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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 A little quality control is needed.Apr 29, 2011
By Morty3
When my first base arrived I noticed that one of the rear wheel assembly welds was not attatched. I returned it to Amazon and in two days recieved a replacement. The replacement had the exact same problem! I contacted the HTC company and they were ready to blame it on shipping. Both boxes arrived in perfect shape. There is no way this happened due to a shipping problem. If it can't survive the shipping process, it will never sustain a 300+ lb jointer sitting on it. If the welds were sound it might be a pretty good mobil base. I returned the second one as well. It looks like the HTC company could use a little quality control, or a better welder. Overall a frustrating experience.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Does the jobAug 19, 2007
By Steven M. Brown
This base does a reasonable job of allowing me to move my 54A around the garage. Howeve, there are a couple of design flaws. The first is that it is not very snug on the machine - it looks like was originally designed to work on a larger machine. The jointer will move around some in the base.
The second is the locking mechanism on the end with the castor wheel. The lock is a little on the whimpy side and it is placed too close to the wheel and won't allow it to turn 360 degrees.
There are tabs on either end of my 54A that have holes so that the machine can be bolted down. I would be nice to have corresponding holds in the base so that it could be bolted down.
Still, bottom line, I can move it where I need to.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 It works, but with limitationsMar 02, 2011
By Alan Mazer
I think the title says it all: I was a little disappointed in the base but it works.
Pros:
1. It seems sturdy, and with just 3 wheels, should be more supportive than a 4-wheeled version on an uneven floor.
2. The wheels seem to lock down well enough.
Cons:
1. The instructions were not at all clear. They work if you give it some thought.
2. As other reviewers said, you really need holes in the base to match the holes in the jointer stand, and you need to drill these yourself. A drill press, some oil, and a good metal-drilling bit are all that's required, and it turned out well, but I'm not sure why, for this price, and given that this is a model-specific base, HTC couldn't have drilled these holes when they were drilling the others.
3. The little lock on the rotating caster seems to lock when I don't want it to, and is, as another reviewer said, a little flimsy.
4. There's a huge downside to having just 1 pivoting wheel, particularly with a jointer which extends far beyond the base. You can't pull the jointer out from a wall. You pull the single-wheeled end out, and then the other end of the jointer hits the wall. In other words, this base does not work well in tight spaces.
Now all this said, I'm not sure I'd be happier with any other product. But anyone spending this much money on a mobile base should probably be aware of the downsides. If it were $50, I'd give it 5 stars for sure. But at 3 times the price, and having waited several weeks for delivery, I think I might have been better off with something more generic.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 HSC model HSB-2855 is great for 54A Powermatic jointerJun 13, 2010
By Perkmeister
The HTC custom mobile base, model HSB-2855, though a bit pricey, in my view is a great choice for making the Powermatic model 54A jointer...mobile. Because the 54A is 350 pounds when fully assembled, I left it mostly unassembled until I had the mobile base available for setting the jointer base into the mobile base.
The mobile base is larger than the jointer stand to allow space for the securing tabs on the jointer stand to fit within the mobile base. Center the stand in the base and use a center punch to mark for drilling 7/16 inch holes through the mobile base stand for 3/8 x 3/4 inch long bolts with lock washers.
The instructions supplied with the base were not exactly on point, and seemed to be written for their standard models. After laying out all the parts and studying the instructions and diagrams, it was easy enough to figure out how the locking lever was attached next to the front swivel wheel. The picture on Amazon.com of this base does not show the locking lever installed, but the picture for HTC HSK-593 is representative of the installation next to the front swivel wheel. The rear wheel locking levers effectively secure those wheels. Thumbs up.
Powermatic 54A Deluxe 6-Inch Jointer with Quick-Set Knives
Not a great design.Jun 20, 2011
By Timothy N. dePlume
"chairmaker"
Summary: This base is sturdy, does not protrude, wastes no floor space. It has done an adequate, if only adequate, job for me for many years, and thus earns three stars.
Criticism: The tripod design, I fail to comprehend. Is it a boat trailer or a mobile base? Is someone going to tow it somewhere? This base is far more difficult to maneuver than it should be, and a bit less stable. The question is WHY? The following characteristics are essential for any mobile base:
1. It should have one wheel at each of four corners.
2. All four wheels should swivel, lock and unlock reliably and easily by foot pedal.
3. It should not present a tipping hazard.
4. It should not interfere with the work or the worker or create a tripping hazard.
5. It should place the equipment at an appropriate working height for you, the user.
These are not suggestions, but axioms. It really is just that simple. If you can't find such a mobile base on the market, buy four quality wheels (e.g., the orange, hard plastic wheels from Rockler that swivel and lock, or the same kind in blue from Kreg if you prefer). They cost about $15 apiece. Make sure you get wheels that "double-lock." That is, when they are locked, they neither roll nor swivel. Smaller dia. wheels are somewhat more stable, as they provide a lower center of gravity. For the price of this base, you could have the base I'm describing and even build in some retractable floor locks, if you wish, for added stability.
