Hinged base for TS

Duke wrote:
> Reluctant to buy a mobile base and not thrilled with building an
> apron type base, I had another idea. Watching the NYW with Norm's
> movable assembly table, it got me thinking of using a similar
> technique as a mobile base for a contractor style TS. I'm thinking
> of 2 parallel strips of hardwood or ply that are hinged to the
> inside of legs of the saw. 4 casters would be attached to the bottom
> of the wood. The part I haven't worked out is a way to make the wood
> push or drop "down" to lift the tablesaw "up" making it movable.
> Release the downward pressure on the wood and gravity (maybe too
> forcefully?) sets the saw down again. I guess a board attached to
> the rear strip and on top of both pieces of wood could push the
> pieces down, but it would seem like it would get in the way of day to
> day operations with it sticking out the front.
>
> Anyone built anything like this?

Yup, a simpler version, for my Delta bench saw. I cut two 2x4's to go from
the bottom of each front leg to the back leg. I ripped a wedge off the
bottom of each 2x4 so it was flat to the floor. Fixed castors at the back,
swivel castors at the front of the saw. The swivel castors were too wide to
get 4 screws in so I turned them diagonal and just put in two. If it didn't
work I was going to add width to the 2x4 so all 4 screws could go in. But
two held it just fine.

The front castors locked, but the saw was so light it still tended to push
around. As a stopgap measure I'd just lift the front of the saw & put a 2x4
on the floor behind the front wheels, like airplane chocks. Easy to do with
that lightweight bench saw and it worked fine. If it slid around I was
going to tack a pieces of a mousepad or old tennis shoe sole to the bottom
of the "chock" 2x4 but it wasn't necessary.

I was going to make a more "elegant" solution, but I got a Griz contractor
saw and didn't have room for both in my single car garage shop. I sold the
Delta to the neighbor across the street.

-- Mark

"Duke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Reluctant to buy a mobile base and not thrilled with building an apron
type
> base, I had another idea. Watching the NYW with Norm's movable assembly
> table, it got me thinking of using a similar technique as a mobile base
for
> a contractor style TS. I'm thinking of 2 parallel strips of hardwood or
> ply that are hinged to the inside of legs of the saw. 4 casters would be
> attached to the bottom of the wood. The part I haven't worked out is a
way
> to make the wood push or drop "down" to lift the tablesaw "up" making it
> movable. Release the downward pressure on the wood and gravity (maybe too
> forcefully?) sets the saw down again. I guess a board attached to the
rear
> strip and on top of both pieces of wood could push the pieces down, but it
> would seem like it would get in the way of day to day operations with it
> sticking out the front.
>
> Anyone built anything like this?

You might want to see if your local Home Depot has
a Ridgid tablesaw with its mobile base. You could
probably duplicate its function.

Mark Jerde wrote:

> I was going to make a more "elegant" solution, but I got a Griz
> contractor saw and didn't have room for both in my single car garage
> shop. I sold the Delta to the neighbor across the street.

P.S. Besides lever-actuated feet that would lift the castors off the
ground, the other improvement I was going to do was cut grooves in the 2x4s
parallel to the ground and make a drawer for the wasted space under the TS.
It already had a box immediately under the saw with a connector for my shop
vac for dust collection.

-- Mark