I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
bandsaw (griz 14").
I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases
appear nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.

I'm wondering if the HTC bases are worth the $$, and whether you guys
have recommendations for those or others.

Thanks

DS wrote:
: I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
: bandsaw (griz 14").
: I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases
: appear nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.

: I'm wondering if the HTC bases are worth the $$, and whether you guys
: have recommendations for those or others.

I am less than fully pleased with the mobile base on my
Jet cabinet saw. It works, but not
super well. It cme with the saw, and I'm
pretty sure it's an HTC 3-wheel model. I would replace it with
a different one if I could lift the saw off it, which I can't by myself.


Try rolling a cabinet saw on as many models as you can, and see which
ones move the smoothest.


-- Andy Barss

DS wrote:
: I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
: bandsaw (griz 14").
: I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases
: appear nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.

: I'm wondering if the HTC bases are worth the $$, and whether you guys
: have recommendations for those or others.

: Thanks

Check out the user reviews here of HTC bases:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...+base+&x=0&y=0

It seems the overall line is very good, but the 50" cabinet saw one
(which I commented on in another post in this thread) isn't up to that
level.


I have a Shop Fox base for my lathe which I like, except I wish the casters were
bigger and all swivelable and lockable.




--
ooooooooooooooooo oooooo
Andy Barss
Department of Linguistics, University of Arizona
Communications 114A, 626-3284
ooooooooooooooooo oooooo

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:46:12 GMT, DS wrote:

I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
bandsaw (griz 14").
I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases
appear nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.

I'm wondering if the HTC bases are worth the $$, and whether you guys
have recommendations for those or others.

Thanks

I bought the HTC 2000 base for my (cast iron table & extensions)
Craftsman table saw and have had absolutely no problem with it. It's
pretty easy to set up and adjust. Moving the saw around the shop with
very little cornering room is a breeze. I picked mine up from Amazon
for about $50 with free shipping back in '05.

HTH
Bill

"DS" wrote in message
newseHuj.41064$yE1.1522@attbi_s21...
I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
bandsaw (griz 14").
I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases appear
nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.

I'm wondering if the HTC bases are worth the $$, and whether you guys have
recommendations for those or others.


USA, doesn't add a huge amount to the height, and locks positively. Like
mine, and as a one-time purchase, didn't look that much more expensive than
Chiwan types. Worthy of note that the worst choice are "universal" types
which fit nothing perfectly.

"DS" wrote in message
newseHuj.41064$yE1.1522@attbi_s21...
I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
bandsaw (griz 14").
I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases appear
nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.

I'm wondering if the HTC bases are worth the $$, and whether you guys have
recommendations for those or others.

Thanks



In May of this year it has been 8 years that my Jet Cabinet saw will have
been setting on a Jet/HTC built mobile base for a left tilt 50 inch capacity
saw and I have been very pleased with it. It is the 3 wheel variety and
stays put although I have never applied the brakes. The 3 wheel set up
means no leveling and no rocking.

Keep in mind that there are left and right tilt models. If you put a left
tilt on the right tilt model the saw will be less stable as the wheels under
the saw are situated farther right on the right tilt saw model.

At the same time I added the Jet/HTC built 15 roller fold down out feed
extension. I love it as it mounts strictly to the saw and has no legs that
have to be leveled with each relocation. In all cases I literally roll
the saw to where I want it and start sawing.

On Feb 19, 3:46*pm, DS wrote:
I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
bandsaw (griz 14").
I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases
appear nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.

I'm wondering if the HTC bases are worth the $$, and whether you guys
have recommendations for those or others.

Thanks

I have 3 of their universal bases (2000 and 3000) and I love them. I
have their Sawstop base, outfeed rollers, and brett guard. Pleased
with all of them. And I've had great luck with their customer svc.

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:46:12 +0000, DS wrote:

I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
bandsaw (griz 14").
I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases
appear nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.

This post may be a little biased, since I work at Woodcraft part-time, but
I've had really good experiences with the one they sell which is just the
4 corners. A piece of 3/4" plywood is used to connect them at any size
(up to a limit) that you need. I've got one under my jointer and another
under my bandsaw. I really like the large levers for my big feet :-).
Our store sells a lot of them and I haven't seen any come back - but some
may have when I wasn't working.

With my small shop, I do wish all four wheels swiveled, but that seems to
be a no-no - probably too hard to stabilize.

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:45:01 GMT, Leon wrote:
In May of this year it has been 8 years that my Jet Cabinet saw will
have been setting on a Jet/HTC built mobile base for a left tilt 50
inch capacity saw and I have been very pleased with it. It is the 3
wheel variety and stays put although I have never applied the brakes.
The 3 wheel set up means no leveling and no rocking.

I also have the 50-inch left-tilt Jet on an HTC 3-wheel base, and my
experience is distinctly different from Leon's. Mine was sitting on a
painted concrete floor. And I had the Jet-branded JessEm router lift in
the extension table. I also had (and still have) the HTC outfeed roller
extension on the saw.

