Finally! some shop progress..........

[HardRock]

Thanks to inspiration from perusing some of the photo albums here, I've actually got a couple things done in the shop.

If you'll notice, the jointer actually has evidence of wood work happening! The mobile base for both units are two layers of 3/4 ply with spruce 2X4's turned down flat. The base under the jointer puts the bed height about level with the bottom of my ribs......... I figured it would be too high, but so far it seems quite comfortable. The caster are from Hartville tool and even with the weight of the unit, it's real easy to move around, much easier than the drillpress. Hartville had the casters on sale and they were not any more than cheapo's from a BORG. The caster locks work really well and so far, the unit is very stable while joining.




The drillpress base has cheapo caster from Lowe's and definitely doesn't roll as easy as the jointer base. Also, the caster locks are much harder to get to than the jointer unit's caster.

[Monty]

That's a great start! Unfortunately, there really is no end to shop projects... but they're great for learning!

I would use caution with the mobile base under that drill press... those tools are notoriously top heavy!!! You'll have to be extremely carefull when you're rolling it around that you don't "bump" the casters into an extension cord or woodchip or something on the floor... I'll bet those drillpress's make an awful racket if they hit the shop floor!!!

Again - keep up the good work, and KEEP POSTING PICS so we can do some more vicarious woodworking!

[HardRock]

when I first saw a drillpress on a mobile base, I was concerned about the stability also. After pondering on it awhile, I realized that the drillpress's fixed base has a small footprint anyway and that all the "work" is leveraged between the head and the table........not counting for overhanging long pieces of work, but yet again, it's normally on the small footprint anyway.

After more pondering, I made the mobile base large enuf that the caster centerline "footprint" is at least as large as the original fixed base footprint.

Future plans are to have a larger base, probably at least twice as wide as this one and to make a slip on larger table suited for wood working chores. The larger base would have a storage place for the WW table and vise and maybe drill sets too.

I also want a larger base for the jointer to have storage for push blocks and DC hook up stuff and associated tools. These first two bases were made outof what I had on hand, material wise.....the upgraded ones will likely have welded angle iron frames with ply inserts/cabinets.

[sapwood]

That Grizzly looks very stable to me. Put a hitch on that sucker and I think it would make all the way to my Durham shop

Sapwood

[Travis Porter]

Congrats. It is a never ending process as others have noted. I have considered the drill press, but was fearful for the reasons you noted. Now, I don't have an excuse.

I now steer clear of the casters at Lowes. Grizzly sells some very nice ones very cheaply.

[Canuck]

That Grizzly looks like one mean lookin dude! I bet it can really sweetin' up a piece of rough stock in a hurry though! Looks to me like you will have a very serious lookin' in pretty short order.

Lookin great!

Wayne

[D L Ames]

Gil, great job on those two bases. I like your idea for the increased size for your future drillpress base and cabinet.

D L