You CAN build your own custom-fit mobile base. Yes, you can, and you don't need "plans" beyond those in your mind's eye. You are a craftsman, after all. Double-thick 3/4" BB ply and a few coats of poly, and bolt the machine to the base. Dado the ply into side rails or build a torsion-box base if you yearn to get fancy. Play around with the dimensions and design until you have just the right combination of solidity, stability, height and mobility. You will be more pleased with the base, and far more pleased with yourself, than you will be if you buy this awkward mobile base, which must be parallel-parked every time you move it. And, you will have a story to tell every visitor to your shop. You are a genius, an inventor. Yes, that's it, you are an inventive genius, with tools on wheels.
Ah, if only I'd known 10 years ago what I know today...
I find myself picking up the left side of the jointer bed -- the side with the two fixed wheels, and "scooting" it laterally, pivoting the whole contraption on the front wheel, hoping the base will follow the tool sideways. This can't be good for the base or the jointer or my back. When you find yourself doing this sort of thing with a tool, it's a sure sign there's a problem with the tool or the user. In my experience, it's far easier to blame, and fix, the tool.
Context: I began woodworking sans electricity at age eight. I'm now 51 and I picked up the hobby again a dozen or so years ago. I bought this tripod-on-wheels about 8-9 years ago, when I knew I needed a jointer but hadn't given much thought to mobile-bases. I design and build furniture for myself, family, friends on weekends. I work in a 400-SF garage shop and thus play musical chairs with my equipment regularly. I'm 6'2" and have found that most equipment (including my Powermatic jointer) sits about 3-5" lower than would be ideal for me.
p.s. on a related subject: I have often wished I had waited a bit and bought an 8" jointer. My 6" jointer will handle about 90% of my jointing needs, but an 8" jointer would bump that up to about 99%. Not a big difference, you say? It's a HUGE difference. If you don't have the tool you need, you will make compromises in your work and you will not be at peace.
OK, that's the end of my review. Here's a little postlogue, just for fun:
Imagine this solution to the mobile base issue: You have a 3,000 SF shop with a 20-inch, helical-head Martin jointer that stays planted in one convenient location at all times; the north side of your shop is situated at the base of a mountain forest, the south side faces a horse ranch on a Pacific ocean coastline; you own both the ranch and the mountain; your shop interior is painted brightly with ample overhead lighting provided by skylights, with a solid white oak floor; dust collection, electric and compressed air service drop down on command wherever and whenever needed from the rafters above; warm sunshine, a cool mountain breeze, and scents of pine mingled with freshly turned soil waft in through the open window; sounds of songbird music and horses playing in the distance, mixed with the lapping of ocean waves against the shore. Your loft is chock full of cured hardwoods from around the world. Magnificent multi-colored, highly figured cocobolo slabs 4 inches thick by 6 feet wide and 30 feet long, quilted and curly maple, logs of ebony and boxwood air-dried for 100 years, ancient-growth walnut and mahogany flitches, stacks of flawless 8/4 planks of quartersawn oak, 36" wide and 12' long. No telephone, no computer, no responsibilities, no deadlines, no interruptions. A dutiful and admiring helper, an attractive young co-ed who volunteers all her spare time in your shop in exchange for the privilege of watching you work and learning from you, who wears tight jeans that outline her perfect figure with nary a wrinkle or bulge, and a white blouse well open at the top for ventilation, who worshipfully keeps your plane irons and chisels honed to perfection, who brings you refreshments and competently helps with tedious glue-ups, who sweeps the floor and carefully puts away your tools and clamps and finishing supplies at each day's end, who has far more talent than you but who is also far too innocent to know that. These, my friends, are the facts of the perfect mobile base, the Zen mobile base, the existential mobile base, the mobile base for which being and nothingness merge into universal consciousness, the mobile base whose material existence is utterly irrelevant. If a worldly object could earn six stars, the mobile base that lies beneath the Martin jointer in this story would be that object, axioms be damned.
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based on 7 reviews
