New addition to the apartment accessories

[keithz]

As some of you are aware, I live in an apartment and house my lathe in a walk-in closet. Well, because space is such a premium to me, I don't have a drill press and didn't have a bandsaw until today. I bought myself a 10" Craftsman benchtop bandsaw that was on sale. It has a 4 5/8" depth of cut, which should be adequate for my needs.

After setting it up tonight, I set about cutting some blanks out of cherry, siberian elm, and mulberry. I currently have them soaking in DNA.

Now I just have to figure out how tall a base to build for it so it can double as an end table.

 

[ctEaglesc]

MOunt the BS on a sturd piece of cabinet grade plywood.("T" nuts and a second layer of PW to hide them.
Make a cabinset with a door tall enough to serve as a table and be able to use as a base for the saw even if you have to sit down while using it.
Put a set of cleats inside the cabinet to support the saw while in use.
When not in use lift the saw off the cleats turn it upside down and lower it onto the cleats.The bottom of the base you mounted the saw on becomes the "top"
YOu could also make a "revolving" top similar to those that are made to act as one tool station for 2 tools.
Think of a sewing machine cabinet.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

I would second the flip table. Go figure out what press you want and measure the height. Make the base tall enough to allow the bandsaw and drill press to flip underneath it. I would also look into the "auto on" switches that Sears have. For $20 they sell a swithc that you plug the tool into and it allows you to plug your vac and a light into it. When you turn on the saw or drill it senses the power surge and turns on the vac & light. You will NEED the shop vac. If you had the room, I would make the base widenough to have the flip stand on once side with the shop vac housed in a box / cabinet on one side or the other. With the extra space above the shop vac you could place a drawer for drill bits and extra blades. It would take a little extra space, but would hide the vac and keep it quiet.

If you really have NO room, I would design a french cleat design and make a system so you could hang the french cleat base as high up out of the way as you can. In hind sight, this may be the best solution for you as you could just place the saw out of the way on the cleat, but anywhere the cleat is installed. You can also make a small work table that can be placed on the cleat too. Many options there~ []

 

[ctEaglesc]

I've seen that switch, and though it looks like it ould be convenient most outlets in residential housing run on a 15 amp sircuits.
That's about max for a shop vac.
Both tools would need to be plugged into the same switch.I would imagine the breaker would be tripping all the time.

 

[keithz]

"Now I just have to figure out how tall a base to build for it so it can double as an end table."

This statement was meant as a joke. I am actually going to store the saw in my storage room when not in use.

 

[ctEaglesc]

It would still give you another work surface when the saw is not in use.
Also more storage area.