Flip-top Planer/Sander Cabinet

[Paul Stoops]

Like many others, I have found that space in my new 10 ft. x 20 ft. shop is at a real premium. So I decided to build a flip-top cabinet to house my Performax 16-32 drum sander and DeWalt DW735 planer. Unlike any designs I have seen on the internet or in magazines, this cabinet incorporates a spacious drawer on full extension ball bearing slides, making further use of the space.

The cabinet, tool base, and drawer are made mostly from Baltic Birch plywood. The tool base consists of a sandwich of two 3/4" BB ply skins with solid wood fillers between them and 1/2" poplar edge banding all around, making it a very rigid structure. The two pivot shafts are 3/4" diameter x 12" long steel bars pressed into a 3/4" square channel between the skins and the fillers. The flange bearings on each end panel are Teflon impregnated bronze. At each end, two large washers, attached with countersunk screws, with nylon washers between them, provide a low friction rotating interface. Four barrel bolts provide stops for the horizontal positions. Locking knobs at each end thread into 5/16-18 inserts embedded in the tool base. The locking knobs provide an extra level of security beyond the detents in the barrel bolts -- and make great bumpers when storing the cabinet against the shop wall.

After building the cabinet and mounting the equipment, I realized that I could probably have eliminated the barrel bolts and locking knobs on one end. However, the extra hardware doesn't require much more time when changing tools, and it makes the cabinet feel very secure.

The flip-top rotation is very smooth. The planer is slightly heavier than the sander, so it tends to sink to the bottom, but the tool base can be rotated very easily without any danger of flipping over out of control!

I also designed the cabinet with provisions for about 30 lbs. of sand ballast between the wheels on each end. However, I found that the 20" x 32" caster contact footprint and the low center of gravity provides such a stable platform that I didn't need the ballast. I could add it at a later date if necessary, however.

Five inch double locking casters make it a breeze to move the cabinet around my shop and yet hold it steady for operation.

Overall, I am happy with the design, tho admittedly it is more complex than it needs to be..........as are most of my projects............. :-) But I am looking forward to using this project for making some serious woodchips in the near future!!

Enjoy,

Paul

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[johnny means]

Wow, excellent job. I've never seen a flip top design that i liked, but this one has me looking around my shop for things that might fit. I bet that, in a pinch, you might not even have to flip it to use the upside down tool on a smallish board.

Paint it all one color and it could pass for some new euro combination machine.

[fRED mCnEILL]

Cool looking. I built one similar from plans in Wood Magazine that had my Dewalt planer on one side and a jigsaw on the other. However, I have since moved to a standalone 20 inch Grizzly planer and the jigsaw, which was for my wifes stuff, rarely, if ever gets used. So it just sits in the way gathering dust and junk.

[Bill McDermott]

Paul, Your execution is excellent. The attention to detail that you gave this shop project holds the promise of great furniture coming off the tools. Compliments on stability, storage, style and I especially like the finish you applied. Nice work. Bill

[Jerome Hanby]

Wow! I can't even threaten to copy this one, I couldn't come close.

[Michael Weber]

Have to add my kudos. Very impressive. Almost makes me wish my 16/32 didn't have the infeed/outfeed tables.

[Paul Stoops]

Thanks, Michael. I have the infeed/outfeed tables as well, but I have never installed them, nor have I found them necessary over the several years I have used the sander. However, I think it would be possible to alter the mounting arrangement to make them fold up against the body like the DeWalt planer, which would lend them to a flip over design.

[Paul Stoops]

Thanks, Bill. Just a personal quirk, I guess, but I feel like a piece of shop built equipment should be designed and executed with the same care as a piece of furniture one would put in the living room. BTW, the paint is Rustoleum Hammered #7218 Dark Bronze. There are several color options for this product. I have had a number of folks comment on how much it makes wood look like metal............... :-) And believe me, I am not a metal worker!!

Paul

[scott grusby]

beautiful job! I'm looking to make one of these and yours seems a bit nicer than others I've seen. I also happen to be using the same two machines as you for it. Where'd you get the flange bearings and other hardware? also, how thick is the top? Sounds like you have a 3/4" void/channel for the steel bar, with 3/4" ply on either side of this? thanks, Scott

[Paul Stoops]

Thanks, Scott.

The tool base thickness is approximately 3 x 3/4" = 2 1/4" -- a little less due to the 18mm BB ply thicknesses.

Yes, you are correct. The pivot shafts are installed in a square channel between the skins and the fillers along side.

