Hi Everyone,
This is a project that I've been meaning to build for quite some time now. Since my shop is in a 1 1/2 car garage, conserving floor space is a hot topic with me. I'm always looking for ways to maximize my space and a flip top tool stand seemed like the idea way to go.
A flip top tool stand is not a new idea. Over the past several years a number of woodworking magazines have featured their own version. My problem lay in the fact that I own a 13" Rigid Planer and most of the designs were built to accommodate a much smaller Delta or Jet version.
I guess you can call me the consummate engineer. I can never be satisfied with an existing design. Many of the flip top tool stands plans I examined had flaws.
Many of them were too tall. The higher off the ground you place the tool, the greater the moment. Therefore, the greater the chance that the tool will become top heavy and tip over. Call me anal, but I also like to maintain the same height as my table saw for all my shops work surfaces.
Some featured storage drawers where there should have been provisions for ballast.
One design featured a locking tab to secure the tilt top that was only secured with a wood screw. How long would that hold in place before it stripped itself out?
Another design used a 2" long section of 1/4" or 3/8" diameter rod as the pivoting shaft. The Rigid Planer weighs in at 80 lbs. Couple that with the weigh of the belt/disc sander attached to the other side of the tilt top, the weight of the tilt top itself, and any workpiece you may be feeding into the planer, you be surprised at how fast that pin would deform.
The pivoting shaft of all of the designs rested against the end grain of plywood. I just thought that was sloppy.
With all this in mind, I decided to design my own stand. Since we just switched to 3d Solid Modeling at work, I decided to draw the entire assembly in Solid Edge V16. After I was finished, I could then have a coworker examine the 3D model using a structural analysis program (all on my own time of course). :>)
The sides of my flip top tool stand were fabricated from (2) plys of 3/4" plywood, while the top and bottom of the ballast box were comprised of single plys of 3/4" plywood. When I went to purchase the plywood, Home Depot didn't have any Baltic Birch left. So I ended up purchasing Oak plywood.
To conceal the ends of the plywood, I used 1/2" thick walnut. The gusset panel on the front and back was oak plywood trimmed in 3/4" thick mahogany. The gusset panels conceal a 6" high cavity that I filled with (2) 50 lb bags of play sand.
The torsion box that makes up the tilt top was made from some left over 3/4" Baltic Birch trimmed in 1 1/2" x 2" mahogany. Now don't get all crazy on me! The mahogany was reclaimed from Japanese shipping crates. It wasn't really furniture grade.
Speaking about the tilting top, the shaft is fabricated from a 36" length 1/2" galvanized steel rod. It was inserted into the tip top and trimmed to size near the end of assembly.
To address my concern about the steel rod bearing against the end grain of the plywood, I fabricated bearings from (4) 1" diameter x 3/4" thick phenolic discs. I drilled a 9/16" hole through these on the lathe and fit them on the shaft. The bearings were received by a "U" shaped cutout that I routed across the top/middle of each panel.To stop the bearings from working loose, and to hide the shaft/bearings, I fabricated a walnut "cap" for each side.
To lock the tilt top in place, I used a feature I borrowed from Woodsmith's Tilt top tool stand. Each corner of the tilt top received a 2" x 2" cut out. In that resided a 5/16" diameter x 5" long eye bolt. This eye bolt was held in place by a 1/4"-20 carriage bolt. When you needed to lock the top in place, you pivoted the eye bolt assembly 90 degrees into a routed slot. It was then secured by washer and star knob.
I must admit, when it comes to mobile bases I usually take the easy way out. Rather than design anything fancy, I used an extra Delta Universal Mobile Base that I had laying around the shop. These inexpensive bases work quite well and allow me to move my tools around with ease. Besides, the price was right. The 1-1/2" square wooden rails were fabricated from hickory (my freshly sharpened WWII saw blade is still whining about that!).
It took a bit of planning to accurately drill the holes for mounting the Belt/Disc sander and planer. The planer installed easy, but needed 5/16" x 5" long hex bolts. The Belt/Disc sander is an old Grizzly whose casting featured blind holes so un-evenly spaced, that I needed to make an adapter plate in order to facilitate it's installation!
Below you can see pictures of the tilt top stand with the tools attached. Both tools miss the gussets by plenty of space and work beautifully with the stand. The sander is at the perfect height for me to work on without stooping, or leaning forward. The planer is set so that I can use my table saw as an outfeed table.
With this project out of the way, I clear up some floor space that will allow me to change the layout of my shop for the better (I hope).
Maybe now I can finally work on completing my DC system upgrade and install that darn cyclone!
Thanks for viewing.
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Originally Posted by George Matthews
