johnfishman
Member
I'd like to screw a stem caster into a wagon brake where the threaded rod goes. I've done this for a few lighter weight set pieces and its never worked out exactly right- but, in my defense, I hadn't had enough R&D time nor time to work out any kinks or concerns. Basically think along the lines of the 'workbench caster' that Rockler
(and others) make that when a lever is pressed down, the caster engages, and when its lifted, the caster lifts allowing the legs or supports of whatever piece to touch the ground. I'm looking to have units that when the wagon brake/stem caster piece is engaged, the platform (or whatever) roles, and when you disengage the piece, your platform sits on its legs.
Has anyone tried this? Surely I'm not the first (if so... patent pending). Anyone smarter than me that has ideas as to why this wouldn't work? The downfalls I come up with on paper/in my head is that this puts a lot of shearing stress on each stem. If one stem is activated before the others, the platform/unit is lopsided until the other stems are activated, which might cause things to inadvertently roll. Deactivation may drop the unit too quickly, causing loud bangs and whatnot. Locking the wagon brake in its 'down' position versus making it easy/quiet/painless to unlock and set the unit down.
I've used the model in the picture before, but they stick out too much from the platform and are just visually distracting (as much as that shiny wagon brake or bright red or blue caster...)
I'm just looking for any suggestions, if anyone's gone down this road before.
Community and High School TD/Designer. Budget, resources and time always a top concern. Safety is in there somewhere, too...
thanks in advance!
Has anyone tried this? Surely I'm not the first (if so... patent pending). Anyone smarter than me that has ideas as to why this wouldn't work? The downfalls I come up with on paper/in my head is that this puts a lot of shearing stress on each stem. If one stem is activated before the others, the platform/unit is lopsided until the other stems are activated, which might cause things to inadvertently roll. Deactivation may drop the unit too quickly, causing loud bangs and whatnot. Locking the wagon brake in its 'down' position versus making it easy/quiet/painless to unlock and set the unit down.
I've used the model in the picture before, but they stick out too much from the platform and are just visually distracting (as much as that shiny wagon brake or bright red or blue caster...)
I'm just looking for any suggestions, if anyone's gone down this road before.
Community and High School TD/Designer. Budget, resources and time always a top concern. Safety is in there somewhere, too...
thanks in advance!