I purchased the flange bearings from Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Spyraflo-Self-Aligning-Performance-Teflon-Bronze-Inner-Diameter/dp/B003IPC1FQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315440270&sr=8-3

The 5" casters came from Woodcraft. The through-threaded locking knobs came from one of the woodworking suppliers, but I used RH bolts for the threaded portions in order to get a long enough thread.

The other hardware can be found at local hardware and big borg stores.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Paul

[Erik France]

Very cool design and great execution. You'll probably never need the ballast. I like the locking knobs.

I put my DW735 onto a flip top a few years ago. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?171599-Where-can-I-get-plans-for-a-flip-top-tool-stand&p=1767579#post1767579 Someday I'll put a drawer into the bottom. I looked into several ways to lock the top and ended up using two 1/4" hitch pins on opposing corners. I planned to do all four corners, but after I tried it out with just two I left it at that. I've found them to be very stable.

[George Gyulatyan]

Paul, that is awesome. I hope some day to gain the skills to be able to build something like that.

[Paul Stoops]

In response to a number of folks who were interested my original post, I have put together the plans for this project. I have made every effort to make sure that the plans are correct, but if any errors are found, please notify me so that I can make the appropriate corrections.

If anyone builds the project, please post your photos. I am interested in seeing what improvements and simplifications you make to my design. After all, nobody ever builds something according to the plans, but puts their own little “tweak” to it to make it better….......... :-) Bring ‘em on folks!!

The posted plans contain drawings, photos, and build notes, and are presented in a .pdf format, which can be viewed or printed.

The downloadable file for the”Flip-Top Cabinet” project plans can be found here: http://www.box.net/shared/xdnhfs8v7stjhqduo464

[glenn bradley]

A real space saver and a drawer fro goodies to boot.

[Mark Engel]

Very nice design. Thanks for posting the plans.

[David Hostetler]

I need to do a couple of these, one for planer / jointer, the other for sanders. So I have been looking for design ideas for quite a while now. Yours has got to be the nicest looking one of these flip top designs yet...

[Michael Weber]

Very nice design. Thanks for posting the plans.
+1. downloaded and printed:)

[Erik France]

Wow, that's a really nice set of plans and build notes. That puts many of the pay-to-download plans I've seen to shame.

[Jerome Hanby]

Not sure I need one of these yet, but if I break down and buy that Ridgid OSS then I've got your downloaded plan to get me started. Thanks for providing!

[Ralph Okonieski]

Thanks for providing the plans. They are one of the nicest sets I've seen. Very well done!! The cabinet is pretty darn nice also!

[Brian Tymchak]

Paul, thanks for sharing the plans and I echo the sentiment of others. Those plans are well done!

Just put this project on my list for this fall/winter.

[Paul Stoops]

Thanks for all of your kind comments. I'm glad I could contribute something to the Sawmill Creek community. I hope some of you will use my plans as a starting point for building one of these flip-top cabinets for a couple of your own tools. Please post some pics of your adaptation, so we can all learn from some "better ideas" that seem to be so plentiful among woodworkers. I really enjoy seeing the many good ideas that come across this forum. Keep 'em comin', folks!!

BTW, to throw another idea into the pot, I just ran across this YouTube video yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRYhy-IvtY&feature=related

I don’t know why I didn’t see this one when I was looking around for ideas—and it looks like he built it about 2 years ago! Oh well, “Great minds think in the same direction” they say!!

It looks like this guy used hinged blocks as stops at all four corners to control the rotation position. He only shows using one stop block at a time, but you would need to lock both sides to keep it from rotating in use. If you used spring-loaded hinges on the stop blocks, like the ones used for holding cabinet doors closed, that might be a modification to my design that would be worth looking at.

Paul, in Auburn, WA

[Brian Tymchak]

I purchased the flange bearings from Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Spyraflo-Self-Aligning-Performance-Teflon-Bronze-Inner-Diameter/dp/B003IPC1FQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315440270&sr=8-3



FYI. I notice that Amazon is saying 3-6 weeks to ship. So, I went directly to Spyraflo's online store and purchased 4 of these flange bearings. They have a better price there ($8.23 vs $12.96 each) but you have to pay shipping. I saved about $8 over the amazon price for the 4. Spyraflo doesn't indicate a shipping date but I took the chance that it's better than 3-6 weeks.

[Paul Stoops]

Hi Brian,

Good show! I don't remember what I paid for the bearings, but I think I was able to hit a sale on them. And they were in stock and I did get the free shipping from Amazon.com with some other items. I found the fit of the bearings with the 3/4" diameter rod I got from McMaster Carr to be very good. I think you will like the bearings.

