floor, though go with a urethane, they’re softer and easier on your floors.

When selecting casters, the first thing to consider is determining the combined weight of the furniture and the maximum load this piece of furniture will carry.

Knowing the weight of the furniture you are going to install casters is an essential factor. And it is crucial to try to avoid guessing or estimating the weight, as this could damage the furniture or cause personal injury.

Generally speaking, the more weight you have, the larger diameter of the wheels you will need. Larger wheels will distribute the weight better and make it easier to roll over floor obstacles.

To determine each caster’s load capacity, divide the unit’s combined weight and the maximum load on this unit by the number of casters minus 1. This is the load that each caster and wheel should carry. Minus 1 from the number of casters so that you can cope with specific situations.

For example, not all of the time, the furniture’s weight will be evenly distributed over all the casters. If not, you would consider installing more casters on the heavier side of the unit.

Chairs, for instance, are a particular case. When you sit quietly on a chair, the whole weight is evenly distributed over all the casters.

However, your weight is transferred when you start rolling on the floor. It is no longer evenly distributed across the casters.

The same goes for when you lean forward or backward. All of your weight may only be shifted to the first two or the last two casters in some cases. When calculating your caster’s weight capacity, it’s much better to overestimate the weight and choose the caster with a higher loading capacity.

For example, the total weight of your furniture is 600kg, and the equipment needs to be attached with four wheels; the load capacity of each caster is 600 ÷ (4-1) = 200kg.
Therefore, to be safe, you need to buy four casters that can hold up to 200kg.

Furniture casters can be made from almost any material, from nylon, polyurethane, to cast iron. But not all materials will roll equally well on all surfaces.

For example, in your home or office, you may have a beautiful hardwood floor that you want to preserve for many years. You’ll want to purchase furniture with rubber or polyurethane casters.

These materials are soft enough to be rolled without scratching or damaging most of the flooring surfaces in your home or office. Knowing which casters to use on your floors will save you time and money.

If you use the wrong type of casters in certain situations, the casters may cause more trouble than benefit you. This is why we should choose to use the suitable types of the caster for the proper application and flooring type.

Furniture casters for hardwood floors: rubber, polyurethane, urethane on iron
Furniture casters for softwood floors: do not recommend any casters to move on softwood floors
Furniture casters for laminate floors: soft rubber, urethane coated on plastic
Furniture casters for carpet floors: polyurethane, polyurethane on polyolefin, nylon
Furniture casters for tile floors: soft rubber, polyurethane
Furniture casters for vinyl floors: rubber, urethane
Furniture casters for linoleum floors: soft rubber

In addition to the fact that different flooring surfaces require different kinds of caster wheel material, the wheel’s diameter and width are also a factor to consider when selecting the types of furniture casters. It will affect the load capacity and mobility of the furniture.

In general, the larger the diameter of the wheel, the less effort it takes to push. Wheels with smaller diameters are subjected to more stress during transit and tend to be harder to move.

Suppose you need to move your furniture around a lot; in that case, you will need wheels with a larger diameter as it’s easier to roll it into different positions.

If you don’t need to move your furniture often to keep it stable in one place all the time, you may need a smaller diameter. That way, it won’t roll away as easily.

Here’s a guide for you—different wheel sizes for different weights of furniture.
Small 1-inch furniture casters for very light weight furniture, 30 to 100 pounds.
2 inches for furniture that weighs 100 pounds to 200 pounds.
3 inches for furniture that weighs 200 pounds to 350 pounds.
4 inches for furniture that weighs 350 to 500 pounds.
5 inches for furniture that weighs 500 to 900 pounds.
6 inches for furniture that weighs 900 to 1350 pounds.
8 inches for furniture that weighs 1350 to 1850 pounds.
10 inches for furniture that weighs 1850 to 2350 pounds.

Try to choose casters that are larger in diameter than the ones recommended above so that rolling is energy efficient and extends the casters’ service life.

Furniture casters come in a variety of mounting options. If your furniture already has casters and you would like to replace them, you can choose the same mounting type of installation for your old casters. Several installation options are available if your furniture hasn’t installed casters before.

Plate Casters:

The most common mounting type is the mounting plate, often referred to as the top plate, more commonly found on filing cabinets and other office furniture types.

Plate casters feature a flat, square mounting surface. Most plate mount casters have four holes in the mounting plate for bolting the casters to the furniture. Sometimes the mounting plate of the caster is also attached to the equipment by welding. 

In the case of the welded top plate, the top plate size doesn’t matter because no bolts are needed. The top plate is welded directly to the furniture, so you don’t have to worry about whether the mounting holes match or not. But if installing through a bolting hole, make sure that the plate size and bolt hole pattern match the original caster’s plate mounting size.

Side mount casters:

Side mount casters have a vertical mounting bracket mounted to the furniture side that cannot support traditional plate or stem casters.

It makes it easier to move them, thus reducing the effort required to move the device. It is also possible to mount these casters on the bottom edge of the furniture. It’s invisible. This provides an additional option for mounting types. 

Stem casters:

Stem casters have a stem (different sizes and types) on top of the caster, usually used with an insert or socket, to mount the caster to the device. Like other casters, stem caster has one or more wheels mounted on a fork but with a stem used to mount it to the furniture’s bottom. 

Compared to other caster types, this is the unique characteristic of stem casters. 

Stem casters are usually used when there is not enough room on the device’s mounting surface to mounting a plate caster, such as furniture with tubular frames and legs.

Each caster should be mounted so that its upper ball bearing raceway is flush with the mounting surface. Then helpi hold it securely in place and achieve the caster’s maximum load capacity.

