Decent Mobile Base For A 18" Bandsaw?

[Julie Moriarty]

I ordered a couple of HTC PM1000 mobile bases, one for an 18" bandsaw and the other for a 17" drill press. I assembled one to fit the BS and got our son to help me get it in place. Once there, I went to move it and the thing scared me. The wheels were wobbling and looking like they were about to break off. And the tilt of the bandsaw was making me nervous too. It felt like one bad move and the whole thing was going to topple.

Things got worse when I went to set it down. The cam arms snapped back and the machine banged to the ground. When I went to lift it back up, the cam arms wouldn't budge. One eventually bent. So the bases are going back.

Is there a mobile base that's sturdy enough for tall machines that are top heavy? I'd prefer not to have the kind that lift one side to make it mobile. Locking wheels would be fine. And it would have to be able to handle the weight. I think the BS is about 240#.

Thanks

[Bruce Page]

Hi Julie, I have a couple of HTC bases and don't care for either of them. The one under my jointer is squirrely and I had to replace the wheels on my drum sander base because they flat spotted. I have a Delta base under my MM16 that is very stable.

Here's the story: I've gone Mobile!

[Jesse Busenitz]

I have a mobile base for my Bridgewood 22" saw... have to check for a brand but it's been working great for me. Since I have access to metal fab machines, I normally make my own.... built one for my 900# Grizz planer, and most recently for a 1600# Greenlee jointer. Scary huh?

[Doug Ladendorf]

I have a couple of those HTC bases on smaller machines and done care for them either. For the 1960's Powermatic 20" bandsaw I recently picked up I got the Shop Fox base. Not too expensive from Amazon and the one I cot can handle up to 1300 lbs. the smaller one should work for you. They have feet that screw down to stabilize the base.

Doug

[Gary Salisbury]

I went mobile but am hoping to remove them when I get into my new dedicated wood shop. All my stationary power tools are JET as are the bases. (They could be something else re-branded however....)

Gary

[Al Weber]

I made mine using some 1.5 x 1.5 inch angle iron, two 3/4" ply sheets and stabilizing casters like these. (http://www.greatlakescaster.com/prod...1710-NYP-S-M12). This was for a 18" Rikon. Completely stable during moves and the pad can be let down to hold the saw in place during use. The biggest downside is that lowering the pad is not easy as you need to get down on the floor and turn the little wheels on each caster. But this gives a very stable platform and has served me well for many years. Obviously these work best on a hard smooth surface although I used them in a not so smooth plank floor in my previous shop.

[Dan T Jones]

Julie,
I have been happy with this one. I have it for a Walker Turner 16 which is very heavy (600+lbs).

http://www.amazon.com/Oasis-Machiner...is+mobile+base

Dan

[joe milana]

Heres one of mine. Some 1 x 2 square steel tubing, eight bolts, and four zambus leveling casters. Simple & bulletproof.
20150327_080350_resized.jpg

[Bill Adamsen]

I have never been happy with a purchased base, and have moved towards designing and welding up my own. For steel I use 1/4" or 5/16" angle - but I have started to believe even 3/8" is not too much. The steel cost itself is really minimal. But the cost in terms of time (designing, purchasing steel, cutting, welding) is not insignificant. Good casters are not cheap either.

The biggest engineering challenge is getting the center of gravity as low as possible, and designing caster brackets with minimal deflection. The best casters have a small rotation so that the caster support is not too far from the angle. The model I first copied were those made by Chuck Hess for his vast collection of Oliver machines (one photo attached here for illustrative purposes). But Joe Jensen did a post here on his rebuild of a jointer, and his base design is outstanding too. Those casters are expensive, and tough to shell out the money for initially, but they pay for themselves in performance many times over if using a machine that needs to be locked in place. Designing/building custom bases isn't for everyone, but over the life of a machine, it will make the machine more usable and your work with them more pleasant.

Wish I could have said ... "Buy brand X!" ... but in my experience the "off the shelf" models just don't stack up.

[Added during edit] Just noticed the link Al Weber provided to the casters ... if those are as good as they look, they look like a pretty good deal. Similar to Joe's casters above.

