Ridgid Jointer Mobile Base

[Tom Banes]

Broke down at the orange BORG today and grabbed their last one while the lifetime service deal is still out there. Plan to either build a base on casters or order out one of the HTC adjustable bases. My gar, uh shop, forces me to roll it around with the table at 90 egress to the direction of travel 'cause the long dimension has to go against the wall and fore-aft travel is restricted by shelves. That's not the way I'd usually set up a heavy tool. I'd also like to raise it up to a more normal working height so the table's at ~30", not 24". But that puts the center of gravity awfully high, I think.

Anyone got any experience with either the HTC base under this jointer or, more generally, bases set to move at 90 degrees to the long side? How about the raise it up issue?

Any thoughts welcomed.

Regards.

[Lee Gordon]

I think mine is set up just the way you want it but I'm not the one responsible. I bought my jointer from fellow wreck-er B a r r y, who constructed a little plywood base that the machine is attached to. It accomplishes two things at the same time. First, it raises the working height of the table by about 4 inches. I find that to be a very comfortable working level. Second, there is an opening in that base just large enough to slide in a hand-truck. Then the tool can be fairly easily moved about. When I first bought this jointer I had a hell of a time getting it out of my van and into my garage/workshop (an ordeal chronicled in Woodcraft Magazine volume 1, issue 1) but thanks to Barry's homebrew engineering I have no trouble singlehandedly transporting it around the shop. If I get a chance I'll snap a picture or two and post a link.

Lee

[Thomas Bunetta]

Check out ABPW... I posted a picture of my *" on a homemade mobile base. Tom

[Thomas Bunetta]

Typing in the dark... should be "8" jointer" Tom

[B a r r y]

It's good to hear the jointer's still working out well. It was a lot of fun getting it up into your van!

Before you post pictures, let me point out that I spend NO time whatsoever on making shop jigs and fixtures pretty.

Barry

[Tom Banes]

Tom:

Already translated the * to 8 - I make that goof all the time, even with the light on.

Questions:

Casters look to be 3" and all 4 swivel. Is that about right?

WTH are the bricks for? Extra weight low on the base for stability?

I assume the casters have a swivel and roll lock. Is that enough to keep the jointer from moving as you pass a board through it?

BTW. I cheated getting mine off the truck. I unboxed it in the bed and only the table itself was unduly heavy. How I'll get it up on a rolling stand - ah, I'm cogitating even now. Something with levers and rollers and an inclined plane I suspect. The way the pyramids were done.

Regards.

[Lee Gordon]

It was even more "fun" getting it out. BTW, just yesterday the guy I recruited to help me horse it off the truck finally got his revenge. He asked me to help him move some furniture from his old apartment in Vernon to his new one in West Hartford. I originally recruited this guy because he's a pretty decent athlete and can out drive me on the golf course by a great many yards. I discovered, first with the jointer and again yesterday with some sofas, that lifting is not his strong suit. I now feel better about myself knowing that it was his wimpiness more than my own that required a

3rd helper to get the damn thing down from the van.

I too am a form-over-function guy when it comes to jigs, etc. I have never had a problem with the appearance of your homemade base which, after all, spends its life sitting on the garage floor.

Lee

[Lee Gordon]

As promised, here are links to a few pictures of the pedestal on my jointer (formerly Barry's jointer). The first shows the overall construction. Nothing fancy, just 2x4s with 3/4" particle board top and bottom. Those plus a couple of other details result in the entire jointer being about 6" higher off the ground than the way it comes from the Borg.

This picture gives a little closer look at the 2 slats Barry included on the bottom which both prevents the whole thing from wobbling on a not perfectly flat floor, and allows the insertion of a hand truck for relatively easy transport.

And here is a more detailed look at one of the attachment points which connect the legs of the unit to the top of the base.

If for some reason these links don't work for you, let me know and I'll post alternates.

Lee

[Tom Banes]

Lee:

Thanks, got it. Hand truck I don't have, but Just finished something not dissimilar on HD casters.

Interesting that Barry decided to bolt the jointer down throuh the holes designed for the leveling feet. That's my plan when I put it up in the AM.

Regards.

[Thomas Bunetta]

The casters are 3" all swivel and locking... don't need the locks, mass and inertia work in my favor even face jointing the full 8".

The bricks are me making use of an out of the way horizontal surface... they have now been wrapped with rags and duct tape to make weights for whatever a la DJM.

I hung a come-along from roof trusses and picked the top up enough to roll the base beneath it. Tom

[Tom Banes]

Tom:

Got it done this weekend. Mobile and all. Didn't follow assembly instructions from Ridgid as I assembeled the machine on the base. Bill, my nieghbor (a Brit and a good guy) helped lift the bed onto the stand after it was bolted down. It's all solid as a rock once I lock the "front" casters. THe rear ones are rigid, the front are all-locking 3" swivels. It moves easily, tucks neatly into its little corner.

Pics are at

well as pics of the "shop in service and at rest, ready for 2 cars to invade. Next (?) project is a "proper" bench that I can wheel out and back in. The existing one is fixed, though the cabinet underneath it is on wheels, my assembly/infeed/whatever table. You NEVER have enough drawers!

Regards.

Tom

[Thomas Bunetta]

Nice!