Tool Rant/Jointer Question

[Tyler Purcell]

Hey guys,

I've finally finished putting together a shop in my garage to complete my dreams of making furniture. I've got a Rikon 14" Deluxe Bandsaw, the Sears Zip Code Saw (1.75 horse w/ 25" extensions), A Craftsman 13" planer, a Ryobi Plunge Router and Ryobi Router Table, and finally, my 6 1/8" crafstman jointer.

I had some worries buying the craftsman tools, but I figured at this price, and considering that I'm still a beginner, I didn't want to go with something higher end like Powermatic tools etc. I must say, however - I have been more than satisfied so far with my Craftsman tools. They all went together like a charm and so far they seem just great. They're certainly not the best but for a hobbiest like me there is nothing wrong with them at all.

Anyways, I was wondering if you guys think its a good idea to put the jointer on a mobile base from Woodcraft. The type of base is the kind you provide your own plywood for, and the guy at Woodcraft told me he has a large mill on one of those bases. I know at the jointer there will be a bit of horizontal motion being distributed when face jointing large boards. Is it still safe to have this on a base or should I find a permanent home for it in my garage?

Thanks for listening to my long rant and I appreciate your responses!

[Mike Cutler]

Tyler.

All of my machines are on mobile bases. Jointer,planer, tablesaws, bandsaws, Sanders, with no problems.

The only problem I ever had with my jointer was when I had a 14" wide, 8/4 piece of brazilian cherry that was 11' long. I almost tipped the jointer over when too much weight was hanging off the outfeed table.:eek:

You shouldn't have a problem putting a jointer on a mobile base. Make sure you get the type with locking casters. All of them.

Don't worry so much about your Craftsman line of tools. At the end of the day, it still comes down to the mind, eyes, and hands that guide the material, and set up the machine(s). Some very fine furniture has been made on the Craftsman line of tools, by a lot of different folks.;)

[David DeCristoforo]

Wheels are generally good but locking casters are a must unless you have a really long cord on the jointer! Also, you want to make sure that the base is stable enough not to tip when jointing long or heavy stock.

[Tyler Purcell]

Thanks guys!

Thats what I needed.

[Pat Germain]

Rockler sells a mobile base which you put together with hardwood sticks cut to size. I have one on my TS. What's nice about it is you lift the tool easily with one foot, move the tool wherever you want it, then drop it in place on rubber feet. One side rests on the wheels while the rubber feet are on the ground, but it's pretty solid.

Here's a link:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2383&filter=mobile%20base

[Gary Herrmann]

Locking casters and either infeed and outfeed tables or rollers; or a long heavy board will cause you problems - if not with tool moving then with a poor job of jointing the board.

[Gary Keedwell]

Rockler sells a mobile base which you put together with hardwood sticks cut to size. I have one on my TS. What's nice about it is you lift the tool easily with one foot, move the tool wherever you want it, then drop it in place on rubber feet. One side rests on the wheels while the rubber feet are on the ground, but it's pretty solid.

Here's a link:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2383&filter=mobile%20base
I have one of those for my Unisaw. Been working great for 12 years.;)
Gary K.

[Jim Nardi]

I found a mobile base on my jointer to be outright dangerous. They are so top heavy that jointing anything over three feet long make the machine tip. They are so light it's easy enough to pull it away from the wall for longer boards. Chances are most everything you joint will be less than four feet long anyways.

[Mike Cutler]

I found a mobile base on my jointer to be outright dangerous. They are so top heavy that jointing anything over three feet long make the machine tip. They are so light it's easy enough to pull it away from the wall for longer boards. Chances are most everything you joint will be less than four feet long anyways.

Jim.

What kind of base were you you using? The jointer shouldn't be any less stable on a quality base than sitting on the floor.
I have an HTC mobile base with 4 locking casters. It's wider and longer than the original footprint of the jointer. 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood cover the base. The plywood is screwed and bolted to the mobile base, and the jointer is through bolted to the plywood. My jointer is a Jet 6" closed stand jointer.

I have some Delta mobile bases that are of the 3 caster design. They stink, and are as unstable as can be when moving a machine. I like the Shop Fox, and HTC brand of bases with the 4 locking casters.

[James Carmichael]

Welcome to the slippery slope, Tyler:-)

I have the Ridgid 6" jointer on a mobile base, and it is probably the most top-heavy of the bunch with a very flimsy base. It worked alright sitting on the MB so long as I kept it leveled.

Since I have a toddler in the house who managed to topple two dressers before his second bday, I drilled holes in the MB feet and bolted the leveling feet of the jointer to it. Since the fence extension was perfect height for him to try to swing from, I took the additional step of screwing two bicycle hooks into the wall footer to hook the MB to for protection against tipping when not in use.

[Bart Leetch]

Rockler sells a mobile base which you put together with hardwood sticks cut to size. I have one on my TS. What's nice about it is you lift the tool easily with one foot, move the tool wherever you want it, then drop it in place on rubber feet. One side rests on the wheels while the rubber feet are on the ground, but it's pretty solid.

Here's a link:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2383&filter=mobile%20baseI have this base under my Craftsman jointer & it works great. I also had it under the original factory base before I made the new cabinet. You can just see the metal of the base under the face frame on the side there is also a shot of the in-feed end with the pedal.

This base is on sale at Rockler now for $39 & works great. I also have one on my 14" band-saw with one improvement on the side where the pedal is mounted, a piece of 1 1/2" square metal tube with tabs that run out underneath the ends of the side 1 1/2" wood stretchers. Part of the reason I did this is my bases have fir 1 1/2" material I didn't have hard wood that I was willing to sacrifice for a tool base at the time but did have some used metal tube. The fir underneath the 6" Craftsman jointer has never been a problem. If you want to make a real strong base use all metal tube & the base will still be fairly inexpensive. I also have one on my Grizzly floor model radial drill press.

I just ordered the Shopfox base for my Belsaw floor model planer only because it is quite bit heavier. This tool base has fixed wheels on one end & casters on the other end.

In talking to the tech rep I was able to get the part number for the casters used on one end of this tool base they cost $4.50 each so I'll have casters on all 4 corners of this base underneath the planer making it much easier to move the heavy piece of machinery. I need to store the planer with one side against the wall & when pulled out for use turn it 180 degrees for use this is the reason for 4 casters.

Besides that I think anyone in a small shop will agree its easier to store tools when you can wheel them straight into where you want to store them & not struggle with fixed wheels.

[Tyler Purcell]

Thanks for your replies, everyone! You've all helped me a lot. Today I built myself a lumber rack... looks like the top of a slippery slope to collecting lumber. I already have used my Rikon saw to mill some boards out of maple that fell in my back yard a few weeks ago..

[Don Morris]

The locking casters are a must for any jointer on a mobile base. I also had tipping problems with long pieces on my 6" jointer, but you do things like add weight, shift your position, put your foot on a counter balance area, etc. to prevent it. I thought that was almost dangerous, and at the least, difficult to control. Thus, because of that I went to an 8" jointer ASAP. It's on a mobile base, and I haven't ever had any tendency to tip even when doing long boards.