What do you have for a band saw base cabinet?

Jim Mattheiss

Member
Messages
467
Location
Long Hill Township, NJ
Hello All -

I have been circling around my garage and one of the minor annoyances is my band saw base and the mobile base underneath it. I have a Grizzly G0555 with the open base. I put an HTC mobile base under it and just never liked the setup. I don't like the "step on to lift" feet and the small wheels.

Additionally I'm not comfortable with the table height. I'm 5-7 and the table height is right at chest level on me and it feels too high. I want to lower things about 6 inches.

I've decided to build a 2 or 3 drawer cabinet on standard double lock casters. I used 4" double locks from Woodcraft for my table saw base and like them a lot. Should I go with the 4" again or go with the 3" DL casters? Any other caster suggestions?

If you did a cabinet what did you like/dislike?

Cheers

Jim
 
Last edited:
Jim, I am going to build a base for mine as well. Just don't like the loss of room the factory stand provides. I am going to use 3" DL casters and all the drawers I can fit. Thinking about a 3/4 back to help with racking.
 
Show progress pics. I might be able to steal.....er....borrow your ideas for my 0555.
I have been thinking about a cabinet big enough to put my Shop Vac. Currently it just sets next to the saw and takes up my limited shop space.
 
My stand is still in progress, no pics for awhile, recovering from surgery. I off set the casters on an ell bracket so the whole thing would be lower. Lost about 8" in width for foot print on the floor but the wider wheel spacing seems a lot more stable. According to my plans the final height will be around 44-46 inches.
I haven't fitted any drawers yet. They will be custom made to needs of the project. Also put peg board on the sides since the casters are eatin' floor space anyway.
 
mess-1.jpg


see that green box in the lower left hand corner, that's about 150 lb of MDF plus a couple of Bricks inside... previous owner of my BS decided the stock HF stand was too wobbly, so he used the Larry rule of 'when in doubt, build it Stout'... takes two strong young men and a crane to move it (or me, when I need to). on the plus side it makes the saw reallllllly stable. I just have to be careful when I choose to relocate it.
 
this is what i have both my bandsaw (from grzzly, and just a half step down from yours, model-wise). i built this bench specifically for the bandsaw and drill press, and used 4" casters. it's very handy, and nice to just wheel out into the driveway, and work outside on sunny days like today. the spacer on the bottom can be widened to accomodate a cabinet, as i had done with the lathe platform. i thought i had a pic of the drawers, but i don't, but you can see the space available. best thing about these benches, are they are cheap to make, and can be altered to what ever height, depth, and width you want.
 

Attachments

  • new set up bandsaw.JPG
    new set up bandsaw.JPG
    123.7 KB · Views: 75
  • 19 all set.JPG
    19 all set.JPG
    102.5 KB · Views: 68
Dan - I never considered combining tools onto a single cart . . . I have a Grizzly 13" Planer on a stand alone cart. I need to think that thru - I might be able to gain back some space doing that - assuming the geometry / access works for both machines.

Thanks everyone for the input . . . I'll be posting more as things develop.

Cheers

Jim
 
Whatever you deside to do, may I suggest you make it ridgid. Vibrations are conveyed through the base and can sometimes enhance the effect. I read an article on tuning up a BS and one of the suggestions was to top off the metal base with a thick wood top. The saw is bolted to the top as well as the motor. Although I thought the base seemed sturdy, I had a slab of 8/4 Maple needing a use, being just the size of my base top, I decide to give it a try, and sure enough, it smoothed out what I thought was normal for a 14" saw. No other variables, just the thick top absorbed and damponed the flexing of th base top.

Just a suggestion and a thought to keep in mind when you design your base.
 
This is what factored into my bying a totally enclosed base bandsaw however i have also thought about doing exactly what Bill has mentioned. Having been exposed and worked in the vibration monitoring field on heavy machinery, its not only the aspect of vibrations moving all over the show but they also have their effect in wear albeit on our small machines it aint gonna be huge. But we learn every little bit counts just like moving from 1/4 inch router bit to a 1/2 inch. If it was not significant we would not do it right?

Thanks for the thread Jim. BTW which mobile base you got that you dont like?

With your base as is you could always consider chopping it down and covering the side in some plate which you could hold on by self tapping screws. That would add weight and dampen the whole saw as well as then have it at the lower height. To me the deal breaker here would be your existing mobile base.
 
Wow, I can't believe how far behind I am in posting on my shop thread.
Here is what I did to my band saw and it is still there. For making pens, this corner table has been super at saving time. I have my small belt sander on it for sanding tubes, bandsaw for cutting blanks, next corner is drill press for drilling and then facing blanks and turn 180 degrees and my lathe is there on the wall. Here is the last picture (about 1/2 way down I think next to last picture)

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15101&page=28

I am going to have to get some pictures and catch that up.
 
BS with pictures

Hi,

I thought that title might peak your interest.

I did rotate those pics and made copies with different names and posted them. However, as you can see, they didn't get to FWW that way.

Anyway here are some pics of what I have. I designed it using Visio. I also carried the Baltic Birch home from the lumber yard on top of my car. It was a slow gentle ride, believe me.

Glenn and I made it. Glenn worked and I watched. I think that is a great father son relationship.

Enjoy the show,

Jim

The "telescoping" handles you see in the middle photo are to lift one end and move it like a wheelbarrow using casters on the back. Don't waste your time trying it. The thing is too heavy. All of the drawers are on full extension riders. The WorkSharp 3000 and it's little cabinet of "tools" resides below the BS table. This works fine unless you want to use the "see through" wheel. There is not enough light under there to make it practical. Don't get me wrong, I love my WorkSharp.

I tried the pics another way...they still came through un-rotated.

[I fixed them for you Jim. - Vaughn]

View attachment 49793 View attachment 49794 View attachment 49795
 
Last edited:
Top