On Saturday, December 21, 2019 at 6:33:51 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I got a new bench belt sander for Christmas. It works great and does
the exact job I wanted it to do.

Once it was working and checked out, came the next big question, "Where
do I store it?"

I have a small shop and have maximized the space by placing all of the
work areas on wheels so I can move the need parts into the best position
to get a good work flow.

While there are a couple of bench tools like the drill press and Band
saw that have permanent space, all of my other similar bench tools are
on a base so they can be pulled off of the shelf clamped to the works
space when need.

The belt sander messes up the system in that I am looking for a place to
store it when not in use. I had thought of placing it on a base like
my other tools but it is 28"X14"X24" LWH and weighs about 40 Pounds so
is not as portable as my other tools.

I did some research and a flip top cabinet kept coming up. It looks
attractive in that you could put two bench tools in one space, flipping
it over as you need the different tools.

It seems there are draw backs.
It seems like there would be a problem flipping it especially if the
tools were not nearly the same weight.

It seems as if there would be a danger of loosing control during the
flip and damaging the tool or cabinet. There Could be nearly 80 pounds
on the table in the two tools. It just seems unwieldy.

I assume you've checked out YouTube for a plethora of videos on flip top tool
stands. It does not appear that your concerns are warranted.

Balancing is easy via both positioning and adding extra weight (e.g. thin
steel plates, etc.) although I'm not even sure that that is necessary.

This seems typical of the videos I've watched:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiDv...youtu.be&t=444



Has any one had experience with a flip top cabinet for tool storage?

Are there any suggestion for storing bench tools in a small shop so they
are more or less always available?

Bolt them to 2 x whatever base and clamp them to your workbench when needed.
I've got a vice set up like that, my bench grinder has enough of it's own base
to fit a clamp, my sander doesn't need to be clamped, at least it hasn't
so far.

Both the grinder and the sander sit on an open bottom shelf of the workbench.
I have receptacles mounted across the front of the workbench. It's not unusual
for me the leave the tools where they are, plug them in and use them for
a quick grind or sand right while squatting down.