Bora Portamate Tool Mobile Base
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- čas přidán 24. 08. 2024
- The Bora® Portamate PM-2500 Heavy Duty Mobile Base is just what we needed to make our drill press mobile in our shop!
We really like our PowerMatic 2800 drill press. It was created with woodworkers in mind and has some really cool features, including speed changes on the fly (with LED RPM indicator), an oversized and extendable work table, and a great fence system with integrated dust collection. It’s a premium tool, with the weight that goes along with it. Weighing in at just under 250 pounds (112 kilos), it’s stable and massive. The trade-off is that it’s not mobile without a lot of effort.
What to do? In this episode, DirtFarmer Jay unboxes the Bora Portamate PM-2500, sets it up for installation under the PowerMatic® drill press, and installs the drill press on the base. You’ll see how to install and use this product, step by step.
The Bora Portamate PM-2500 HD Universal Mobile base rolls smoothly under a heavy load and locks securely when the tool is where you want it. The base is rated to safely carry up to 650 lbs./295 kg (our drill press is just about 270 lbs./122 kg). Depending on how the side rails are set up, you can accommodate square tool bases from 12” x 12” up to 36” x 36” (30 x 30 cm up to 91 x 91 cm) or rectangular tool bases up to 20x52 inch (51x132 cm) rectangle. Size changes are in 1” (2.54 cm) increments, and the base lifts the tool only 1” off the floor.
We bought ours at Rocker.com on sale for just under $60, and shipping was free. Rockler’s link is www.rockler.co.... And, there are several other retailers that carry Bora® products if you prefer to buy this base elsewhere.
CAUTION!!! Any full-sized drill press is top-heavy, so extra care must be taken when rolling the unit to avoid having it topple over, injuring you (or worse!), or damaging the tool. Just because you’ve placed the tool on a rolling base does not cancel the laws of mechanics and physics! Exercise care and move the press smoothly and slowly. A freshly swept or vacuumed floor is highly recommended, and use extra caution when moving the base/tool over floor cracks and expansion joints. Also, always PUSH OR PULL VERY LOW ON THE TOOL, OR THE BASE, NOT THE TOP OF THE TOOL! This is especially important for top-heavy tools such as bandsaws and drill presses.
Enjoy our other episodes featuring this great drill press by visiting these LINKS:
- How Good is the Powermatic® PM2800 VS Drill Press? • How Good is the PowerM...
- Fast Drill Press Fence Upgrade - • Fast Drill Press Fence...
- Two “Gotta-Have” Drill Press Accessories - • Two “Gotta-Have” Drill...
If you have a small workshop that you need to share space with a variety of tools (and perhaps a car!), the Bora® Portamate can be a good solution for you! While we installed it on our drill press, this locking mobile base can be used on a table saw, jointer, bandsaw, router table, or any other moderate-sized stationary shop tool.
Our favorite placement for our drill press is centered in one end of our moderate-sized shop, backed up to and slightly overlapping the band saw. Both are set about 30 degrees in relation to the shop’s long sidewalls. This maximizes the length of stock you can work with on both tools while keeping aisles open.
With this great kit, you can make your workshop more versatile and make it easy to configure your tool setups for the project at hand, and you can JUST DO IT YOURSELF!
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Your video I’ve referred to the most in picking this base, assembling and I’m very grateful you filmed this! One note for ppl, remember you need two bolt contacts on every corner and bracket joint where joined. I didn’t catch that at first but no biggy! I’m just so relieved to have something for my particular situation. I bought a side mounted Masterforce cabinet, I needed something heavy for my bandsaw to go on top of but also mobile because I have a tiny garage. Unfortunately Menards and the brand Masterforce were both difficult to work with. The manager laughed when I asked for the wheels that go with these cabinets… mine wasn’t sold with wheels unfortunately but I knew that when I bought it so not the store or brands fault there however if you tip it over on the bottom are four perfectly tapped holes in every corner of the base to add wheels onto. The manager even looked for himself, agreed each corner had four tapped holes but wouldn’t sell me the wheels that unfortunately are the only ones to match the tapped holes. Not happy, but I found this solution and was cheaper than buying four wheels for the cabinet. Now I can actually roll it around on my horribly unlevel concrete floor lol. My floor is so cracked and ridiculous I just hope I really can wheel this sucker around because with the cabinet and the bandsaw it’ll because extremely heavy. I still wonder if I should’ve just built my own damn bandsaw cart.