Different kinds of stem size, diameter, and style for stem mount casters could meet your customized requirement. The most common types are threaded stem, grip ring stem, grip neck stem, and expanding stem.

Threaded Stem Casters

Threaded stem casters, as the most common type of stem caster, have threaded bolts on top to be directly screwed into a pre-threaded hole, tube, insert, or socket or secured with nuts and washers.

They have a unique thread count, stem width, and length. Threaded stem mount casters are designed to add ease of mobility to furniture, such as office chairs, dining tables, and cabinets.

Standard threaded stem casters have 3/8″ diameter, 3/8-16″ diameter, 5/16″ diameter, 7/16″ diameter, 5/8″ diameter, and 9/16″ diameter stem. While metric threaded stem casters are available in 8mm(m8), 10mm(m10), 12mm(m12) and 16mm(m16). Threaded stem casters with brakes provide light-duty to heavy-duty applications.

The main benefit of threaded furniture casters is easy replacement and lubrication. Suppose you have a bad or broken caster that a new caster can replace. It’s also easy to lubricate to extend the service life of threaded-stem casters.

Threaded Stem Caster Installation Guide

Firstly, turn your furniture upside down, and mark the center of each of the legs.
Secondly, drill the hole on the legs. If you have sleep nuts that are 3/8 inch in diameter, drill the hole that goes down at least one inch in depth.
And lastly, screw in your caster and repeat that on the remaining legs, and you’re done.

Grip ring stem casters

Grip ring stem casters (also namely as friction ring stem casters) have a small split steel ring at the top of the stem, inserted into a pre-drilled mounting hole or caster socket. The ring is squeezed inside. It exerts against the hole that creates the force inside to hold the stem in place.

When there is not enough space to install a standard top plate caster, grip stem mounted casters allow your immobile furniture into a mobile device. This type of caster is a perfect fit for lightweight furniture, displays, office chairs, cabinets, office equipment, and more.

It comes in various sizes, such as 5/16″ (8mm) grip ring stem, 7/16″ (11mm) grip ring stem, 3/8″ (10mm) grip ring stems, etc., and offers great flexibility of style and applications.

Then you may have the question of how to install grip ring stem casters?
The grip ring is a compression ring inserted into the hole, so you may find the stem is too big or too small to go into the hole or socket.

It’s very simple with the following tip.
Apply some lubricant to the stem and grip ring and squeeze the ring by a pair of pliers. Then insert the stem into the hole.
If your stem seems too loose, pull out the casters and use the tools to expand it slightly. You could also place a washer on the stem or wrapping tape to cover the grip ring.

Grip neck stem casters (wood stem casters or wood furniture casters)
Grip neck stem casters are also secured in pre-drilled holes with a metal or plastic socket. They are also one of the most popular casters for wooden furniture and other DIY projects made from wood or metal tube legs.

It features a broad base with a long-narrowed head. After attaching the stem to the unit, the socket expands enough to let the stem head through and create tight friction inside to keep it from falling off.

The most common grip neck stem size is 5/16″ diameter x 1 1/2″ long (8mm x 38mm). This is the standard and stock item for many caster manufacturers; you could find the replacement easily if they are broken.

Expanding stem casters
Expanding caster inserts / 2″ expanding stem casters / caster stem adapter / 3/4 inch expanding stem caster

Expanding stem casters are also known as expandable adapter stem casters or expansion stem casters. They have a secure stem that expands to attach it to the equipment.

Unlike threaded stem casters or grip ring stem casters, they don’t need to be fastened with bolts or screws. Each caster has a top nut for tightening to expand the rubber sleeve on its stem until it adequately grips the inside. Insert the expansion adapter stem into round or square tube legs, and friction keeps them in place.

They are a perfect fit for a various range of both square and round tube legs of furniture, carts, racks, stands, cabinets, tables, and more. This type of casters is well suited for prep tables, shelves, work tables, etc.

The expanding stem adapters range in size from 3/4 inch to 2″.

Like installing grip ring stem casters, it’s also very easy to install grip neck stem casters. Install the socket first, and then press the caster into a drilled hole if you have a pre-drilled hole.

If there is no hole, you need to drill a hole in the bottom of the furniture leg that matches the grip neck stem diameter. Then insert the caster socket and push the stem into it until it is tightly secured in place.

Still, the question: how to install expanding stem casters?
You’ll need to know the tubing’s inner diameter to install the casters. You could use a caliper, digital caliper, a ruler, or a tape measure. The digital caliper method is a little bit more accurate.

Make sure you measure from the inner wall to the other side of the inner wall, the inner diameter, not the outside diameter.
The nut, rubber sleeve, spacer, and base washer are four components of the expandable rubber that expand inside your tubing.

Insert this into your tubing, and if it’s loose, you need to take it back out and expand this rubber sleeve just a little bit. Hold on to the upper ball-bearing raceway under the base washer, grab the neural nut turn it clockwise a few times.

Once you do that, it’ll further expand this rubber. Then the rubber protrudes past the nut and reinserts that into your tubing and, if it’s a very tight fit going in. When you insert the castor, make sure it sits flush and you don’t have any of the stems exposed, so make sure that the castor is completely flush inside the tubing.

Once all casters are installed, you should make a final tightening on them to ensure no movement or possibility of the caster stem coming loose.

There are two ways to do it. You could either insert the product or turn these counterclockwise on the raceway a few times, which will expand the rubber further even more. Or use a 19-millimeter wrench, and there’s a hex nut under the raceway in the back caster to tighten the nut until it is firmly secured.

If you’ve still got questions about furniture casters, contact sturdy casters directly to get your perfect furniture casters.