Couple Mobile Bases

[Matt Meiser]

These are a couple mobile bases I welded up today. I'm helping coordinate a mobile base build day for my club next week and mine are the prototypes. We gave everyone the choice of putting casters under or beside.

The tubing is 1x2 and the outriggers are 4x6x5/15 angle. The angle is EXPENSIVE and kind of hard to find but works out well.

Casters are from SES Caster Company. We also did a group buy on those, much to my UPS driver's dismay.

The one with the wheels underneath is for my Kreg machine which is sitting on a metal cabinet I got from a friend. The one with outriggers goes under my bandsaw to replace a Shop Fox model I've grown increasingly unhappy with.

[Alan Schaffter]

It looks really sturdy. How did the final cost compare with a commercial Delta or HTC universal base? Looks like it might come out to be the same or more.

[Steven DeMars]

These are a couple mobile bases I welded up today. I'm helping coordinate a mobile base build day for my club next week and mine are the prototypes. We gave everyone the choice of putting casters under or beside.

The tubing is 1x2 and the outriggers are 4x6x5/15 angle. The angle is EXPENSIVE and kind of hard to find but works out well.

Casters are from SES Caster Company. We also did a group buy on those, much to my UPS driver's dismay.

The one with the wheels underneath is for my Kreg machine which is sitting on a metal cabinet I got from a friend. The one with outriggers goes under my bandsaw to replace a Shop Fox model I've grown increasingly unhappy with.

I have built a couple like you did and found you can buy the off size angle at builder's centers or brick supply houses. It is sold as "brick ledge". They use it to support brick over openings like doors and windows . . . Still not cheap, but beats paying a fortune for a 20' stick of off size. . .

Suggestion, I would not weld the casters to the outriggers . . . For someone like you and I that weld, grind and cut steel, no problem, but for someone that does not, . . . a damaged caster would become a nightmare . . .

By the way, that looks very nice & sturdy . . .

Steve

[Ryan Lee]

Thanks for the pics. I've been wanting to build one of those for my Jointer and Bandsaw. Wonder if it is strong enough for my 20" planer??? hmmm

[Steven DeMars]

I have a 12" JET Planer/Jointer Combo on one and it works fine.

The way Matt designed his they are far stronger than the store boughts. I used 3/16" thick angle miter cut to build mine . . . Yes, very over kill, but free material . .

See thread below . . .

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=99025

Steve:)

[Matt Meiser]

One guy is putting a Powermatic 20" planer on his but the wheels are going underneath. I'll have to look for brick ledge next time I need some--I know of a brick supply place in Toledo that could be a source.

The tubing is 14ga because our local steel supply house had drops that saved us money over using new 16ga material. The gussets are 1/8" plate. Both are thicker than comparable parts on commercial bases. These came out pretty heavy compared to the commercial ones I've bought too.

We are giving everyone the option of drilling (BYODB-bring your own drill bits) or welding.

[Noah Levy]

Matt,
If I wanted to get a basic welding setup to make some mobile bases and racks, etc, without breaking the bank, what kind of welder would you recommend? I was just at the local Horror Fate looking at them.
Noah

[Michael Peet]

Nice, Matt. It must be handy to be able to make your own. Welding is one of those things I want to learn how to do someday.

Mike

[Rod Sheridan]

These are a couple mobile bases I welded up today. I'm helping coordinate a mobile base build day for my club next week and mine are the prototypes. We gave everyone the choice of putting casters under or beside.

The tubing is 1x2 and the outriggers are 4x6x5/15 angle. The angle is EXPENSIVE and kind of hard to find but works out well.

Casters are from SES Caster Company. We also did a group buy on those, much to my UPS driver's dismay.

The one with the wheels underneath is for my Kreg machine which is sitting on a metal cabinet I got from a friend. The one with outriggers goes under my bandsaw to replace a Shop Fox model I've grown increasingly unhappy with.

Very nice Matt, I don't make bases with casters any more, however when I did I also used unequal leg angle for the caster mounting, it does a very nice job.

Have fun with your club, the members will be amazed at how much better your bases are than those flexy flier things.

Regards, Rod.

[Chip Lindley]

One guy is putting a Powermatic 20" planer on his but the wheels are going underneath....The tubing is 14ga because our local steel supply house had drops that saved us money over using new 16ga material. The gussets are 1/8" plate. Both are thicker than comparable parts on commercial bases. These came out pretty heavy compared to the commercial ones I've bought too.

