Low profile tiny castor for mobile table serving platter

thingiverse

This is a tiny low profile castor designed to be screwed onto the bottom of a wooden serving platter so that it can be easily pushed across a flat table. 3 or more will be required per platter. The castor is only 12mm high! Needless to say it's not designed to take much more weight than the platter and a load of cheesey comestibles. Extra parts required include suitable wood screws, some bits of 2mm diameter wire or nails to use as wheel axles, and optionally some heat shrink tube to use as "tyres" (or "tires" for those who spell in American) for better performance and some flat plastic to act as a smoother bearing surface on the bottom of the platter. Parts: *Vertical pivot screws: Wood screw, countersunk, max 3.5mm diameter, nominal 19mm length to suit platter *2mm diameter nails or wire, cut to 11-12mm long as axles. *Optional but recommended - 10mm diameter heatshrink tube to act as tyre and cyanacrilate superglue to secure it on the wheel. Smooth castoring action depends on the wheels not slipping on the resting surface so that the castor will rotate around the vertical pivot when the direction is changed. For this reason, I suggest the addition of the tiny "tyre" made of heatshrink tubing. To fit this, cut a small ring of the heatshrink tubing about 3mm wide. Gently dab superglue around the rim of the "wheel" (taking care not to stick your fingers together) and slip the "tyre" ring over it until centred. Heat lightly until the tyre snugs up against the wheel. Two different wheel types are included. You may find the narrower one works better, but it will depend on the surface to be rolled on. (I am ordering some 10mm external diameter "O" rings to try out as tyres instead and they may provide a bit more longevity. I'll update the project with grooved wheels to suit once I've tried them.) After fitting the wheel and axle, the best way to secure the open side of the axle is to melt a blob of filament over it. (use a soldering iron, perhaps). A square of thin plastic (from, say, a stationery folder) can be used to reduce pivot friction on the bottom of the platter. It can be superglued in place.