Thanks for posting the information, tho. Maybe it will help some of the other folks who may be considering building this project. Be sure to post some pics of your project.

Paul, in Auburn, WA

[Brian Tymchak]

FYI. I notice that Amazon is saying 3-6 weeks to ship. So, I went directly to Spyraflo's online store and purchased 4 of these flange bearings. They have a better price there ($8.23 vs $12.96 each) but you have to pay shipping. I saved about $8 over the amazon price for the 4. Spyraflo doesn't indicate a shipping date but I took the chance that it's better than 3-6 weeks.

Followup. They had the bearings in stock. Being shipped today. Good service!

[Brian Tymchak]

Hi Brian,

Good show! I don't remember what I paid for the bearings, but I think I was able to hit a sale on them. And they were in stock and I did get the free shipping from Amazon.com with some other items. I found the fit of the bearings with the 3/4" diameter rod I got from McMaster Carr to be very good. I think you will like the bearings.

Thanks for posting the information, tho. Maybe it will help some of the other folks who may be considering building this project. Be sure to post some pics of your project.

Paul, in Auburn, WA

Paul, thanks for the tip on the rod. I'll check out mcmaster today at lunch.

Got to pondering this weekend while I worked in the yard that, since I don't have the in/out feed tables for my sander, it might be nice to somehow attach flip-up tables to your cart that match up height-wise to both the sander and the planer. I'll have to sit down to a scratchpad and work on that.

[Paul Stoops]

Hi Brian,

I have the Performax extension tables for my sander, but I have never installed them. For the projects I have built, I haven't found them necessary. However, other folks have found them to be very useful. The stock tables don't tilt, but I think they could be modified so they would. If you are building your own there must be a way to design them so they would fold out of the way. Please let us know what you come up with. More than 100 folks have downloaded the plans from the remote server so I hope to see some postings of other people's builds. Your modification with the extension tables would be a welcome improvement.

Thanks for your follow up post. Keep 'em coming!

Paul, in Auburn, WA

[Trent Shirley]

My thought for the flip top is to limit it to one half rotation by having a fixed stop block on both sides in the back with a recess in each corner of the bottom of the flip top so that when flipped one way the flip top is sitting on top of the stop blocks and when flipped the other way it is on the bottom. Then my thought was to possibly have a swing arm on the front that swings and latches into a groove on the edge of the top to keep it from moving. It just seems to be a lot easier to setup this way without having to fiddle with multiple locks and would be safer in that a single swing arm would not only have to come unlatched but swung out far enough for the table to rotate.

My idea also is to build the stand so that the planer infeed/outfeed are side to side, not front to back so that the flip up supports are attached to the sides. My hope is to fit my miter saw onto the stand as well and set so that the flip up supports are at the correct level for both planer and miter saw. This may have to be accomplished by having one of the machines mounted on spacers to get the correct level or by making the flip up side supports height adjustable.

[Paul Stoops]

Hi Trent,

Aha! The good improvement ideas are starting to percolate.............!!

If you look at my post of 9/21, there is a link posted to a You Tube video in which the guy used hinged stop blocks to limit the rotational movement. Might be worth considering or adapting.

A number of folks have used pivoting eyebolts with knobs that engage a slot in the end panel to lock the rotation -- a good and fast method. See Glenn Bradley's post: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?91236-Flip-Top-Revisited

Your flip up supports on the ends for use by your planer and miter saw is also a good idea.

Please post some pics of your project so we can all benefit from some new ideas.

Paul, in Auburn, WA

[Trent Shirley]

I saw the hinged stop blocks but think that fixed position blocks would be better and more solid. There is no need for the rotation to continue 360 degrees so by having fixed stop blocks you only have to worry about locking one side of the top leaving you with two points to lock rather than 4. And by using a hinged bar across the other side you lock the whole side in one motion rather than two. Granted that in one orientation of the lid the back side is under the stop blocks which stops it from turning any further but does not give it any support underneath, but if the front locking bar is sturdy that should not matter unless the machines are very heavy and really unabalanced with weight to the back.

I have seen a number of good designs for infeed/outfeed support and will be trying to adapt something similar for use on my flip top when I can finally get to building it. Since I intend to attempt using my miter saw on one side I would like the fold out support to have a support back as well which will complicate things a bit but I will be combining the two machines that require the widest amount of space in my shop and the payoff will be great. No more lugging out the heavy, bulky folding mitre saw stand.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

What a neat project!

