Quickie review of General International "Universal Mobile Base" (50-025)

Just put my bandsaw up on one of these. It was cheap ($69 CDN), went together pretty easily, and makes the band saw much easier to position.

A recent magazine review said the base was kind of complicated to put together, but I didn't have too many problems. Biggest issues were

1) Look at the positioning of the wheel mounts when laying out the four corners. (Attempt #1) 2) Make sure to take into account the space used by the metal bars when determining the size to use. (Lucked out, caught before I assembled). 3) Layout the bars in such a way that you don't have to use the mounting holes inside the fixed wheel mounts, because you can't. (Attempt #2)

They say it will work from 11x11 to 35x35 or 51x19. For my Delta 14" bandsaw, the size of 18 x 19 worked fine, and left me with a bunch of pieces I now have to store in case I want to use it for something else. It's rated for 500 pounds, although I wish they would have used something other than cheap plastic wheels for it.

Getting my bandsaw up on the stand by myself was a fun time. Tried lifting it up on to blocks; didn't work well. Just about dumped the saw. Ended up positioning the saw close to the wall, with the blade closest to me (I wanted the locking wheels under the blade side, so I could use the saw without moving it if it was backed against the wall). Tilted the saw back till it leaned on the wall, slid the base under it as far as it would go, then locked the wheels and slid the saw forward on the base. It slid pretty easily on the metal base, but I'm sure there's some paint missing somewhere. Of course, positioning the saw close to the wall would have gone much easier with it on the base, but it's the last time I'll have to slide it on a brushed concrete floor without the base, right? :)

The unit rolls around pretty good. I've got a good sized expansion groove down the middle of my garage, so of course, I had to try it on that. Go over it on an angle, no problems. Head on, it ain't going to happen. It also has a tendancy to get stuck on small rocks and other debris, so sweeping the floor occasionally will be required. I'm not sure how SWMBO will take this new chore, however... The saw seems a little tippier than without the base (when the wheels are locked) but I'll try to deal with that with the leveling feet. I also don't think I'll take it on any high-speed races, because it doesn't feel entirely stable in motion. But for moving it around the garage, I'm sure it will be fine.

All in all, if I need another mobile base, I'll grab another one of these. Sorry, I thought this would be briefer! How much can you write about a mobile base? More than expected, I guess.

Clint

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Clint
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