On Jan 12, 2017, wrote
(in ):

Joseph wrote:
One of life's minor problems that can become major aggravations are the
glides one installs on the legs of chairs to protect the floor as people
shuffle the chairs around.

I've tried a lot of things. Glides that are nailed to the end of the leg
always seem to pull out, and tear the floor up if not caught in time. Soft
plastic mushrooms. Felt wears out and also captures grit.

FWIW, I bought a roll of 1/4" F3 grade industrial pressed wool felt.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CRI0I9G/

It's nothing like the stuff sold for use on furniture. I put it underneath
almost everything over two years ago and it still looks like new, despite my
toddler's best food- and drink-slinging efforts. The fibers are too tightly
packed to retain grit, though probably its not as great in that department
as the Delrin. There's no hint of any of it pulling apart or separating, not
even under the chairs which are constantly being slid around.

This is the industrial stuff. McMaster-Carr also has it, with more variety.

Its good stuff, but felt in general accumulates grit, like sand tracked
in, and even one big grain will grind the floor, especially wood floors.
Everything will be OK until suddenly it isnt OK.


I used tin snips to cut it, and 3M aerosol adhesive (Super 77, I think)
under the wooden legs of the dining table and dining chairs. Everywhere else
the furniture is heavy enough that it didn't need to be attached.

snip
Then I thought of engineering plastics, the expensive kinds that dont so
easily mushroom under pressure. Delrin jumped to mind, as it is quite
strong and hard, can be press fit (does not creep), and is very slippery.
Makes good bearings. This I could also machine, and a lot more easily than
with stainless steel.
snip
This was first posted as €œChair Glides€� on Rec.Crafts.Metalworking, on
26 May 2014, years before I joined Rec.Woodworking. There have been no
problems whatsoever with the Forever Glides. They just work.

I'll keep this in mind. Sounds like a winner, too. It's so hard to trust the
options out there because it's almost all total crap.

Youre right about that, as my saga shows. Basically, nothing in the local
hardware stores worked.

But my key observation was that until the nail pulled out, the hardware-store
hammer-in glides which have a smooth steel foot worked the best. This is why
I was looking at stainless-steel washers held by a screw, which led to delrin
which led to Forever Glides.

The hell of it is that the Forever Glides cost less than the junk in the
hardware store. The only disadvantage was that installation takes more work -
one cannot drive the screw directly into hardwood, one must pre-drill the
hole with a simple jig (a small block of aluminum with a guide hole drilled
in it) to ensure that the hole isnt too crooked despite the odd shape of
the legs. But then one does this once.

Joe Gwinn