I recall seeing an article in Fine Woodworking some years back that showed a work stand for a portable 12″ planer with a unique feature. The planer was bolted to a platform that rotated on a metal pipe such that it was stored in an inverted position inside the stand and was flipped upright and locked in place for use. The purpose of this setup was to store the unit under a tablesaw outfeed table or bench. I’d like to build such a unit, using my tablesaw outfeed table as an infeed table for the planer. I thought the flip up idea was great, as I don’t relish hoisting the planer up onto a stand every time I want to use it. The problem is, I can’t readily find the article, and that’s going back 10 years in FWW. Does anyone remember this article or have ideas for a similar design?
Conrad
Replies
Conrad,
I am pretty sure that it was in an issue of "Wood" magazine from Better Homes and Gardens. They used to publish a series of articles on shop layout, and it was in one of those.
Good luck, Tom.
Tom,
It was definitely in Fine Woodworking. That's the only such mag. I subscribe to. Thanks for your help, though.
Conrad
Looks like the "tools and Shops" 2008 Issue
That is all I could glean out of a look at the linkCapt. Rich Clark
--DUCT Tape is the "force"... It has a Light side and a Dark side and it binds the universe together
That's the one. Thanks Rich.
Conrad
This the one? http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011195044.pdf
Jim
Jim posted a great link, with a great plan for just what the original poster asked.But I noticed that the plan had a piece of 1/2" steel rod as the "axle" for the flipping device.Maybe your "portable" planer is different from mine, but mine probably weighs close to 80 pounds. I'd worry at least a little bit that the weight would soon bend the rod.Perhaps the design is still a great one, but you might want to modify it to use some 1-1/2" pipe.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
Mine's 70 lbs, and I upped the rod size to 5/8 which was available from the local borg. It's been a couple of years, and no hint of bending. The rod is epoxied into the side members to prevent the top from splaying, so the structure's pretty rigid. I had to adjust the height measurements to suit my tablesaw.
Jim
Jim,
Haven't looked at the article for some time now and if I recall it was from a regular here on Knots, uh Sequim? methinks.
Anyway, I would think most of the weight would or could be on the ends of the pipe and not the center and thus you could get away with some bolts instead, depending on how you constructed the pivot point.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I believe the idea behind having a solid steel rod, apart from it being very difficult to bend, is that it holds the sides of the cabinet solidly together once it's epoxied in place. The rod doesn't move, the top pivots round it. Because there's a flip top, there's nothing else joining the cabinet sides together, apart from a couple of shelves near the base. You can't strengthen the front and back of the cabinet either, because the planer needs room to swing. Without the rod, it would be a very weak structure indeed, and the weight of the planer would eventually force the sides of the cabinet apart at the top. That's what happened to a lot of medieval churches when they added stone spires to them without additional buttressing. The walls splayed out at the top, and the spire fell straight down the middle. Ouch. End of church, and anyone who happened to be in it.
The design was part of Matthew Teague's new workshop.
Cheers, Jim
I built mine from the plans in WoodSmith several years back. I used a piece of 1/2" drill rod, with flanged bronze bushings, and locking collars. WoodSmith's plans has four eye bolts, with knobs at the corners, which lock top in place. I have a 12" planer, and a sander (6" disk / 4 X 36 belt) on mine.
Apart from Jimurock's excellent points, if you use bolts there will be a torsional effect as only one end of the bolt will be supported This may tend to enlarge the holes.
Enlarge the holes! HOW OFTEN YOU FLIP the thing over? I used the threaded rod and cut off the threads in contact wit the wood!
I would have thought that the constant leverage - up on the outside, down on the inside - could well compress the wood, regardless od any movements.
If you're worried about the weight of the axle compressing the wood why don't you run the axle inside a length of 3/4" black pipe? You could anchor the pipe to your cabinet with flanges over the exit holes for the axle and the weight would then be taken up by the flanges and pipe.Regards,Ron
Ron,It's not my planer, unfortunately. However, my point is that an axle would be OK as the weight of the planer would be spread over, say, 2inches of wood, downwards.If however the OP used bolts then the weight of the planer would tend to twist the bolts so that the force is concentrated downwards at the inner face of the wood and upwards at the outer face. This could cause crushing.
In the original design the rod / axle is glued into a hardwood support strip as deep as the cabinet, and the support strip is itself fastened to the double thickness cabinet sides, so the weight load is, as you say, well spread out. I suppose the most stress is on the edges of the fliptop, where the axle goes through the hardwood sides of the torsion box, where the only protection provided is a couple of washers. In practice I haven't found any wear in a couple of years' use. I suppose if you wanted to be supersafe you could add a metal collar, but that would mean increasing the depth of the torsion box.
Jim
I used 1" oak dowel for pivots
Very nice and practical. At the end of the day what matters is that it works. Wooden pivots will probably cause less damage to the holding wood that metal bolts but again, I talking about a possibility not an observation.
Jim,
I'm not a paid on-line member; I just get the old fashioned magazine. I tried to access the link you gave, but they wanted a password, etc. Could you reference the magazine (by number or month/year) the article was in? Thanks so much.
Conrad
Conrad,
I built a flipper stand several years ago for use with a planer and reciprocating spindle sander. My reasoning was that I almost never use both of these units at the same time. Also, they serve to counterbalance each other. I used wooden dowels as pivots on a v-block in mdf. Neither of these are great bearing materials, but the unit has been in use for several years with no problems.
I would be glad to answer questions after you look at the pictures.
Best regards, Tom.
Tom,
Nicely rendered. That looks like a very good solution to storing two tools in the space ordinarily taken up by only one.
Thanks for posting the photos.
The oak "handles" - are they used just to ferry the cart around on the casters?
ZoltonIf you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
Zolton,Thanks for the comments. Yes, the unit can be moved about like a wheelbarrow. When set down, the casters do not touch the floor.Tom.
Tom,
Thanks for the pics of your setup. It looks like a very nice system. I've already started construction on the version from FWW; just got back from purchasing the 1/2" metal rod. Thank you again to everyone for your comments and advice.
Conrad
Tom, that's a very good-looking stand! As it happens, I have the same oscillating sander, picked it up at an estate auction a few years ago. Am going to need some new sleeves, what brand do you buy for yours? Do you happen to have an owner's manual/parts list you might be willing to share?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Howdy,Thanks for the comment about the stand. I don't have a particular brand for sleeves, just whatever I am able to find. I would appreciate some guidance if you find a good source. I do have the original owner's manual. (Sears model no. 113.225705, manual is part no. SP6031) I would be glad to copy and mail it to you. Send me an email with the address.Best regards, Tom.
Conrad, I don't think I have ever seen the article but have seen a number of plans for what you want to accomplish. One plan I recall actually had two tools mounted. One was a portable planer and the other was a bench top drill press. Another plan was just a portable planer on side and then effectively a work surface on the other. I have about 60 inches of table to the right of my blade and don't use it for much so now I keep my planer on that so i don't schlep it around too much either. Portable or not, they are still heavy. There are a couple plans at plansnow.com
Ed
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled