Casters Keep The World Moving

• Scooting your desk chair around the office.

• Moving an IV pole closer to a patient’s bedside.

• Factory workers moving large equipment across warehouse floors.

• Taxiing of a plane into and out of a gate for takeoff.

• Pushing your shopping cart through the supermarket.

What do all of these have in common?

They all happen thanks to the humble caster wheel. Originally patented in 1876 by an African American inventor, David A Fisher, the caster wheel was originally created to help move heavy furniture. These small wheels are set onto a rotating base that allows an individual to move a heavy object in virtually any direction. This allowed the mover of the object to remain safe from injury while also keeping the heavy object safe from damage due to accidental drops.

Since their inception, the design has been improved upon several times. In addition to their original purpose for moving furniture, they have been adopted across countless industrial and domestic applications as well as various types of material handling equipment. Have you ever been to an industrial equipment supplier and saw dollies, carts, or mobile buckets? All of those items help you move heavier items by utilizing casters. Their unique ability to scale in conjunction with the requirements of a job or application is an integral part of their legacy. Caster wheels are able to support objects weighing many tons or just a few pounds depending on their size and composition.

The caster wheel has saturated our modern society since the initial adoption nearly 150 years ago. Even the New York Times has praised the modern caster wheel, discussing their various uses and handiness around the home from the garage to the kitchen to the craft room. If not built into the item, moving furniture is made easier with a few simple caster wheels tucked under each corner. Larger home appliances such as refrigerators, ovens, and washing machines will often come with built in casters making their cleaning and maintenance much easier.

Typically, the larger the caster, the easier it is to roll over various surfaces without damaging them. Caster wheels are so versatile that you are able to find them in nearly any material; from low-cost plastic options for light weight jobs to heavy duty rubber for large jobs like vehicles and shopping carts. Their versatility has also allowed them to become a great success in the medical and scientific industries where they are made of high impact and low resistance materials.

This simple design has been a constant source of inspiration for enthusiastic DIYers. Casters provide you with a near unlimited range of movement on items that previously could have been impossible to move. This has led to interesting projects and even continued improvement on the design.

The next time you’re starting a DIY project or putting together furniture from a set of visual instructions, consider adding a set of them to your project. Take a glance at the selection in your neighborhood hardware store or looking toward your favorite online retailer for sets of casters. Providing additional movement, as well as protection to flooring of all types, they are a perfect upgrade for DIY projects.