Most of the time, the saw was stable enough. On rare occasions (ripping
a _really_ hard wood, like 8/4 wenge), the saw would move in response to
feed pressure - with the brakes ON. It seemed worse when the outfeed
table was raised. And when pushing stock (not just hard woods) across
the router table, it would move frequently. I found it to be so
frustrating that I took the saw off of the mobile base. I made a
platform out of two layers of 3/4 plywood the same size as the saw base,
and put the saw on that. I used a couple of shims under the plywood to
stop the saw from rocking on my uneven floor. And I made and installed
a really heavy router table, with heavy duty leveling feet with non-skid
pads, and with a top the same size as the old extension table. With all
that mass, its much better now.

Also, the saw base is about 1/2 inch smaller than the section of the HTC
base that it sits in. The saw would _easily_ slide around in that space.
An easy fix for that problem was to fill the gap with some scrap wood.

It is quite possible the base moved because it was on a smooth concrete
floor. The most irritating movement came when working at the router
table. If not for that, I'd probably have been OK with the saw on that
base, given that it rarely moved when using the saw. But I wanted a
better router table, with lots of storage under it, so the HTC base
would have gone eventually for that reason.

A side-effect, I think, of having the saw in better contact with the
floor, is that the start-up "thunk" that happened most of the time
before seems to be gone.

BTW - if you'd like a used HTC base for the Jet cabinet saw, I still
have mine .... are you anywhere near Clinton NJ?

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:04:36 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Barss wrote:
I am less than fully pleased with the mobile base on my Jet cabinet
saw. It works, but not super well. It cme with the saw, and I'm
pretty sure it's an HTC 3-wheel model. I would replace it with a
different one if I could lift the saw off it, which I can't by
myself.

Andy,

I removed mine. I disassembled to saw to do it. It was due for a
realignment anyway ...

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

Art Greenberg wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:45:01 GMT, Leon wrote:
In May of this year it has been 8 years that my Jet Cabinet saw will
have been setting on a Jet/HTC built mobile base for a left tilt 50
inch capacity saw and I have been very pleased with it. It is the 3
wheel variety and stays put although I have never applied the brakes.
The 3 wheel set up means no leveling and no rocking.

I also have the 50-inch left-tilt Jet on an HTC 3-wheel base, and my
experience is distinctly different from Leon's. Mine was sitting on a
painted concrete floor. And I had the Jet-branded JessEm router lift in
the extension table. I also had (and still have) the HTC outfeed roller
extension on the saw.

Most of the time, the saw was stable enough. On rare occasions (ripping
a _really_ hard wood, like 8/4 wenge), the saw would move in response to
feed pressure - with the brakes ON. It seemed worse when the outfeed
table was raised. And when pushing stock (not just hard woods) across
the router table, it would move frequently. I found it to be so
frustrating that I took the saw off of the mobile base. I made a
platform out of two layers of 3/4 plywood the same size as the saw base,
and put the saw on that. I used a couple of shims under the plywood to
stop the saw from rocking on my uneven floor. And I made and installed
a really heavy router table, with heavy duty leveling feet with non-skid
pads, and with a top the same size as the old extension table. With all
that mass, its much better now.

Also, the saw base is about 1/2 inch smaller than the section of the HTC
base that it sits in. The saw would _easily_ slide around in that space.
An easy fix for that problem was to fill the gap with some scrap wood.

It is quite possible the base moved because it was on a smooth concrete
floor. The most irritating movement came when working at the router
table. If not for that, I'd probably have been OK with the saw on that
base, given that it rarely moved when using the saw. But I wanted a
better router table, with lots of storage under it, so the HTC base
would have gone eventually for that reason.

A side-effect, I think, of having the saw in better contact with the
floor, is that the start-up "thunk" that happened most of the time
before seems to be gone.

BTW - if you'd like a used HTC base for the Jet cabinet saw, I still
have mine .... are you anywhere near Clinton NJ?

I'm in FL. Shipping would probably be a killer.

Question I forgot to ask:

Does having a mobile base affect alignment or stability of heavy tools?
Just wondering if any flex in the base could cause problems I wouldn't
have with the tools on solid concrete.

Thanks

Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:46:12 +0000, DS wrote:


I've decided to mobilize my cabinet saw (jet), jointer (griz 8"), and
bandsaw (griz 14").
I've never used a mobile base before. Looking a pics, the HTC bases
appear nice and beefy, whereas the woodcraft model looks a bit less so.


This post may be a little biased, since I work at Woodcraft part-time, but
I've had really good experiences with the one they sell which is just the
4 corners. A piece of 3/4" plywood is used to connect them at any size
(up to a limit) that you need. I've got one under my jointer and another
under my bandsaw. I really like the large levers for my big feet :-).
Our store sells a lot of them and I haven't seen any come back - but some
may have when I wasn't working.

With my small shop, I do wish all four wheels swiveled, but that seems to
be a no-no - probably too hard to stabilize.


I have several tools on the type of bases where the four corners connect
via adjustable
rails. One is the delta style with wooden rails and one big pedal in
the middle of the front rail. The others are the type with metal angle
stock and smaller levers on two of the wheels. I have had no trouble
with stability on the any of the tools; these include contractors saw,
bandsaw (open stand type), router table, jointer. I agree that it would
be nice in some cases if all 4 wheels would swivel. Basically the tools
in my shop fall into two categories - they are either mobile or they are
bolted down.

I always wondered how people installed a heavy tool on the type of base
that is one piece designed to fit the tool. With the bolted together
type I found it simple to bolt together two base halves, slip them
separately under two legs at a time and then bolt the halves together to
finish the base.
John