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As promised in the Jointer Dust Collection thread, here is my take on the Wood magazine shop made mobile base.
I had built 2 of these units to go under a HF 6" jointer and my Grizzly G-055 band saw. Both were constructed of Maple and Maple ply, and done according to Wood's plans. I found 2 things I didn't like about the design.
First was the use of fixed casters on one end of the base. While that might not be a problem for most, it made manuvering the machines inside the Playpen when trying to 'park' them difficult. The obvious sollution was simply to put adjustable feet on all 4 corners with swivel casters on a lift at both ends. I incorporated the lift design into the base of the cabinet I built for the wife's lathe, but addedthe swivel casters at both ends.
The other problem I had with the design was the lift lever. It was designed to rotate parrallel to the caster lift plate. This was not a problem with the band saw, but having to rotate a lever underneath the tables of the jointer was cumbersome. Also, having the lever rotate on a bolt that was in a threaded insert, I found the bolt wanted to back out. This loosened the lever and made contact with the caster plate sloppy at times.
Thinking about this problem, I decided the fix was to make the lever perpendicular to the ends of the lift so the action required was to step straight down on the lever. To test the idea, I built an MDF prototye that could be bolted to the ends of the BT3000 base. After a couple of mods to the design I came up with a workable model. With the prototype bolted in place my wife, who has extreme back problems, was able to easily llift the BT3 up on the casters.
This is the final version of the prototype.
Parked position
Mobile position
Although they have never been installed, I did build a set oif lifts for the BT3. These pics of my mods are from that set.
The top plate is cut to receive the pillow block for the camlever. Not the lines for the 14 Degree bevel on the front of the cut.
The sides of the pillow block are machined with a dovetail bit.
Prior to assembly, the sides of the block are drilled for the lever pivot
bolt.
Assembly of the top plate was done with Titebond II with no mechanical fasteners used. Everything was held in place to dry with filler blocks and some shims. A quick grip clamp was used to keep the pillow block tight to the back of the slot.
I had built 2 of these units to go under a HF 6" jointer and my Grizzly G-055 band saw. Both were constructed of Maple and Maple ply, and done according to Wood's plans. I found 2 things I didn't like about the design.
First was the use of fixed casters on one end of the base. While that might not be a problem for most, it made manuvering the machines inside the Playpen when trying to 'park' them difficult. The obvious sollution was simply to put adjustable feet on all 4 corners with swivel casters on a lift at both ends. I incorporated the lift design into the base of the cabinet I built for the wife's lathe, but addedthe swivel casters at both ends.
The other problem I had with the design was the lift lever. It was designed to rotate parrallel to the caster lift plate. This was not a problem with the band saw, but having to rotate a lever underneath the tables of the jointer was cumbersome. Also, having the lever rotate on a bolt that was in a threaded insert, I found the bolt wanted to back out. This loosened the lever and made contact with the caster plate sloppy at times.
Thinking about this problem, I decided the fix was to make the lever perpendicular to the ends of the lift so the action required was to step straight down on the lever. To test the idea, I built an MDF prototye that could be bolted to the ends of the BT3000 base. After a couple of mods to the design I came up with a workable model. With the prototype bolted in place my wife, who has extreme back problems, was able to easily llift the BT3 up on the casters.
This is the final version of the prototype.
Parked position
Mobile position
Although they have never been installed, I did build a set oif lifts for the BT3. These pics of my mods are from that set.
The top plate is cut to receive the pillow block for the camlever. Not the lines for the 14 Degree bevel on the front of the cut.
The sides of the pillow block are machined with a dovetail bit.
Prior to assembly, the sides of the block are drilled for the lever pivot
bolt.
Assembly of the top plate was done with Titebond II with no mechanical fasteners used. Everything was held in place to dry with filler blocks and some shims. A quick grip clamp was used to keep the pillow block tight to the back of the slot.
aiyou
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