Thread: WIP - New Mobile Stand/Cabinet for Thickness Planer

Looks good,

Following already!

Thanks
Harlan

Compared to the detail of the tablesaw/router table you've recently finished, this should be a simple exercise for you!

I'm a bit jealous of the choice of ply and timber you have at your disposal over there .

ajw

Originally Posted by ajw

Compared to the detail of the tablesaw/router table you've recently finished, this should be a simple exercise for you!
I'm a bit jealous of the choice of ply and timber you have at your disposal over there .
ajw

I had a hell of a time finding G2S birch ply yesterday in 4x8 let alone the half sheet I also needed. I didn't want to buy another full sheet for one panel I could cut from half of a 4x4. Oh and it may look like we have a good range of wood to choose from here but I'd trade it in a heartbeat for what's available back home. I just got back from our monthly breakfast get together of members of the CWW forum and we were discussing the various wood that we would all love to get our hands on that's available back home and how jealous we are of you guys! It's the same the world over.....
I figure I can punch this thing out in the next hour or two and have the planer up and running boards by late this afternoon. I'd have liked to have built it to match the work centre but without the planer that wasn't happening. I suppose I could have gone to The Carpenter's Square and used his 20" planer but why do that when I already have one of my own!? Anyway, it'll do fine and once I have the time I'll make some drawers to fill those spaces and make it look a little more presentable.

edit: Oh I wanted to add that the off cuts from the ply, hardboard, maple and poplar look like becoming wall storage cabinets for various tools and odds and sods I have no place for at the moment. I hope the WIP's on these give some people inspiration because if I can do it anybody can!

Well I finally got out to the garage late this afternoon. So much for having this thing done today! Once I finished cutting everything I changed my mind about how I was going to attach the top and bottom panels to the sides. In the Sketch Up drawing the top/bottom panels sit in 3/4" x 1/4" rabbets in the side panels. I decided to rabbet the top and bottom panels instead.


Here's the top panel and the shelf with the upper dividers being dry fitted. I still have to narrow the shelf by 1" at this stage. Funny thing is all but the side panels are 3/4" ply. EXACTLY 3/4"!! The side panels came from a different sheet and are the usual 23/32". That's one of the reasons I changed where the rabbets were going.

The cabinet is upside down here but I've glued and screwed the top, upper dividers and the shelf together. Everything else is here for dry fitting. I have to cut the side panels and the lower divider down in height. With the change in rabbet location the divider was going to be 1" short anyway at it's plan height but when I did some more measurements and added in the 3/4" ply that I'm going to bolt the casters to and which will be glued and screwed to the bottom panel I have to cut the sides down by 31/4" which means the lower divider comes down by 21/4"!
Now why the big changes? Well because I forgot about the difference between what I built and what was on the plan for the work centre for one thing. From the bottom of the mdf sheet of the mobile base to the top of the router table/wing it's 291/2". The planer infeed/outfeed table is 21/2" thick to be level with it's bed. If I leave the side panels of this cabinet the way they are the height of the cabinet is already 291/2". So adding the 3/4" ply supports to the bottom panel for the casters brings up to 301/4" plus the 21/2" of the feeder table and you've got 323/4". These things happen when you're designing on the fly so it's no big thing. Best to find this out during dry fitting than once it's been glued up!
So unless I have to spend all day Monday learning how to put Maddy's hair in a ponytail I'll get this sucker finished and the planer mounted up and in action so I'm not walking over maple and poplar everywhere!

edit: I've amended the image of the plan in the OP to include the changes I've made on the fly. The 1/4" hardboard back panel is now located in a 1/4"w x 1/4"d groove that runs around the top, side and bottom panels 1/4" from the rear. I've also added the new dimensions and added the supports for the casters to be attached to on this version of the plan.

Looks good except that it's probably a bit cramped at the moment.

Originally Posted by artme

Looks good except that it's probably a bit cramped at the moment.

No kidding! That's one of the main reasons why the mobile work centre is MOBILE! Same goes for the sander and - once I finish this - the planer. I don't have any wall mounted storage for board stock and I only buy stock - sheet and board - as I need it because of the limited space I have at present. The floor is covered in maple and poplar boards that have been jointed and rough dimensioned for the bed project so there's hardly anywhere to step or stand in there without standing on the stock! By late today I hope to have that sorted a little better. Now it's back to work!

edit: Oh quick note. All the ply off cuts I have will be turned into small wall cabinets for storing miscellaneous items that currently take up whatever flat surfaces I can find to stack them on. The osb I have in the garage will cut into 4" wide strips and screwed through the drywall into the studs so I can screw said cabinets onto the wall without worrying about where the studs are or about all the wall acreage I'm wasting because I'd have to leave a gap between the cabinets just to find a stud to screw each one to. Nothing gets wasted around here boy!

In between playing in the backyard with the girls, mowing the lawn and learning how to run Maddy's feeding pump I found time to work on the planer cabinet.


Here it is, albeit upside down but as close to complete as I can get for now. I didn't have any 5/16 round head bolts/washers/nuts laying around to mount the casters so this is it till I can get to a box store tomorrow evening.
I did however remove the planer and it's table from the microwave stand ready to mount it to it's new cabinet once I have it on it's wheels. I'd forgotten how heavy that table is! 21/2" of 2'x4' mdf will surprise you sometimes even with the cutouts!!

Here's the cabinet from the rear. Remember it's upside down in all these shots. The rear panel isn't glued in but it wasn't going anywhere even before I put the screws in.

Gee that lens makes the bottom panel look warped! I've had a straight edge on all the surfaces and it's good. Across the corners it's within 1/32" and Norm says that's fine so I'm good with it too!

For now the microwave cart is helping to get the mitre saw up out of the way but I have to replace the casters on it and then it's off to the basement till I can convince the missus it's future lies out on the curb!

So tomorrow evening once SWMBO returns from her office I'll head out to a box and then it's casters, final sand, 2 coats of poly to seal it and then on with the planer and table. I'll pick up some full extension slides for drawers in a little while....... probably around the same time I fit the router cabinet door to the work centre........

Yippee!

Mounted the casters on their support pieces and glued and screwed those down to the bottom using 11/4" and 2" course screws. I sunk the 5/16"-18 1" bolts into the back of the support ply and they are staying put!

She's a roller! Not a rocknrolla though. Good movie that one. Saw it on TMNOD in HD the other day. Laugh? I nearly cried!

TAH DAH! I still have to sand everything but of course I need this up and running yesterday - well a couple of yesterdays ago actually - so that will have to wait till I've planed all the boards for Emma's new bed. Do you like the neat little cord holder? I have two on the walls for my extensions cords, one on the work centre for the saw, another for the router cord and another mounted on the side of the sander cabinet. Keeps everything neat and tidy. Another Lee Valley buy there.

Well that's about it really. I'm going to put this to good use believe me. I have to fit shorter mounting bolts at the front of the table and build some drawers for this eventually but it'll do what I want it to do for now and that's all I can ask really. This is way easier to move about than the poor old microwave cart so I know this will make life in my crowded little garage happier.

Partly loaded but here it is outside ready to do some work! I have all the drawer slides ready to install which means I'd better get to making some drawers for this thing. 7 in all - one for each of the large lower spaces, one for the middle upper space and two for each of the other spaces up top. Oh and the whole unit worked very nicely today planing all the maple and poplar for Emma's bed. I had the work centre as an extended outfeed table and that worked beautifully for the long boards. Plus when it was time to roll this away it fit neatly into the rear corner of the garage beside the sander cart. Yay!

Very nice work and all in a couple of days.