Thank you for this excellent video. I am moving from an apartment to a new home that will have a woodworking shop. After negotiations with my wife, the shop will be a bit smaller than I hoped. Therefore, mobility will be very important. One viewer commented on the cost. But I doubt he'd considered what mobility bases cost when you look at buying one from the manufacturers of your woodworking machine tools. if there even available the cost is double or triple the Bora Porta mate - and often these bases get bad reviews. I love how you teach and I think you've sold 2 or 3 more of this product. So if you're listening Bora, send a big check to Jay
Thanks for taking the time to do this. I felt there was a lot of self-assembly in this kit for the cost. There are several other rolling bases out there at 1/2 the price I pad for this one. So I hope it proves to be with the extra investment. Well done on the video - very helpful in speeding up the assembly of this.
Glad you found this to be helpful, Tim. Best, DFJ
Purchased the same mobile stand in your video for my Rikon 10 inch, 10-3061 bench top bandsaw and stand. Use your video to assemble the mobile stand. Your explanations were easy to follow and made assembling this mobile base a much simpler process… thank you very much for all of your videos, they are extremely helpful!!
Glad I could help!
Well done. I appreciate your well planned and clear instructions. My tip... my table saw, planer and assembly table are all on casters. They are set to the same height, so the assembly table can be an outfeed table for the planer and table saw. My drill press is mobile too. I just pick it up and put it on the assembly table.
JS, great to hear from you. I always enjoy reading your comments. I've already adopted your method and am enjoying the positive affects in my shop. Best to you, DFJ
You should be on HGTV. You have that professional presenter's voice and presence.
Awww Garsh! Thanks for the compliment. I was a public presenter in my business career before I retired and became a Dirt Farmer. Keep watching and commenting. I love to hear from the DFJ family. Best, DFJ.
Man, doing that install at 17:00 was genius, I never would have thought to do it that way.
Thank you. Great mobile base. Wish you would of talked more about wheels.
Thank you. Quality mobile base. Wish you would of talked more about wheels.
Great supplement to the manual, it could be a lot better.
DG...Great instruction, I ASSURE you it is much better than the written instructions....😃
Nice video.
I'm pretty sure the nut on the rubber foot goes *underneath* the flange. The threads in the sheet metal of the flange aren't strong enough to hold very much weight, and are really there to lock the nut so it won't turn.
Thanks for this. I'll double check. I appreciate you writing and having my back. Best, DFJ
Awesome! Thanks Jay you are the man.
Glad it was helpful.
At $59 it is a good deal... I built some mobile bases using HD tool-bench flip down casters and they were $32 for a pair so the kit makes sense at that price...
Good video. I like the detail you give. One question. I noticed that you placed the drill press directly on the mobile base without installing plywood. Would there be any benefit to adding plywood into the mobile base? That way, you can bolt the drill press to the plywood. I would think this would make the entire unit more sturdy.
Thanks for the tip. You are correct. You could add 3/4" (19 mm) plywood, and it would give more attachment options as well as make the base more rigid. Best, DFJ
GREAT VIDEO! I am looking to use the same Bora base kit with my new drill press. Do you think bolting the drill press to a 24 x 24 plywood base would help with stability? It would add a couple of inches to each side - less tippy, but would increase the height.
I have the same question for my drill press. I'm using the smaller Bora model (PM-1100) that requires a plywood panel. My plan right now is to increase only the width, probably by about 6" on each side. It looks like the tipping danger is more from side-to-side than front-to-back. But I may be wrong on that as I don't have much experience with either this new top-heavy tool or mobile tool bases.
Hello, like the channel. Is there a reason you chose not to bolt in some fashion the drill press to the base? I actually have the same drill press and the same base, and I am contemplating on bolting the two together, feeling it will give it a little bit more stability.
Tim, thanks for being a part of our viewer family! There was no specific reason other than it worked adequately with the press just being set into the base. I agree that is the two were bolted together, it would be even better, and I may indeed do that in the future. Best Regards, DFJ
I really need something like this.thanks.
Brian Hills, Thanks for watching and commenting. We are pleased with how ours turned out. Let us know if you decide to do it. Best to you, DFJ
Thank for this video. It was very helpful.
I can't find the video on creating the pull point and pull handle for the Bora mobile Base. Have you done that yet?
Thanks EY 47. That follow up video had skipped my mind and my video list. I've got it on the list now and it will go into production shortly. Sorry for the delay. Best, DFJ
@@DirtFarmerJay Thanks. I will be looking for it.
So when in use, your 400 lb tools is resting on 2 wheels and 2 little feet. Doesn't seem ideal.
Chris, the system seems to work well, although there is a bit of flex when moving the unit. So far, good. Thanks for watching and writing! Best, DFJ
Thanks for this extremely well detailed video. You can take Bora's instructions and use them for starting a fire or TP. Complete trash.
Glad it helped!
On sale. @ Woodcraft