Great work Matt! Amazing how strong welded-steel tubing can be, compared to stamped steel, bolted together!

A real coincidence that just today, I just finished a base for my ShopFox 20" planer. This one is made of 1-1/2" x 1/8" square channel that I scrounged from a scrap yard years ago! Brackets for the stationary phenolic ball-bearing wheels are pieces of heavy 2" x 4" channel. Wayyy overkill, but the material was almost free. I ordered the swivel wheel from Rockler. IF it's plastic wheel is not up to the task (1/3 of 900 lbs.), I will scrounge another phenolic wheel from my *stash.*

My welding is not the greatest, using an old Lincoln stick welder. But with some grinding and wire-brushing, it's good enough for non-critical welding like mobile stands. And, the little Sears 4x6 horiz. bandsaw comes in mighty handy for cutting steel almost silently.

[Alan Schaffter]

If you don't mind drilling holes in the sub-base of your machine there is no need for a frame or welding.

I removed 3" Hartville Tool (http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11739) fixed top-quality, heavy-duty, bb wheels from their mounts, installed the wheels in short pieces of steel tubing I bought for cheap from a local welder, and bolted the assembly to each side of the tool sub-base. I bolted a Delta-style step caster from Rockler (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2383) to the front of the sub-base and added some small MDF feet. I bought my step casters when they were only $16. Now they are $24.99, the Hartville fixed wheels are $5.99 ea, and the two pieces of steel (cut to length) cost $5 total. I added a few bolts and nuts and have a simple, but strong mobile base for under $50. I have them on all my machines.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P5070066.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P1310145.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P1310146.JPG

[Mike Wilkins]

Nice bases. Amazing what you can do with a welder and scraps.
Noah-the easiest set-up for welding in my mind would be a wire-feed MIG welder. Just pull the trigger and watch the sparks fly. Just like anything else it takes some practice. But just follow the instructions and it will go well.
I got a 110 volt wire-feed welder and have made several mobile bases.
These are some great ideas here also.

[Bill Huber]

Matt,
If I wanted to get a basic welding setup to make some mobile bases and racks, etc, without breaking the bank, what kind of welder would you recommend? I was just at the local Horror Fate looking at them.
Noah

You can get a stick welders around for $150 or less if you watch CL. I have a little Lincoln that I have had for 35 years and it just keeps ticking, great little general use welder.

[Curt Harms]

I bought the $100 +/- stick welder. Mine was made in Italy. I've used it to weld up a couple mobile bases and a stand for an LCD TV. It works okay but I find it hard to strike an arc. It would be very frustrating for a novice to use I think. I did buy a better ground clamp which seemed to help somewhat. The original ground clamp looked like it was off a jumper cable:eek:. It does do what I need it to do, however. Will weld up to 1/4" thick material which is plenty for my purposes. I would not use it where safety was an issue, for example on a road worthy trailer. I've never used any type welder except stick so can't comment there. I was just looking an inexpensive infrequent use machine that would work on a 20 amp 240 volt circuit. I got what I expected and paid for.

http://www.harborfreight.com/120-amp-arc-welder-98870.html

[Eric DeSilva]

Nice bases. Amazing what you can do with a welder and scraps.

My "local" steel yard--Potomac Steel & Supply south of DC--typically has a good range of "drops" they sell cheap. They are the left over bits from when a customer wants two 10' lengths from a 24' piece of stock, or a 4'x6' piece of sheet out of a 4'x8' piece. Whenever I go down there, I always ask to poke around in the drops, because the prices are about half of what you would normally pay, and for the stuff I do, I can work with off size pieces. The bad part, obviously, is that you never had any idea what you will or won't find.

[Cary Falk]

Matt,
The bases look great. I think the ones you weld up are far better than anything you can buy. If you can't find the brick ledge or want a cheaper alternative to the wide angel you used, here is what I recently did. It is 1x2" tube with 2.5 angle. You can double the tube where the wheels are if you need the extra strength or uses wheels with plates on them. This machine is only 300 lbs and still probably overkill as built
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/base1.jpg

[Alan Schaffter]

My "local" steel yard--Potomac Steel & Supply south of DC--typically has a good range of "drops" they sell cheap. They are the left over bits from when a customer wants two 10' lengths from a 24' piece of stock, or a 4'x6' piece of sheet out of a 4'x8' piece. Whenever I go down there, I always ask to poke around in the drops, because the prices are about half of what you would normally pay, and for the stuff I do, I can work with off size pieces. The bad part, obviously, is that you never had any idea what you will or won't find.

