Mobile base ideas

[b4man]

Does anyone have any good, inexpensive plans or ideas for making mobile bases? I need one for my band saw and jointer. I have a number of casters in different sizes and weight. I'm thinking angle iron for the rails but what about the corners?

 

[D L Ames]

Barbara, take a look at Alan in Washington's photo album to see some of the mobile base designs he has come up with. Looks like a pretty good idea.

D L

 

[kota62]

Barbara:
Here are some pics of my jointer base, made of pallet scrap wood and HF wheels, they have worked great for about 6 months now
HTHs
Gary







http://www.ncwoodworker.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=4611&c=397


http://www.ncwoodworker.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=4615&original=1&c=397

 

[b4man]

Gary,
Thanks for those great pic's! If I sound too dumb for asking please forgive my ignorance but why did you make the base longer than the jointer? The band saw idea is good too. Thanks for helping me out.

 

[SteveColes]

Here is what I've been doing. 2 layers of 3/4" ply glued together and then 4 Woodcraft 3" locking caster at each corner. Works very well.

Here's 2 more, same idea, different casters becuase I happened to have them.

And then there's this. Again same idea, 6 casters

 

[Gofor]

I know you can never have enough clamps, but you guys make me think you also can't have enough casters!! Good jobs and good ideas, gents!!

Steve, lookin' at the pictures I see you also have the bandsaw and maybe a shaper on them too. Are they cheaper by the 100 ct?

Thanx:lol:

Go

 

[DaveO]

Gary,
Thanks for those great pic's! If I sound too dumb for asking please forgive my ignorance but why did you make the base longer than the jointer?

The farther apart the wheels are the more stable the base is. With a jointer there is often a large amount of wood at the ends of either table so a long base equals better stability.
The only dumb question is the one not asked :-D

Dave

 

[erasmussen]

I have everything on wheels (have to):-(
I use plywood whatever is on hand and cheap coasters in the corners:icon_thum
No pictures as there kinda ugly:lol::lol:

 

[sapwood]

If you want a really cheap, but quite sturdy premade unit that will fit most bandsaws and a few other stationery tools try the Homier mobile base. The company is sort of an internet version of HF. :roll: But at $16.99 plus shipping, this base is a solid value . . . worked for me!

Sapwood

 

[kota62]

Quote:
Originally Posted by b4man
Gary,
Thanks for those great pic's! If I sound too dumb for asking please forgive my ignorance but why did you make the base longer than the jointer?

The farther apart the wheels are the more stable the base is. With a jointer there is often a large amount of wood at the ends of either table so a long base equals better stability.
The only dumb question is the one not asked :grin:

Dave:smile:

Barbara:
As Dave explained, it's a stability thing, my first base was only slightly larger than the base of the jointer, this was troublesome when i jointed an 8' board, the weight so far out would cause the jointer to get "tippy" obviously using rollers out at the ends would help, but i tend to jump around when i woodwork, not plan my moves out so i tend to not be well prepared when i only want a single pass to just clean up an edge
For me it comes down to knowing my limitations and living within them...;-)
hope this winding explanations helps you
Gary

 

[SteveColes]

I know you can never have enough clamps, but you guys make me think you also can't have enough casters!! Good jobs and good ideas, gents!!

Steve, lookin' at the pictures I see you also have the bandsaw and maybe a shaper on them too. Are they cheaper by the 100 ct?

Thanx:lol:

Go

Yeah the bs is on one. But I dont see a shaper. Don't tell me WG disease got me so bad that I have a shaper and dont know it:lol:

 

[b4man]

This is all good info and I appreciate the responses. One of my issues with raising equipment too high off the ground is my height. My table saw was on 3" casters and wood. I finally broke down and bought a mobile unit from Rockler to lower the saw enough for me to reach comfortably. I'm not sure I'll have this problem with anything else other than maybe my band saw...I'll see.
Thank you all again!

 

[kota62]

Barbara:
That's exactly why I built my jointer base like I did; I like the better feeling of control.... I used 3/4" plywood, lots of glue and screws and have had no issues of separating yet, there is about 1" of ground clearance, but with fairly level shops that should be of no concern
Gary

 

[DaveT]

Wood magazine had some neat ideas for mobile bases in their Idea Shop 5 issues a while back.

http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/wood/story/data/462.xml&categoryid=/templatedata/wood/category/data/Wood_Magazine_Shop_Tours.xml&page=12

Dave