Finally posting something - mobile base

[cdols]

Not much to look at, but it works. Built a mobile base for new Jointer/Planer - salvaged 2x4s, recycled door hinges, and some casters. Total out of pocket about $12 (for the casters). Base works by stepping on lever which pushes the caster boards down. Would love to hear any comments on it.

[Beamer]

NICE!!!!

I love it

How do you like that J/P?

[Stretch]

That's pretty cool. I like the way you have the casters raise and lower.

[kilroy530]

I would also love to hear your thoughts on the J/P. I have finally moved into a house, and have found a used table saw. I think my first "new" major tool, will be one of these.

[cdols]

So far I like it a lot. I had the choice of sticking with my old beat down craftsmen jointer and buying the DW735 on HD sale, or selling the jointer and buying the combo machine. I decided to go with the combo because of the smaller footprint (shop is a single garage stall that stores the mower and snowblower as well. I also like the idea of having the 10 inch jointer if and when I need it. It is a short bed (same size as my Craftsmen though), but the addition of some roller stands or shop built infeed and outfeed tables should solve that issue. The planer has a bit of snipe on the leading edge, but I am guessing practice will help with that. 2 blade cutterhead means you need a slow feed rate, but that's fine with me, I'm not in a hurry.

Setup took about an hour or so - everything was pretty much ready to go out of the box.

The Jointer fence tilts, but does not move over the bed. At first blush this made me worry about uneven blade wear, but by running the boards through the planer on the other side, you can keep it pretty even. I can alway build aux fence later as well. Fence and bed are both aluminum, which is fine by me having a garage shop in Minnesota - humidity is a pain, so things that don't rust are nice. I would like the fence to be longer, but it works. Since I work with smaller boards mostly (4ft or under normally) this thing works well. If I was working on larger projects I might want dedicated tools.

Pros -
Price
Small foot print
wide jointer

Cons -
2 blade cutter head
no infeed table for planer
Planer only 10 inches wide
Fence does not move in and out

I'm happy to answer any questions on it.

- Craig

[dcarter636]

That looks practical, sturdy, and inexpensive, the big three for home built fixtures. The four retractable casters are a big plus for portaging stability and operating solidity.
I like that design well enough to plagiarize it for my band saw, and contractor saw. Thanks for the pics.

[Joe Lyddon]

That looks like a very COOL design!

Is this your own design?

If not, do you have a link to the plans, etc. that you used?

Thank you very much.

[jb34]

Dang. Just last night I mounted my table saw to a mobile base. I didn't get too creative with it. Now I see your engineering and I am kicking myself. Good design.

[cdols]

I pretty much stole this guy's idea, so I can't take credit for design. Only real change is I use one lever instead of 2 - so I don't have to bend over. It can sometimes be hard to get the front casters down, I am looking at adding a wedge to the underside of the lever to fix that. That and I still haven't figured out a permanent solution for keeping the wheels down - right now I just use a piece of scrap between the lever and the cross brace of the stand - leading option right now is to put that scrap on a hinge that can be flipped up with my foot. Any other suggestions are appreciated.




edit - added link to video.

[larryh86gt]

This was my humble attempt to make mine mobile. You did a much more professional job with yours. I like what you did for
keeping it stable when you are using it.
Larry

[Joe Lyddon]

Thanks a lot for the YouTube link!

[kilroy530]

Thanks for the info on the J/P Craig!