Mark42
Fleet Admiral
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2003
- Messages
- 9,334
Picked up a office chair yesterday from Ikea and assembled it last night. Nice chair, comfortable, fits my need. But I noticed that when I push the chair the caster wheels don't turn. I sit on the chair and they turn as I roll around, but stand up and they lock. So every time I move the chair, the wheels scuff my new floor! 
And unless the floor is perfectly flat, one or more wheels lock when your seated on it and roll. More scuffing! <br /><br />Turns out the caster is designed to release a little brake shoe only when there is weight on it. No weight, no roll! I thought that was weird. So I take each caster off, pry the wheels apart (has that double wheel caster) and cut off the brake shoe from each side and re-assemble.<br /><br />Now what is the point of having brakes on an office chair caster? Is someone afraid their chair will get away when they're not looking?
And unless the floor is perfectly flat, one or more wheels lock when your seated on it and roll. More scuffing! <br /><br />Turns out the caster is designed to release a little brake shoe only when there is weight on it. No weight, no roll! I thought that was weird. So I take each caster off, pry the wheels apart (has that double wheel caster) and cut off the brake shoe from each side and re-assemble.<br /><br />Now what is the point of having brakes on an office chair caster? Is someone afraid their chair will get away when they're not looking?
