Nancy gave me a planer for my birthday this year (2008). Where to store the tool presents somewhat of a problem in the workshop. The planer is too heavy (about 90 lbs) to keep in a cabinet or on a shelve and only pull out when needed. Bench top space is too valuable to keep the tool out all the time. What I decided to do was to build a flip-top cabinet so that when the planer is not being used it can be stored in the cabinet and the top of the cabinet can be used as a work surface. When I want to use the planer I just flip the top and the planer is now usable. I'm also going to put the cabinet on casters and set the height of the cabinet to the same height as the table saw so that I can use it as an infeed or outfeed table.

I used a design from Wood magazine for the flip-top cabinet, changing the dimensions to match the planer size and the table saw height, and also added the casters. Here's a couple of shots of the shetchup design.

I've completed the construction of the cabinet, laminated the top and attached the planer. It works very well. I'll inlcuded some photos when I get a chance and maybe even a video of the the "flip". The cabinet still needs to be finished. I'm thinking of using a experimenting with gel stains ... maybe a nice cherry.