[Rod Sheridan]

Is there a mobile base that's sturdy enough for tall machines that are top heavy? I'd prefer not to have the kind that lift one side to make it mobile. Locking wheels would be fine. And it would have to be able to handle the weight. I think the BS is about 240#.

Thanks

Julie, why don't you want a semi-live skid design?

They really are the best for heavy machines...........Rod.

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie, why don't you want a semi-live skid design?

They really are the best for heavy machines...........Rod.

My bandsaw and drill press are top heavy. I would think this to be common. In the time spent trying to operate the mobility factor of the HTC base, it became apparent to me the small base of the bandsaw needs a very solid mobile base when you're moving it around. The two cam operated wheels of the HTC act independently. On my bandsaw, a high percentage of weight seems to fall on one operating wheel and when you disengage the cam, that corner drops hard to the ground and the whole machine tilts in the process. It seems dangerous.

I have a Delta mobile base on my drum sander that has one operational wheel. I can't see a three wheel mobile base working for a top heavy tool. But what has always bothered me about the Delta base is the lift lever. When in the down position, the foot lever is constantly gouging my ankle. On whole, the idea you have to lift up one side of a heavy machine seems unnecessary when all you incorporate a wheel lock. I have an HTC mobile base w/o wheel lift mechanisms on my table saw and I love it. When I'm feeding heavier planks, I just lock the wheels. If I could have found the right size for my BS & DP, I would have bought them instead.

Bill, I completely understand where you're coming from. I originally made a mobile base out of Unistrut and I used "Z" brackets to keep the machine as low as possible. The problem came with the wheels. I couldn't find any low profile wheels that were of good quality. What I did install on the Unistrut seemed to struggle under the load of the bandsaw. The HTC base on my TS works so well it never ceases to impress me. But so far, that's the only mobile tool in my shop that does. I don't own a welder so I'm stuck with nuts and bolts attachments when making a custom base.

Doug, I was looking at the Shop Fox bases before ordering the HTC. On the smaller base, the reviews aren't good so I didn't buy it.

As far as online ratings go, there seems to be a fairly negative view of every universal mobile base I've found. The ones that are made specifically for a particular tool seem to get much better ratings. Is this what you guys have seen too? The HTCs I bought had great reviews but a few scathing ones too. I found the latter to be more in line with what I experienced.

Thank you all for your responses. You've got me wondering if purchasing a small MIG welder might be the best way to spend the money that would be going towards good tool mobility.

[Erik Loza]

I really like the idea another gentleman posted not too long ago about making a concrete pedestal for the mobility base. Be pretty easy to bolt a bandsaw down. I would do something like that if I had the need.

Erik

[Tom Morassini]

I have the larger Shop Fox base for my Grizzly Table Saw & Band Saw. I only move the Band Saw, but only a few feet when I need it. I would say overall the base is junk, but for me it works okay. The main thing I did to deal with the top heavy problem is I used clamps to pull the crossbars as close as possible before tightening the bolts at the wheel platforms. I don't know if I explained that well, but in doing this the Band Saw and base become one so you when you push up high on the Band Saw it doesn't try to tip independently of the base.

I think biggest fail for this base is the casters. They're solid plastic with no bearing/sleeves so they don't roll all that great. Short of building your own I would think that if you buy this base and add some decent casters it should work fine for you. I think this is another one of those things that's the best junk China has to offer. I never bothered looking so maybe you can find something better with a price to match.

[Wade Lippman]

I had a HTC for my old 19" Grizzly and was in terror any time I moved it for fear it would topple over.
For my 18" Rikon I got the Woodstock D3757. Very stable and easy to use. It has poor reviews on Amazon, but there are a lot of nuts in the world.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Julie, in a semi-live skid design the bandsaw doesn't tilt side to side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Nhq5swos8

Please have a look at the above video, at aproximately 50 seconds you'll see the saw being moved.

The semi-live design keeps the saw from moving without locking wheels, and only raises the saw a fraction of an inch above the floor.

There's a reason so many bandsaw manufacturers provide that mobility kit from the factory...........Rod.