The only critique I have would be to rotate the DeWalt planer 90 degrees so it feeds side to side. I'm not sure you can do that now though. In doing so, you can add flip up extension infeed/outfeed tables on the fixed sides of the cart when planing lumber.

One thing that is nice about most portable planers is that the head goes up and down, not the table, whereby allowing you to have fixed height extension tables. However, that's why they make portable roller stands. :)

None the less...nice job. Good post.
-Jeff :)

[Paul Stoops]

Hi Jeff,

As Trent Shirley had also proposed, I think you have a good suggestion orienting the planer end to end. Then it would be easy to attach an adjustable roller stand or similar device to the end panel as an outfeed support. However, it wouldn't be very far from the end of the planer table, but it would provide outfeed support. I am going to look at my installation and see if that configuration would work for me, altho my shop is long and narrow, so turning the cabinet 90º to use the planer might not work very well. Good idea, tho. Thanks for posting the idea -- maybe others will be able to use it to improve the design.

Paul, in Auburn, WA

[Tom Burt]

Very nice work preparing the plans (and your stand o course). Thanks for sharing

[Trent Shirley]

Oh yes, forgot about the plans. I only wish I could draw something up like that.
Paul, your plans were what triggered me to finally start reading the FWW guide to Google Sketchup for wood working.
Thanks for the inspiration.

[Paul Stoops]

Hi Trent,

The Sketchup program seems to work really well for a lot of folks. I have played with it a little bit, but I have trouble with 3D visualization. I learned drafting with a tee square and triangle way back when...... :-) using the 2D orthogonal, three view method. Even tho the CAD program I use has both 2D & 3D capability, I find it easier to work exclusively in 2D. I make 2D CAD drawings of all of my projects. It helps me to visualize the project and the detail parts. I work to scale, so I can measure the parts and assemblies. I also find it very helpful to overlay my detail part outlines on rectangles representing my available pieces of stock material to make cutting diagrams. It really helps me to cut and paste while I am designing, especially being able to overlay one view over another to make sure the parts fit together. I am self taught in CAD and I wouldn't consider myself proficient in the use of CAD by any means because I don't use very many of the available tools. But CAD drawings are a useful tool for me.

And, truth be told, when some one (or lots of ones....) request plans for a project that I hadn't originally planned to publish, it gives a great starting point to make working sketches that other folks can use............ :-)

BTW, after you and Jeff Makiel proposed turning the planer 90º, I made a quick layout of the hole pattern required to rotate the planer on the existing Tool Base design. The holes would fall outside the periphery of my existing Tool Base design, but it could be retrofitted to extend the sides without too much trouble. Another possibility would be to mount a couple of runners crosswise of the Tool Base long enough to include the hole locations. That approach would have another advantage because I discovered that the outfeed table height of the planer is about an inch lower than the sander outfeed table. The crosswise runners could be thicknessed to compensate for that difference. That would probably only matter if one was using the same external outfeed support for both tools. Obviously, with a new Tool Base build, it would be easy to make it wider to accommodate the planer reorientation.

If the outfeed roller device was attached directly to the End Panel, it looks as tho the roller would be less than 12" from the end of the outfeed table. However, without too much serious head scratching, I think it would be possible to design a telescoping outfeed support that would be farther from the end of the cabinet -- perhaps attached to the End Panel at the bottom with a hinge so that it could lean out away from the cabinet in use and be folded flat against the cabinet for storage. Hmmmm -- lots of possibilities.

Keep your thinking cap on, Trent, and let us know what great ideas and modifications you come up with. Be sure to post some pics. I'm looking forward to seeing them!

Thanks for your interest in this project.

Paul, in Auburn, WA

[Tom Zillig]

Some days I lose the ambition to make sawdust. Reading about a clever and well executed project invigorates me, and I'm back in the shop.Thanks for energizing the forum with your fresh ideas!

[Paul Stoops]

Hi Tom,

You're not alone, I assure you. Some days I feel as creative as a stump! But other days the creative juices just flow-- but isn't that one of the joys of this woodworking hobby! How wonderful it is that we have access to such great woodworking forums as SMC, Lumberjocks, and many others. I thoroughly enjoy seeing the many ideas, projects, equipment reviews, answers to questions, and experience that so many fellow woodworkers freely share. It makes me feel sad when I see so many young people who don't seem to have any interests beyond what they can do with their thumbs............ Every day I am thankful that I have my little shop to work in and enjoy!

Please share your projects and ideas with us so that we can all learn some new things and rejoice with you about your successes!

Paul, in Auburn, WA