How much can you offset a Flip Top Tool Stand?

[Paul Snowden]

I have an empty space under my miter saw station station that i'm planning to fill with a flip top tool cart (housing my planer). Due to needing to slide under the miter saw the stand will need to be a little short then I would like my planer and I so I was hoping I could offset the planer and thus raising it up when in position.

Questions

1) Does this cause a problem when rotating (I will have the other side empty)

2) Will having it so high above the sides make it unstable?

Any other problem I don't even know that I don't know.

[John Upton]

In the 1950's in our kitchen we had a shelf that held the mix master. A scissor bracket on each side, then you would just pull it out & it wound up at counter height.

[Paul Snowden]

In the 1950's in our kitchen we had a shelf that held the mix master. A scissor bracket on each side, then you would just pull it out & it wound up at counter height.

I thought about that, as we have the same mixer type lift at our house, but they seem to have a max weight of 60lbs and the weight of the planer is listed at 90lb plus the mixer lift hardware can run $100 or more.

[Myk Rian]

Are you wanting a flip-top such as this?

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[Tim Janssen]

I don't think there is a straight answer to that question. I'm assuming you are talking about the DW735, I have that planer and it is a heavy brute.
Of course you can build that, but you would not ever want to loose control when you're flipping it.
Built a small drawer cabinet on casters and put the planer on top. You can never have enough storage space. I contemplated for a long time to make a fliptop stand for my planer and miter saw and finally decided to put them both on their own rolling drawer cabinet. Takes a little more floor space but gained a lot of drawer space. Just finished the planer cabinet. Here's a picture:

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[Bill Huber]

I think lifting it up will be a real problem, the weight will be a lot. I am sure there is some type of a formula that will show it but I don't know what it is.

You will be lifting the whole weight of the planer.

[Myk Rian]

There may be confusion with the thread title. Offset, being the confusing part.

Flipping mine over is no problem. If it gets away from me, no biggie. It isn't going to land on the floor. I can do it with 1 hand,, using the other to set the latch.

Here is a more recent picture with the sander mounted.
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/MykRian/Flip%20top/7a9d156d-ba69-4591-9cba-22e0c89ca7d4_zps812b376a.jpg

[Bill Huber]

There may be confusion with the thread title. Offset, being the confusing part.

Flipping mine over is no problem. If it gets away from me, no biggie. It isn't going to land on the floor. I can do it with 1 hand,, using the other to set the latch.

Here is a more recent picture with the sander mounted.


You have a counter balance on yours, the OP will not have one it will be the planer just by itself. I have the same thing with my setup, I needed to put it under the bench.

I have no counter balance so I have to almost lift the planer when I flip it over. What the OP is asking is if he makes a table or something like that to raise the planer when it is in the user position. By doing this he will move the weight of the planer away from the pivot point.

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[Paul Snowden]

You have a counter balance on yours, the OP will not have one it will be the planer just by itself. I have the same thing with my setup, I needed to put it under the bench.

I have no counter balance so I have to almost lift the planer when I flip it over. What the OP is asking is if he makes a table or something like that to raise the planer when it is in the user position. By doing this he will move the weight of the planer away from the pivot point.

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This is exactly what i'm worried about. In your set up do you find the planer to be too low when in action? Would it help wit the pivot if I had weights attached to the blank side?

[Bill Huber]

When I swing my planer up to working position the in-feed and out-feed are at 37.5". This is just about right for me, I am 5'9" and it works very well. I built it so it would just go under the my bench.

I am not an engineer but there has to be a way to calculate the difference in what it would take to lift it if you lowered it in the stored position.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Cement is cheap and heavy. Just allow enough room in the bottom for some ballast.

I have a lunchbox planer on one side and a bench top drill press on the other side of my flip top.
It does want to "kick out" when I flip it so I have to really be careful.
It's not bad enough that I feel I have to add some ballast to the bottom though.

[Hovey Moore]

The math equation is the horizontal distance from the center of gravity of the machine (this may not be the middle) to the pivot point multiplied by the weight of the machine will equal the force you have to apply multiplied by the horizontal distance from the pivot to where your hand is. For an unbalanced machine this will roughly equal out to you have lift the whole weight of the machine when it is half flipped. Its actually slightly less because your hand will likely be farther out than the CG, but its close enough as an estimate for most machines.

Unless you have a very good reason to leave it unbalanced, you will probably find it hard to flip a large planer and most likely not flip it or find excuses to not use it. I would recommend putting it on top of some drawers, build a short base (planer is upright) so it still fits, or find a tool to counter weight it.

[Michael W. Clark]

I have a planer setup very similar to what you are describing. Mine is the Delta 22-580?, I think. It is on one side by itself and when stored, rolls under the miter saw bench. I used to have a benchtop jointer on the other side but got rid of it. I don't find it hard to flip, there is a rotational point where you have more weight, but I don't think it is near the total weight of the machine. Remember, a large part of the weight is carried by the pivot, you are only rotating it.

The sides of my cart are two layers of 3/4" ply and the pivot is SCH 40 steel pipe riding in floor flanges for bearings. Its plenty heavy and doesn't try to flip. The suggestion about concrete in the bottom is good if you think you need more weight.

Looks like you have a "box" under the planer to raise it up when in the working position. This may not be necessary if you make the pivot as high as possible and still fit under the bench. If you have extra room on the bottom, add a storage drawer(s).

Mike