Mobile tool base modification

I had my tablesaw and bandsaw on commercial mobile tool bases made by Shopfox.  While they look sturdy, there were a few things I didn't like about them.
  • To prevent them from rolling around, you need to reach down and turn a couple hand screws to raise and lower pads that lift 2 of the wheels off the ground.
  • After you finish up fiddling with the screws, moving the machine and fiddling with the scews once again, only 2 wheels come off the ground
  • A couple of my wheels broke due to poor quality.

Eventually, I got around to addressing it.  Here was my solution.

The starting point

First off, here is an image of the original base.  You can see how the machine sits on plates welded inside an adjustable frame.

The 2 hand screws adjust pads that lower and raise the 2 turning casters.

This is actually an improved design over my older model.  On these, they have added some gusset support for the caster mounts, which have bent a little on my older ones.  I'll need to address that someday...

The mods

My modification to the bases use 2 main levers.  One is a long cam/lever (the horizontal board), and the other is a lock that holds the cam/lever down (the vertical board).

A similar set up goes on each side of the base.

When the levers are in the positions in this picture, all 4 wheels are off the ground and the machine is being supported by the long cam/lever.

The base now make the machines much more stable.  If a little extra force is needed to push a piece through, the machines do not move around at all anymore.
By moving the lock lever away from the cam/lever, I can raise the cam/lever, which lowers the machine onto the base wheels.  Then, I use the lock lever to support the cam lever so I can move the machine (as in this pic).
Here is how I lift the machine onto the cam/lever (while taking a picture at the same time :).

You can see a small piece of hardwood attached to the top of the cam/lever where the lock lever engages.  That made it simple to adjust the height, as I was able to easily plane that piece to get the perfect adjustment.  If necessary, it will also be simple to replace.

The square block on the lock lever helps to hold the 2 levers in the correct position when they are engaged.
To attach the levers to the base, the original hand screw anchors were cut off.  I then welded on some new anchors that are used to attach my levers.  These anchors were made from some threaded couplings (essentially long nuts) that I had in my inventory.

To help prevent wear in the lever bolt holes, I made them large enough for a bushing that the bolt goes through.
It worked so well, that I did a similar set up on my bandsaw base.

This is actually the same base model as on my tablesaw, but I welded it together because the adjustable frames were a little too short for the bolt holes.  you can see I also welded some of the casters on.