I got the sheet steel for my first cyclone at Potomac.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Sweet. I'm getting a welder once I go to the new shop (this month). Can't wait to be able to do this stuff for myself. Thanks for posting.
.

[Matt Meiser]

For anyone starting out, I'd say MIG because you can teach yourself to use it and there's not much technique besides pulling the trigger and moving.

I think the best buy in a welder is probably a used name brand one from a hobbiest (Miller, Lincoln, or Hobart) but then you kind of need to know what to look for and how to use it to test it out. New, Hobart IMHO is a great buy for a hobbiest--good quality machine, readily available.

Alan--I like the integrated design too!

I was working on getting away from caster-bases for my shop and going to 2 wheels and a machine mover but then we got the idea to do this workshop and I didn't want to have to build 10 or so of the movers so we came up with these designs. This will work better for my top-heavy bandsaw than the mover though.

[Jason White]

This is exactly why I need to take a welding class!!! ;)

Jason


These are a couple mobile bases I welded up today. I'm helping coordinate a mobile base build day for my club next week and mine are the prototypes. We gave everyone the choice of putting casters under or beside.

The tubing is 1x2 and the outriggers are 4x6x5/15 angle. The angle is EXPENSIVE and kind of hard to find but works out well.

Casters are from SES Caster Company. We also did a group buy on those, much to my UPS driver's dismay.

The one with the wheels underneath is for my Kreg machine which is sitting on a metal cabinet I got from a friend. The one with outriggers goes under my bandsaw to replace a Shop Fox model I've grown increasingly unhappy with.

[Tom Rick]

Looks great- I just picked up a nice set of casters and might give this a try as well.

[Matt Meiser]

Got them painted today (gotta love being able to take my coffee breaks from work in the shop :)) and under the machines tonight.

[Noah Levy]

Thanks for the info on welders guys!

Noah

[Jeremy Schleiden]

Hey guys I'm new to the forum. This might be a silly question, but I just picked up a Craftsman 22116 Hybrid Table saw. It came in a "steel" frame. The tubing appears to be 1" square with the corner angle supports. Do you think this would be sturdy enough to turn into a mobile base by attaching some casters? I figure it's gotta be rated for the 400lbs+ shipping weight. Thoughts? I can take a pic later tonight if that would help.
Thanks in advance for the advice!
-j

[Jeremy Schleiden]

I can take a pic later tonight if that would help.

http://storage.jstar.net/images/CIMG0504_640.jpg

http://storage.jstar.net/images/CIMG0505_640.jpg

http://storage.jstar.net/images/CIMG0506_640.jpg
http://twitpic.com/1lchrh/full

[Matt Meiser]

Wow, that's kind of crazy! Tractors, ATVs, and the like ship in cages like that but they ship them back AFAIK. That's a lot of wasted material.

Tubing should certainly be strong enough, but I'd want to cut it up and make it actually fit the saw.

[Brian Effinger]

I had the same cage around my Steel City saw, Jeremy. I don't think it is usable, though. If I remember correctly, the metal is really light weight - not structural steel. I forget what the correct term is for that type of metal.

[Matt Day]

Guys,

Any large construction site has more steel angle put in the dumpster than all of us combined could use. Stop by and kindly ask the superintendent of the GC if you can dumpster dive or have a few cutoffs - it's free clean up to him! Key times for this is after the structure goes up (steel of course) or when masonry is finishing up when lintle and brick ledge angle scraps are all over.

[Jeremy Schleiden]

Thanks for the replies. Seems like throwing that frame out would be a big waste...I'll tell myself that I can find a use for it eventually. :)


I had the same cage around my Steel City saw, Jeremy. I don't think it is usable, though. If I remember correctly, the metal is really light weight - not structural steel. I forget what the correct term is for that type of metal.

I don't know a lot about metal. I would agree that it's certainly not a heavy gauge, but one would think that if it can ship in that frame it can sit on it as a mobile base? No?

[Matt Meiser]

Our club had a lot of fun yesterday. We built 9 more of these in about 4 hours yesterday morning. A few folks were cutting stock, a few cleaning it up, and a few drilling while 2 of us welded. Then as we finished up a Ryder truck with something like 1500 bd-ft of lumber our club members ordered from a sawyer in SW Michigan arrived and we unloaded that, sorted, and loaded into everyone's vehicles. For some reason I was kind of tired!

[Matt Meiser]

Here's one more I did tonight for my edge sander.