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Castors
come in 3 basic types with many style variations within these groups.
They
are:
Stem
type,
which fits into new or existing castor socket on furniture
Plate type, which is screwed to the underside of the furniture
Stem type, designed for tubular wood and metal furniture.
To install socket-type castors, first remove the old castor. If
the new castor will not fit the old socket, remove the socket. Do
this by driving a large headed nail, headfirst, into the old socket
and pull out with vice grip pliers. The socket should come with
the nail. Drive the new socket into the hole using a wood block
between hammer and socket. Lock socket into place with a blow from
your hand and insert castor. Always install the castor vertically,
never at an angle. If installing castors into new wooden legs, measure
height of castors and cut legs to maintain original furniture height.
Drill a hole into the leg and insert socket as before. To find the
centre of the bottom of each leg on round legs, cut out a piece
of paper to match the leg and fold it to form a quarter circle.
Unfold and where fold lines cross is centre.
Plate-type
castors.
Surfaces
to which these are attached must be larger than the area of the
plate. Test by placing the plate against the base of the furniture.
Mark screw holes and drill pilot holes or start them with a wood
awl. Screw plate to furniture with screws supplied.
Spring-type
castors.
These
are sold to suit the diameter of the leg. Find this by inserting
a triangular shaped piece of cardboard into the leg and marking.
If possible, take the old castor and socket to your hardware supplier
to ensure the new castor will fit. If you cannot get a socket to
fit, fill the leg with a 50mm piece of dowel coated with epoxy glue,
tapped into the leg and left to dry. When dry, the tubular leg can
be treated as a wooden leg and a hole drilled to take an ordinary
stem castor socket.
Good
quality castors can make heavy furniture easy to move about, protect
hard and soft floors, and today there are dozens of different styles
available to suit all kinds of furniture and applications.
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