It’s a rare day that the boys in our lab are outdone by a rival outfit, but when it happens I say give credit where credit is due.

The folks over at Instructables.com have done it again with this nifty idea – a flowerbed on wheels! Great for a patio, deck, or any area where you don’t have the space to commit a chunk of space to soil. This way you could move your flowers (or herbs, or whatever you agriculture types get up to) to clean under or around, or to take to market or a garden show.

This particular set of instructions is for a 3’x3′ bed, but a little customization could adjust that to another size.

Wheel and Caster is a locally owned business located in Spokane, Washington. We ship all over the country and strive to provide quick, helpful service. Wheel and Caster is a division of Norlift, Inc, which is also a pretty cool place. You can read more about it at the Norlift blog.

Here’s a nifty project the boys came up with (with the assistance of the fine folks over at Instructables.com): A living room quality coffee table built from an old pallet and some casters.

It’s a detailed step by step with lots of pictures – if you’ve got a wood shop you should be set. Pallets aren’t hard to come by if you live anywhere near a business that receives shipping by truck – industrial places often have piles of them lying around. Find one in decent shape and you can buff out the rough edges.

They use rubber casters similar to these industrial balloon cushion plate casters, two with brakes and two without. Personally, I prefer the look of steel wheels for something like this – like these 8-inch semi-steel casters. If you have wood floors, however, the semi-steel might not be great. In that case, the balloon cushion might work better, or you could look at some non-marking poly casters.

If you whip this bad boy together (or any other neat DIY project), let us know in the comments!

Wheel and Caster is a locally owned business located in Spokane, Washington. We ship all over the country and strive to provide quick, helpful service. Wheel and Caster is a division of Norlift, Inc, which is also a pretty cool place. You can read more about it at the Norlift blog.

First rule of blog post titles: Always Avoid Alliteration.

But back to the question! Winter is upon us, and depending on where you’re located, at some point that could mean snow. The people want to know – does winter weather affect the wheels and casters you depend on to get the job done?

Well, the cold alone shouldn’t affect things too much, unless we’re talking extreme temperatures. But anything you’re likely to survive working in, your wheels and casters should hold up as well.

Snow and ice can be tricky beasts, however. Since most carts and hand trucks are manually powered, traction usually isn’t too much of an issue, unless you’re moving across some lateral inclines. If sliding is a problem, consider chains or cables similar to those used on vehicle tires.

If you’re trying to move things over snow, however, narrow tires can get bogged down. If your hand truck or cart will allow it, consider swapping over to wider wheels with tread. Pneumatics are a solid option.

Finally, if the cold just gets to be too much, pull up this picture on your smart phone and let the warmth seep through to your cold, cold heart.

Wheel and Caster is a locally owned business located in Spokane, Washington. We ship all over the country and strive to provide quick, helpful service. Wheel and Caster is a division of Norlift, Inc, which is also a pretty cool place. You can read more about it at the Norlift blog.

Ladies and gentlefolk – the lab’s been quiet for a while, but that’s because we’ve been busy making the world a better place for you. I’ve got a little taste of that here for your viewing pleasure right now – the last of our first round of informational videos on the wild, wonderful, but complicated world of wheels and casters.

Come on in, the science is warm.

Science has long struggled to find a way to accurately measure the weight of objects. If it doesn’t say on the box, then really there’s just no way to know. Guesswork and gut feelings.

But, let’s say you somehow are able to determine just how much a thing weighs. And then let’s say that you have a crazed need to make that thing roll around. It can be done – but just how heavy duty do the casters need to be? Too much is overkill and a fine way to drain your wallet; too little is asking for a visit from either paramedics or OSHA, and no one likes them.

Luckily, science comes to the rescue once again:

Wheel and Caster is a locally owned business located in Spokane, Washington. We ship all over the country and strive to provide quick, helpful service. Wheel and Caster is a division of Norlift, Inc, which is also a pretty cool place. You can read more about it at the Norlift blog.

Once in a while, I wake up in the morning and for a brief moment I can’t remember who I am or how I got there. I keep hoping that one of these times I’ll become an internationally wanted super assassin. But so far, my familiar persona comes rushing back to me without fail. As if in penance for crushing my dreams, it usually offers me a brilliant idea for a new movie. You can watch it below.

Wheel and Caster is a locally owned business located in Spokane, Washington. We ship all over the country and strive to provide quick, helpful service. Wheel and Caster is a division of Norlift, Inc, which is also a pretty cool place. You can read more about it at the Norlift blog.

The boys in the lab are constantly coming up with ideas no one has ever had before. Of course, they also occasionally come up with an idea that has been done before – not their fault, we keep them pretty isolated. But even if other people have done a thing, doesn’t mean it’s a thing that can’t be done better.

We recognize that our products are esoteric and mysterious in nature, and can be confusing to the layman. So, we created some helpful videos that present the facts, and nothing but the facts. We’ll have a new one up every week until we run out of ideas.

Wheel and Caster is a locally owned business located in Spokane, Washington. We ship all over the country and strive to provide quick, helpful service. Wheel and Caster is a division of Norlift, Inc, which is also a pretty cool place. You can read more about it at the Norlift blog.