Would to be possible to build a flip top tool bench with a 67lb planer on one side and a 125lb drill press on the other side? Drill press profile measures 24" D x 34" H x 12" W. Planer is 24"W x 17"H x 12 D. Would the difference in weight be an issue?

Thanks,
Dan

If you make the base with a single pedestal the weight will be a problem. If it has 4 legs then the weight wouldn't be a problem. Don't understand what you intend for a flip top.

 

This is something I had in mind:

 

I'm sure you could build a flip top stand for these two machines, but using it might be a challenge. My bench top lathe weighs 120 pounds and it's a bit ungainly getting it up an down on the workbench. My 12" benchtop DP sits on a rolling stand with the DP accessories stored on shelves underneath. The wide stance of the stand was chosen due to the top heavy DP. My planer is mounted on another rolling cabinet with the scrollsaw stored underneath. The bandsaw is mounted on another rolling cabinet with the OSS stored underneath. The scrollsaw and OSS are relatively lightweight and are used on the fixed workbench in the shop. So the higher usage tools are always available and the lessor used tools are stored out of the way. Sorry about the picture rotation. It's correct everywhere else.

12" Delta Bench Top Drill Press Rolling Stand

• Jim Frye
• Oct 22, 2017

 

Would to be possible to build a flip top tool bench with a 67lb planer on one side and a 125lb drill press on the other side? Drill press profile measures 24" D x 34" H x 12" W. Planer is 24"W x 17"H x 12 D. Would the difference in weight be an issue?

Thanks,
Dan

Not in my world! It would make more sense to have both of them on a the same mobile cabinet type base.
You can rotate the base either 90 or 180 degrees to use the one needed.
No lifting heavy of off balance machines and roughly the same foot print.
You're not saving that much floor space with a 12" drill press base, only 1 sq ft!
Additional storage underneath will make up for any lost floor space.

 

@Dan Gal

Brand and model numbers of what you're intending to amount will be very helpful.

Remember the drill press when it's halfway around being the heavier as not proportional weight can become very difficult to manage on the way down. You're creating a fulcrum with drill press he says 34 in high not knowing the planer.

Flip Flop Tool Storage example

forgot these pictures

link was there not pictures

Flip Cart, Part One. FREE PLANS | How To two carts see why.

Drill press destability and I do not believe that type of car lends itself to stability for a drill press unless the card is large like the above video.

 

For a start set your planer and drill press on a 36" high stand to see if that would be a comfortable height to use them and go from there. For me, at my height, they would both be too high, YMMV.

 

I have a small shop and a small budget, so the "big" tools I have are of the benchtop class. They all sit on shop built rolling cabinets/stands. They have fixed casters in the rear and locking swivel casters in the front. The stands were constructed from 2by lumber, glued and biscuit joined together. The builder in our neighborhood gave me permission to scrounge scraps as long as they were less than 4' long. Notice that each stand is a different height to put the particular tool at the best working height. Using the 2by lumber produced stands that were rather bottom heavy. Yes, the table saw is also on a rolling stand. Just suggestions for your consideration.

 

As noted, this may give one or the other tool an inconvenient height. In particular, you may want to use an existing bench to provide infeed or outfeed support for the planer. In that case, will there be enough room below for the drill press, or would it hit the floor?

Assuming there's enough space: To make the top easy to flip, you want its pivot to be close to the center of mass of the mounted pair of tools. That means that the distance between the pivot and the center of mass of the planer should be 125/67 = 1.88 times the distance from the pivot and the center of mass of the drill press.

 

Like this? It's brilliant!

 

I suppose that might work . However, this is what I had in mind.

 

Based on the overall height of the drill press and having 85% of the weight at the top, I would NOT consider having it mounted so it's upside down just to save a small amount of floor space. Even if you balance the weight using the distance from the pivot, it will prove awkward to flip around.

Would to be possible to build a flip top tool bench with a 67lb planer on one side and a 125lb drill press on the other side? Drill press profile measures 24" D x 34" H x 12" W. Planer is 24"W x 17"H x 12 D. Would the difference in weight be an issue?

More compact machines like the planer and maybe a belt sander would be more "compatible" for a flip top application. JMO.

 

see post # six for forgotten pictures

 

And don't forget the DP table will be raised or lowered depending on the size/dimensions of the workpiece and/or any accessories you might use. My pictures showed a work table that is usually mounted and I have a dedicated mortising table that also mounts on the DP. My sense is that a DP is not a good candidate for tilt mounting.

 

You have to consider which are the most used tools in a particular shop, and if you really want to limit the convenience of having them readily available.

 

Using Dan Gal's idea, we can move the drill press forward and the planer back to put the side supports behind the column and allow larger work pieces.

 

The planer might wind up inconveniently high.

 

I am getting ready to build a mobile base that I can use for several tools. They will all be on the same size platform and will be stored in a cabinet built for then when not in use. Since the planer is heavy, I am going to just build the thing where the planer is always on the bottom and the platform exists above it.

 

Check out the Pneumatic Addict.

 

I thought they have had plans for this for almost 25 years?

 

Would to be possible to build a flip top tool bench with a 67lb planer on one side and a 125lb drill press on the other side? Drill press profile measures 24" D x 34" H x 12" W. Planer is 24"W x 17"H x 12 D. Would the difference in weight be an issue?

Thanks,
Dan

Flip top tools stands are very popular these days, but I think the weight difference would make it unwieldy. I have a 735 Dewalt planer mounted in its original rolling stand but I modified it by dropping the level of the planer to the middle shelf. I then made a plywood bench to set on top of the planer to set my drill press on. This allows both tools to occupy the same footprint with full functionality.

 

Would to be possible to build a flip top tool bench with a 67lb planer on one side and a 125lb drill press on the other side? Drill press profile measures 24" D x 34" H x 12" W. Planer is 24"W x 17"H x 12 D. Would the difference in weight be an issue?

Thanks,
Dan

I made this one many years ago, got plans from Wood magazine. I did intend to use both sides and it does function like that, but I never did mount anything on the other end.

 

How about we change the photo of a trump?

 

Unless this is mobile, the planer will usually be in the wrong place in the shop, especially for longer boards. That's a benchtop drill press and they work well on benches or a base with the table which isn't so close to eye level- a mobile base would need a fairly large footprint in order to prevent the height & weight being a stability problem and rotating the table with both attached to it means you would be trying to make 185lb move in a controlled way and one thing that's not in your favor is the fact that when it's rotating, the drill press wants to win on the teeter totter (gravity always wins). That wouldn't be a problem if you devise a system of gears or cogged chain drive and a crank- you won't need to lift anything, it won't get away from you and as long as the base is wide enough or has outriggers, it won't tip.

Looking at the diagram with the planer at the top- how will you prevent wobbling and rotation? That narrow strip needs to be wider and you'll need some way to lock it in position.

 

I actually have a couple of tools (chop saw, router, mini table saw, and my recently-departer miter box) mounted on boards that I could fit into the top of a rolling welding cart. That way the cart is where I want it, the height is good (I'm 5'4", or 164 cm), and the unused tools are sitting on a shelf.
This is the cart. I use a piece of 4X4 to augment the wheel locks when I'm sawing by hand on it a lot.
286 lb. Capacity Welding Cabinet
Wendy P.