I just built a new stand to hold my band saw. It has large casters on it, two fixed, and two that swivel ala John White’s advice in a past FWW (as he said, think “shopping cart”). The stand is very strong, stable and sturdy — except that I now find that my shop floor is much more uneven than I realized, and the wheels are not adjustible. The waves in the concrete make the saw stand rock like a cafe table that needs a matchbook under a leg.
Also, while the swivel wheels have brakes, I an not 100% confident in them. I an thinking of making some airplane-style wheel chocks out of 2″ or 3″ sections of thick bungee strap connected with some cord. I’d use one pair of chocks per wheel. Should be pretty steady.
Any thoughts on all of this, especially the rocking table?
Joe
Edited 4/21/2007 10:36 pm ET by Joe Sullivan
Replies
The quick and dirty solution is to keep a few wedges with it, and wedge it until it is level and stable.
A more elegant solution would be to have some form of leveling screws on your stand, so that once you have it in position you can use the screws to level it up.
Dad used to have some pieces of 1/4-in ply wood about 4-inches square with a 1-inch hole on the middle, and a lever that were kept on his table saw stand. He'd roll it to where he wanted it, lock the casters, then start levering up the corner at the lowest spot and slipping in the pieces of plywood under the casters until it was stable.
Good idea.
J
Joe; I had the same problem, a small cramped shop with a rough uneven floor. When I built a new base for the bandsaw I put fixed wheels on one end and swiveling casters on a separate piece that can move to follow the uneven floor and be locked in place with a large homemade wingnut. I hope the picture will explain the concept better than my words. I have found that I don't need to lock the casters to keep the saw from moving.
Didn't get a picture, but the idea makes sense in concept.
Fortunately it turned out that the present "usual" location for the saw is level enough that it doesn't rock. That was a piece of pure luck. Of course, it has wheels so it can be moved, and other parts of the floor don't work that well. SO, live and learn. I'll eventually have to do something like you did, or else just make up some wheel shims like the ones an earlier poster described.
Joe
I will try to send picture again
Put a matchbook under it. <g>
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