Combined two of my favorite things

[JSUPreston]

This past weekend, I was able to get out to the shop for the first time in over a year and do a project that I've been thinking about for about 5 years. When SWMBO and I got married, my FIL gave us his old grill. Over the years, parts got hard to find, and we finally gave up on it and put it in the back of the lot to haul off to the dump. Here it is after I pulled it into the shop a couple of weeks ago.

[JSUPreston]

2nd step

Okay, I forgot to take a pick after I removed the grill, leaving just the stand, but continuing on...after taking as precise measurements as I could, I was able to take a Harbor Freight universal tool stand and make mounting brackets out of two of the sides. I had to drill 2 holes in the original stand, but everything lined up almost perfectly. I topped it with scrap 3/4" ply.

[Richard in Smithville]

Nice way to recycle. Is it just a rolling cart or will it be a tool stand?

[JSUPreston]

I attached the ply to the stand with counter sunk screws with nuts on the underside. I pulled everything tight and square and locked the screws down. So far, pretty sturdy.

After more careful measurements, I mounted my planer exactly centered on the board. I used some heavy duty bolts and lock nuts for this part. Here are pics of the infeed side.

[JSUPreston]

The outfeed side. I removed the old plank that was on the stand that was left from a little work top and mounted a piece of thin MDF. I wanted to have a place to put things and also support the outfeed side. However, I think I may replace the MDF with an open wire basket instead.

Please disregard the fact that the guard is not on my saw. The last time I used it, I needed a dado. I have since put the guard back on.

[JSUPreston]

For those of you who know about this planer, the power cord wraps up nice and neat under the outfeed table. Due to my little work shelf/support, the table wouldn't go down all the way because of the brackets that hold the cord. Easy enough...I removed them and mounted one under the plywood.

[JSUPreston]

I'm debating if I should blow the whole thing apart and do a little painting on it. Some of it is a little rusty and looks rough. If I do that, I may also weld the support braces I added to the stand. I would probably also do some sort of edge banding on the ply. Then again, this is a shop tool, and it doesn't have to look pretty to get the job done. I will probably take the wheels off to clean and lube them, no matter what else I do.

I did have the planer mounted to a sheet of ply on an old CM table saw stand with a mobile base. I never did like that setup, because it was lower than I wanted, and hard to move on my hybrid plywood/very uneven concrete floor.

I look at HF's site and no longer see the exact model of tool stand I used, but I want to say I got it on sale for less than $20 with tax. I used it for a while for something else and then took it apart. All other materials were recycled (I didn't pay for any of them), except for the screws/bolts/nuts. So, total out of pocket was probably less than $25...and that money was spent years ago.

So, now you've seen how a cheap southern boy combines woodworking and BBQ.

[JSUPreston]

Nice way to recycle. Is it just a rolling cart or will it be a tool stand?

She's a roller. Because of a huge column right in the middle of the shop, I have to move stuff around like crazy.

[JR]

Nice.

You shoulda left the knobs on the stand. It would have gotten a few quizical looks from shop visitors.

JR

[dbhost]

I keep looking for a discarded rolling gas grill. I want one that will lend itself well to converting into a rolling miter saw station...

[steve-norrell]

Cool idea for recycling the charbroiler cart. My impression of these carts (having been through several over the years) is that they are not terribly sturdy and the wheels are not designed for heavy weights. How does it handle the weight and vibration of the planer?

Regards, Steve.

[LCHIEN]

looks a bit top heavy for the size of the base... is it stable enough when feeding 6- or 8-foot boards through it?

[tommyt654]

Excellent Dude ,nice re-use

[JSUPreston]

I haven't had the chance to use it. However, if stability becomes and issue, I can add a shelf and put some ballast on the bottom. I'll know more once I get another project going.

Thinking about it, I may swap the wheels as well. The originals are pretty old and don't roll as smoothly as I would like. I bet another trip to HF might fix that.