Having looked all over for a suitable mobile base for my new Grizzly cabinet saw, I decided to make my own out of hardwood. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, I'm about 6'5" tall, so I wanted to get the table height up to 40" without the saw getting too tippy. Also, I wanted something beefy and attractive and thought this might be a good opportunity for me to practice a number of woodworking techniques that I'd not attempted before.
The four main parts are made of red oak. I used mortise and "stub-tenon" joinery, with bench bolts purchased from Lee Valley. I made the mortises on the drill press with a forstner bit and cleaned them up with a chisel. The stub tenons I made on the tablesaw with a stacked dado. The combination of the M&T joints with the bench bolts is probably overkill, but this thing is solid as a rock.
I also used 4" double-locking urethane casters from Woodcraft and the angled steel I found at Home Depot in the "Simpson Strong-Tie" rack. They're very thick and were about $10 each. I couldn't believe how pricey they were, but they're perfect! I did have to drill some smaller holes in them for lag screws, however. Each one sits in a small recess created with the dado stack.
For the finish, I just sprayed 3 thin coats of Cabot spray varnish. Nice and easy, but it did take several days to fully dry.
Now if I can just figure out how to get my saw onto the base!