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Mobile tool bases are a must for small shops or for anyone that wants to economize on space. Mobile bases allow you to move heavy equipment that otherwise would be difficult to do, or causes rough treatment to the tools, making the equipment lose its precision.
In the recent episode, DirtFarmer Jay showed how to assemble and install a Bora® Tool Mate mobile base, and he used his PowerMatic® drill press as an example. While this type of base can be used for a variety of otherwise stationary tools (i.e., jointer, drill press, band saw, table saw), many of these tools are top-heavy and have the tendency to topple when they are grasped on the top portions of the tools and moved.
While a mobile tool base lessens the chance of this happening, it does not eliminate it. In this episode, DirtFarmer Jay shows you a simple hooked handle and pull hoop on the mobile base that allows the base to be maneuvered from a standing position while stabilizing the tool on the upper portions. Simple, inexpensive, and effective, the tool can be used with all tools mounted on mobile bases.
To make your shop more convenient and safe, JUST DO IT YOURSELF!
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Hey, Dirt Farmer Jay here from DirtFarmerJay.com.
In another episode, we showed you a product
that allows you to move around
these kind of stationary tools.
The problem is, especially in tall tools like this,
you have a high center of gravity,
meaning they can topple over easily.
Well, we came up with a solution to that little problem.
Stay tuned and I'll tell you all about it.
Hey, Dirt Farmer Jay here from DirtFarmerJay.com.
We love having these mobile bases
that allow us to take stationary tools
and move them around the shop.
And, you know, there's a real temptation
when you move them to grab the tool
up on the upper side up here.
But you shouldn't do that,
simply because the tool is top-heavy
and it can topple over pretty easily.
So that means where the tool really needs to be moved from
is from down here.
Who wants to be on their hands and knees
relocating this tool 10 feet away a little bit at a time?
So the solution is to create a pull point
right here with a handle.
And all's we did right here is put a U-bolt
that's from your standard hardware store, modified it.
Let me walk you through the process of how I did that.
So the first thing we need to do
is get additional nuts and washers and lock washers
to affix this piece of hardware
because after it was placed on there,
you want it to grab both sides of the bracket
and to become a part of the structural framework
of the base.
And so we added those on
and then we need to shorten the tails of the bolt
because if we left them as is,
this loop would be sticking way too far out the front
or the tails would be sticking too far out the back
and would interfere with the inside of the base
where we were securing the tool to the base.
So those were sawed off.
Then we drilled out the holes a little bit
because they were just a little tight
and it didn't allow an easy fit of the bracket.
And once that was done,
we're able to insert the loop into the front,
first putting a couple of nuts on each side
to go on the outside and then a lock washer
and a nut on the backside of each
and then tighten it all down.
Now it was strong, it was centered,
and it became a part of the structure of the base.
Now you need to create a simple pull handle
and I did this using found materials around here.
That's a little bit of stair handle rail
that I had in my scrap bin,
a hook eye type of deal or hook with a lag bolt base.
And I just drilled it into the end
and hooked it in this way,
which now allows me to grab down below here
just right like this and I can pull this around.
Now you can build yours
out of all sorts of different materials.
It could be a piece of pipe with something screwed onto it,
a welded hook.
You could do something like a piece of one by four stock
and screw on a handle like this in the end
so it gets it easy to grab and pull around.
It works very well without being super pretty.
You can come up with your own idea of what to use,
but the principle is the same.
You need a hook like this that now allows you
not to be kneeling down, but to stand up.
And so when we press up these pedals here,
I can just reach here, grab here,
and use my other hand just to guide
and we can move this around really easy.
So there we go.
We've got a really nice way to move that around.
Once it's in the position I want,
then I'm simply going to lower the two different pedals.
It goes into its position and we're ready to go.
Safe and sound, that can get hung up somewhere else
and it can be used for other tool devices like this
where you want to have the same system
on other stationary tools.
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Great merch, hats, shirts, coffee mugs, you'll love it.
It's a great way to tell everybody else
that you'd rather put your hands to it and do it yourself.
Until the next time, this is Dirt Farmer Jay
from DirtFarmerJ.com.
