On a recent job I needed some infeed and outfeed rollers to support the stock I was milling with my portable planer. I had a couple of Workmate benches on hand, and some miscellaneous plastic drain pipes and fittings. By combining them, I came up with a pair of roller tables like the one shown in the drawing. Most of the assembly is made of 1-1/2-in. pipe. I used PVC, but ABS pipe would work just as well. The roller portion is a piece of 2-in. pipe. It fits over the 1-1/2-in. pipe crossbar, and rolls freely as the stock passes over it.
The one modification I had to make to get this to work was to file a flat spot on the tops of the elbow fittings to keep them from protruding above the roller. Held fast by the Workmate’s clamps, a pair of these rollers made a stable work surface that was easy to adjust up and down to compensate for irregular floors.
—Thomas Bujak, Palmyra, NJ
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #57
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