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Since my new shop is approximately 10 ft. x 20 ft., space is at a real premium. So I decided to build a flip-top cabinet to house my Performax 16-32 drum sander and DeWalt 735 planer. Unlike any designs I have seen on the internet or in magazines, this cabinet incorporates a spacious drawer on full extension ball bearing slides.

The cabinet, tool base, and drawer are made from Baltic Birch plywood. The tool base consists of a sandwich of two 3/4" BB ply skins with solid wood fillers between and 1/2" poplar edge banding all around, making it a very rigid structure. The two pivot shafts are 3/4" diameter X 12" long steel bars pressed into a 3/4" square channel between the skins and the fillers. The flange bearings on each end panel are Teflon impregnated bronze. At each end, two large washers, attached with countersunk screws, with nylon washers between them, provide a low friction rotating interface. Four barrel bolts provide stops for the horizontal positions. Locking knobs at each end thread into 5/16-18 inserts imbedded in the tool base. The locking knobs provide an extra level of security beyond the detents in the barrel bolts-and make nice bumpers when storing the cabinet against the shop wall.

After fabricating the cabinet and mounting the equipment, I realized that I could probably have eliminated the barrel bolts and locking knobs on one end. However, the extra hardware doesn't require much more time when changing tools, and it makes the cabinet feel very secure.

The flip-top rotation is very smooth. The planer is slightly heavier than the sander, so it tends to sink to the bottom, but the whole thing can be rotated very easily without any danger of it flipping over out of control!

I also designed the cabinet with provisions for about 30 lbs. of sand ballast between the wheels on each end. However, the 20" x 32" caster contact footprint and the low center of gravity provides such a stable platform that I decided to omit the ballast. I could add it at a later date if necessary.

Five inch diameter double locking casters make it a breeze to move the cabinet around in my shop and hold it steady for operation.

I am happy with the design and am looking forward to making some serious wood chips…........... :)

Enjoy!

Gallery

Comments

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1,398 Posts
Looks great.

Thanks for sharing.
 

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1,712 Posts
Very nice. Looks factory made (and that is a complement).
 

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71 Posts
INGENIOUS! I have both of those units and a small shop as well. Not as well versed with hardware pieces to think of such a great solution like you did. If you wouldn't mind sharing the plans, I might tackle something like this in the future when I have no more floor space for new equipment.
 

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90 Posts
WOw, you should submit this to a wood working magazine like Shopnote or Fine woodworking. I bet they would pay you for an article. Very nice cabinet. I like the ballast idea as other plans I have seen for these seemed like it would be a wrestling match to flip the tools over. Thanks for the post and Congrats on a really nice job abd great design
 

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135 Posts
Holy Cow!! Just what I need! I am with jfk4032 and would greatly appreciate any plans you may want to share.
 

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4,054 Posts
Top notch project…love the paint job as well : )
 

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Thank you all for your kind and gracious comments. I have been thoroughly enjoying so many of the wonderful project posts here on LJ for a long time. What a wonderful group of highly skilled woodworkers that so generously share their projects, ideas, innovations, and expertise! This is my first project post (of many, I hope) so I am glad to be able to contribute to the community.

For those of you who have expressed an interest in plans for this project, I do have CAD drawings of this project, as I do for all of my projects. I may be able to convert them over into a .pdf format to share with those of you who would be interested in them. I can't do it right at this time, but I should be able to get to it soon. I will send a message to each of you who have asked for plans when I have them ready to send. I will also include a list of the hardware and sources.
 

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11 Posts
Very well done I did something similar but only the plainer…
 

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Looks great! I would be interested in your plans for this as well.
 

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1,077 Posts
This is by far the best looking flip top cabinet I have seen posted here so far! You did a superb job on it. I need to make a couple of them.
 

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What paint and color did you use ?
 

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Well done, I have made one as well w/o the shelf. I'm curious in the threaded knobs how do the work? Mine I loosen and the swing out of the was to flip the top.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/40379
 

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30 Posts
Great project!!

Thanks for sharing!

Chris
 

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Paul, I've seen flip top designs before and I've thought of using it in my garage shop. I must say though, yours is the best design I've seen for it. Excellent job. I'd love to see the plans when you get around to it. Thanks and keep up the great projects.
 

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GREAT IDEA! I figured out long ago that my planer should be mounted right above my jointer because I always go from one to the other. You've taken it a step further- you can go from the planer right to the drum sander! I think other Jocks' envy you and I…
 

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I would definitely be interested in your plans. . . .outstanding idea. . . I will bee looking at several pieces of equipment that could invert . . . save a lot of space. . . kudos . .

George
 

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This looks great. Best flip top I've seen. Back to the drawing board for me. I thought it was made of steel at first!
 

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Thanks again, folks, for all of the nice comments. I am somewhat overwhelmed at the number of folks who have viewed this post.

I see by the number of folks who are interested in plans that I had better get busy and come up with some.. :)

To David Grimes-

The paint is Rustoleum Hammered, #7218 Dark Bronze. There are several color options in this product. A number of folks have commented that it makes wood look like metal!

To ken90712-

I looked at your flip top cabinet project-well done! When looking around for ideas, I noted that several folks who have built flip-tops have used the pivoting eyebolt locks. That is certainly a good way to go and provides a positive lock. I considered using that approach but I was concerned that in the unlocked position the hanging knobs might interfere with the tool base rotation. The threaded locking knobs I used probably take a little longer to install/remove, but they also provide a positive lock. They also make the fabrication a little easier.

However, like a lot of design issues, some of these things are no more than personal preference. As another example, the reduced width ends on the tool base of my design tucks the barrel bolts out of the way and the similar reduced width of the top of the end panels allows better access to operate the barrel bolts.
 

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That is the best tool flip top I have ever seen. Great Great job there.
 
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