DIY Mobile Workbench: How to Add Caster Wheels to Your Cabinets

I’m finally starting to put together my new and improved mobile workbench!!

If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you know I’ve been working on renovating my garage into the workshop of my dreams!! This week, I am remaking my mobile workbench, but better this time! I’m using the same basic plan to recreate my original workbench, just with new cabinets! Linking the plans for my original workbench, here.

Here’s my dilemma: Some of the cabinets I’d like to add the caster wheels to have toe kicks, so when I add the caster wheels to the bottom, it makes the counter height ridiculously tall. As a result, I’m cutting off the toe kicks to make the cabinets short enough to accommodate the caster wheels and countertop height.

First thing’s first, you’re going to need the proper tools and materials so you’re working smarter not harder!

Materials:

• Cabinets — mine are Weston shaker style cabinets from RTA Cabinet Store in the color Sand
• Caster Wheels
• Scrap Wood
• 1 inch Screws
• 2 inch Cabinet Screws

Tools:

• Tape Measure
• Straight Edge Clamp
• Jigsaw
• Drill or Impact Driver
• Miter Saw
• Bar Clamp
• Cabinetry Clamp

Step 1: Remove the Toe Kick

You can skip this step if you’re using cabinets that don’t have a toe kick. First thing you’re going to want to do is remove the face frame, I literally broke mine off, it’s a separate piece so it shouldn’t do any damage to your cabinet when you remove it. After that, I measured the gap between the floor and the base of the cabinet and made a spacer that was wide enough to butt my straight edge clamp up to it and accommodate the width of my jig saw so that the blade of my jigsaw cut a perfectly straight line along the bottom of the cabinet.

Step 2: Secure Scrap Wood to the Base

I’m using the scrap pieces that I cut off as a block to attach the caster wheels to, I used my miter saw to cut them down to 4 inch X 4 inch squares. You need to attached the wheels to the cabinet with blocks because if you screw the wheels right into the bottom of the cabinet, the screws will poke through the inside. I pre- drilled a few screws into each block and secured them into all four corners of the cabinet. After that, you’re good to add your caster wheels!

Step 3: “Island Worktop”

I ordered four wall cabinets to create a floating island that I can move around for extra counter space while I’m working!

To create the island, I lined up my cabinets, then placed scrap wood in the gaps between the tops of the cabinets and secured them together using my bar clamp and 2 inch cabinet screws. Then, I used my cabinetry clamp to clamp together the face frames of the cabinets so there was no gaps and secured them with screws. Pro tip: To ensure you are using the correct size screw, lay it against the surface you are planning to secure with the head of the screw laying flush with the edge.

The garage project is coming along!! Stay tuned, next I’m adding countertops!

Up next, the tricky part– I have to figure out how to build in my table saw and miter saw to the countertops. I’ve done it before, so I should be able to do it again, right?? Wish me luck!