homemade jointer mobile base questions

[Zachary Hoyt]

Yes, I'll have to experiment and see if the casters are solid enough for the machine to feel safe. Having a long base and the machine bolted down makes a lot of sense for long heavy wood, but I have never power jointed anything over 50 pounds, as my jointers have all been short 6 inchers and didn't provide much table length. I have hand planed a few joints when the wood was too heavy, but 99 percent of my jointing is pieces weighing 5 pounds or less and under 3 feet long. I'll just want to be able to pull it out into an aisle for the occasional longer board, I think.

[Keith Outten]

My 5 hundred pound planner is on a steel pipe and angle iron stand I built, I used castors in those days. It takes a lot of effort to move the planner on the castors but I can move it effortlessly with my mini pallet jack and it can turn in its own length with ease. You can use 4 by 4's or 6 by 6's under your machine to get the most comfortable height, they are as stable as the floor is, nothing ever moves. When I installed my new FB610 band saw it was a snap and I can move it across the shop today with almost no effort.

When I bought the mini pallet jack based on a recommendation from a friend I had never used one. I was totally surprised how easy it made many tasks that I do frequently, like moving my welding table close to the roll up door and manipulating sheet goods to my panel saw.

[Keegan Shields]

Hi Zachary,

I have the 8" Jet Jointer and I used the Jet Mobile base here:

https://www.amazon.com/Jet-708118-JM.../dp/B00006S7CE

It works great and is very stable even when jointing long heavy boards. I'm 6'3" and I like the height the jointer is at (mobile base + 2 layers of 3/4" ply wood + jointer)

It is important to screw a heavy plywood base to the mobile base corners and to bolt the jointer to the plywood.

The tools I have on mobile bases which aren't bolted down to the base certainly aren't as stable.

Hope that helps.

[Bill Dufour]

With a good welder and some geometry skills it is not hard to shorten a pallet jacks forks. Start with a narrow one and take 16" off the forks and they get much more maneuverable.
Bill D

[Tom Trees]

If you're welding up a base, then I think something like this can't be beat.
Obviously you might need beef it up a wee bit, and maybe put a spring latch instead of a gravity latch, which works better for the job,
SAM_4112.jpg SAM_4022.jpgSAM_4033.jpg

It is a bit tippy as I was trying to conceal the wheel, and didn't want to go to the very edge to stop that,
as I was concerned with the paddle for the wheel fouling the dust chute when deactivated.
I could have gotten the axle closer with some flat bar stock rather than the angle iron.
I didn't expect it to be tippy when designing it, or when having another bash at it. (butted the axle tight to the angle iron this time round, still not enough.)
That might explain the smaller angle iron bit, as I had no more square stock to extend the arm.
I think I have a wip on this in the description.
https://youtu.be/Lnooql_zWH4

Tom

[Michael Drew]

I have the same Jet 6" jointer. It came with Jet's mobile base. The base itself is kind of a POS with two rear casters and one in the front. They are all 2", and the rear kinda-sorta lock. On my "to do" list is to make a better mobile base for this thing, but the Jet base works well enough that I'm not terribly irritated, so there is no hurry. But anyway, regarding stability, the jointer seems stable enough on this POS base, so if you build one with casters that are not inside the jointer's footprint area, I think you will be just fine. Position them outside the jointer's case external dimensions, but not too much or you'll be tripping over them.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Zachary, I much prefer the semi-live skid design which doesn’t use casters and is more stable and easy to use.

My jointer is approximately 600 pounds and I used 1 1/2” X 3/16” angle for the base.

Regards, Rod

[Tom Bender]

Jim's comment is good, keep it very stable. And Kieth's suggestion to use 4 x 4 or 4 x 6 wood under it and a palette jack seems good. The wood will sit well on whatever floor and take out some vibration. And Bill's encouragement to modify a jack to your need should complete the trifecta. Do this to multiple machines.

[Bill Dufour]

I hope it is okay to add this link for to how to shorten a pallet jack. Never done it my self.
Bill D.

https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...et-jack-by-18/

[Bill Dufour]

You can find a used pallet jack that does not pump for very little money. I turned down several for under $20. They make a good mobile base even if the pump is no good. They can be rebuilt if you can find seals.
Bill D

[Lee Schierer]

I have an old 6" Delta Rockwell jointer mounted on a home made stand. The stand is 26" long x 18" wide x 28" tall. It has two fixed and two swivel 2" casters. It has been moved many times in my shop and in my Father's shop in the 40+ years it has been on that base. It has never threatened to tip over. To lock the jointer in place when it is used there are two toggle clamps on the feed end of the cart that lift the swivel casters on that end slightly off the floor..
20211218_171916.jpg

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you all for the continued input. I bought some M8 bolts yesterday to fasten the casters, and found a piece of 3/4" pipe to make the caster holders. Today I found a piece of 3" angle iron that looks about right, and I am hoping to get something welded together tomorrow. I had hoped to do it this afternoon but ended up making a batch of 7 banjo armrests instead since tomorrow is a finishing day.

[Zachary Hoyt]

554F636E-2A01-45C6-9EF0-CF2897B14531.jpg3315F223-0E6E-4DCF-B6B4-AEBE3E59BC40.jpg4BE03A39-AC3D-4BCF-BFC2-C246DA782636.jpg0FDF562F-F683-4A54-B3A1-D0F73C4BE971.jpg
I am resurrecting this thread since I finally made the mobile bases today. I had been going to do it before Christmas but my back began giving trouble and I put it off for a couple of weeks till it was feeling better, and then it got cold. My welding table is made of gravel, and is both spacious and fireproof, but it is rather low. Today I was able to get down on the floor without too much trouble, and it was the first day we've gotten up to 40 in weeks, so it seemed like a good opportunity.

The empty stand will be for the Delta contractor's saw, which is still sitting on the gravel for now. The jointer is now on its stand, which is parked on a piece of sheet metal that was handy. I think the gravel would be hard on the tires, and the casters would probably sink in. Once I build the new workshop at the new old house I will have a plywood floor and will be able to move the jointer and the saw quite easily. The angle is some 3x3x1/8" that I had on hand, which seems plenty strong for these lightweight tools. The casters have 3/4" stems and I have welded short pieces of 3/4" pipe to the bottoms of the frames to hold them. There is a bolt in each caster to pull them up tightly to one side of the pipe and to keep the casters from falling out when I lift the bases.

I did the cutting with an angle grinder and cut off wheel, and the welding with a Lincoln 225 AC welder and 1/8" 6011 rod. The welds are ugly but strong, and I ground the rough corners off the ends of the frames. I may even go so far as to paint the metal in the spring when the weather warms up more. Thank you all for your helpful suggestions for this project.