I have an idea for making some of my tools mobile, is it a good one or not??

[Duane Bledsoe]

Since I have a long and narrow shop, a 26 x 14 roughly, I'm looking at ways to make some tools mobile to roll around for use and then store away up next to a wall when not in use, leaving room for others to be used. I have a basic idea how to do this and some of the tools I have in mind so far are a bench planer, possibly the router table, and maybe a miter saw, and any others I can adapt this to. I'm thinking of making benches (cabinet carcasses) and having the tool on top, and then having 3' long flip up wings on each side to extend the usable work surface for holding long stock (miter saw), or for sliding from right to left (router, planer). What I need to know is do you think it's possible to do this and achieve accuracy when the wings flip up so they stay in the same plane as the surface that the tool supports the stock from, or are they more likely to not be in perfect alignment and therefore make this a bad idea?? In theory it works, but if the wings weren't solid, stable, and accurately aligned, then it wouldn't work in practice. I could attach the wings with piano hinges but I'm not sure how to support them once they were lifted for use so that they didn't drop any.

[HANK METZ]

Just a thought but why not consider a flippable stacked desgin to save space and incorporate mobility also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBnjoOvQ_X0

- Beachside Hank

[Jay Maiers]

There are a lot of really nice miter saw station plans with fold-down wings. As long as they are adequately braced, there's no reason that concept won't work for a planer or a sander.
IMO, don't skimp on the casters, and make sure they're the double locking type (rolling and rotational locks).

Flip-tops are cool too, but they'll be a bit harder to use with extension wings that work with both tools.

Putting the tools on a universal mounting board is another space saver. The tools that are not in use can be placed on a wall shelf or in a cabinet.

[Duane Bledsoe]

I thought of the mounting boards already, I read about it in WOOD magazine. But my last experience with a planer (my only experience anyway) was that it was extremely heavy for it's size. It was a DeWalt. I'm not sure if they're all that heavy, but this one was heavy enough I would not have wanted to move it around a whole lot by picking it up.

[Duane Bledsoe]

Just a thought but why not consider a flippable stacked desgin to save space and incorporate mobility also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBnjoOvQ_X0

- Beachside Hank

That was a cool idea. He made it look easy to use, even easy to build.

[Curt Harms]

I don't have experience with double locking casters. I made my mobile bases with 'step on it to lift' mobile bases. When the lifting mechanism is retracted the bases don't move. I have 2 fixed casters so they don't turn 90 degrees easily. My configuration is such that I don't need them to. I pull the machine out, use it and push it back. Here is my band saw. Pardon the crudity, I needed quick and with materials on hand. Step on the T hinge, the 2X4 with casters attached rotate and the base lifts. There's a catch to hold the casters extended. To use, step on the T hinge again, pull the rope which releases the casters and it's sitting on two pads.
217411





217410 Here's my Table Saw mobile base. I used two lifting casters from Rockler. When I step on the board, both casters rise together. Just a couple ideas.

[Myk Rian]

All my machines are on wheels.
Here's my flip-top with planer and before the spindle sander was on it.
Link to the build pics. http://s938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/MykRian/Flip%20top/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ28

http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/MykRian/Flip%20top/0222092013.jpg