I recently decided to put four of my tools on mobile bases. Because of the different sizes of the tools, I ended up buying two from Jet (Jet 708118 JMB-UMB Universal Mobile Base) and two from HTC (HTC2000 Universal Mobile Base). Since all four showed up at the same time, I was in a position to make a head-to-head comparison of them, and decided to write about it. As a result, you'll find this same review under both the Jet and the HTC Universal Base listings. Upon Arrival: All four bases were purchased from Amazon with free shipping, and all four arrived within just a couple of days via UPS. The HTC base pieces were wrapped in bubble wrap inside a cardboard outer box, and the Jet bases were in Styrofoam cutouts inside a cardboard outer box, so nothing sustained any shipping damage. The next day, before I even unpacked anything, UPS showed up again with a bag. Inside were two pieces of thick, perforated steel about 18" long - no note, no explanation, no return address, nothing. It turns out that one of the Jet bases was missing these two pieces. Someone - I assume at Amazon - caught it and rectified it, literally before I knew they were missing. When I examined everything closer, it was obvious that this particular base had been purchased by someone else and returned to Amazon, then resold. Not a big deal, but I think that explains the missing/found parts. Unpacking: I opened up and unpacked one HTC and one Jet base at the same time, to compare parts, instructions, and tool requirements before starting. The HTC instructions were a 20-page stapled booklet in three languages. This is a particular pet peeve of mine, since I feel that if a company is going to sell to a particular country, then the instructions should be in that country's language. Again, not a big deal, just a minor irritant. The HTC parts list showed a total of 108 parts, including nuts and bolts. I carefully compared the list to the actual contents, and found that several of the listed nuts and bolts were not there, with others apparently substituted. More on that later. The instructions listed the tools needed as a 7/16", 1/2" and 9/16" wrench, 7/16" socket, tape measure, and pliers. More on that later as well. The Jet instructions are a single sheet, in English only. One side has the assembly instructions, the other side has a complete parts breakdown. Most of the Jet base is preassembled, so the parts list only has 8 items on it. No tools are listed because none are required for assembly. Assembly of the HTC Base: The HTC base requires a lot more assembly, so I decided to start with that one while my patience level was higher. The instructions are not great, but they're not the worst I've ever encountered. This is one instance where it really pays to read and pay attention to them. The instructions show a couple of different configurations for how to mount the casters. This is a nice feature, allowing you a little more flexibility in how the base will move after assembly. I read through everything, measured the base as instructed (the drill press was the first tool to be mounted), and bolted everything together. The base size can be adjusted in 1" increments. Since the nuts and bolts included with the kit don't match up to what's in the instruction sheet, there's a little head scratching involved to figure out what goes where, but it wasn't too bad. Also, the substituted hardware doesn't match up with the sizes of the listed tools, including some nuts that are metric. An adjustable wrench solved that problem. All the hardware is of good quality - no problems with snapped bolts. The drill press is too heavy to lift straight up and onto the base, but the instructions suggest that you can put your tool up on blocks and build the stand around it. I tried that and it didn't work, I think primarily because a drill press has such a small base in relation to its height, and ended up being dangerously unstable. Instead, I laid it on its side, then tipped it up onto the base. Not ideal, but it worked. I will say, however, that with both the HTC and the Jet base, if you can get some help to lift the tools straight onto the base, you're far better off. All in all - including my aborted attempt at assembling the base around the tool and then having to take it apart again - the assembly took about 2 hours. This is probably not the greatest kit for someone who's a novice at assembling things, or for someone who won't read instructions. Assembly of the Jet Base: The Jet base has two front and two rear corners with the casters already installed. Unfortunately, you don't have the same flexibility of caster placement that you do with the HTC. There are also four side rails that slip into the corner pieces, and are held in place by spring-loaded pins that snap into the holes in the side rails. Adjustment is done in 1" increments. Assembly took just a couple of minutes, with no nuts and bolts and no tools. The first tool on a Jet base was the sander. Again I couldn't lift it straight up and on, but I "walked" in onto the base with no problems. Operation: The HTC has two fixed rear wheels that don't lock. The two front casters swivel, and lock via two bright orange, high-impact plastic levers that you step on. The levers are large and mounted on top of the wheels, so they are very easy to see and step on. With the wheels down, the base moves very easily and the tool feels stable, although it takes a little effort to pivot the wheels into their down position. The Jet has two fixed rear wheels with locks, and two front swivel casters with locks. The rear wheel locks are pretty easy to reach and operate, but the front ones are on the sides of the casters and partially hidden, which I found made them difficult to see and even more difficult to step on. When the wheels are unlocked, the base moves very easily and the tool feels very stable in motion. Stability: You obviously spend a lot more time with the tool locked in the operating position then you do moving it around, so this to me is the most important criteria. With the HTC, when the tool is in the down position it rests on two rear wheels and two adjustable front leveling feet. The Jet stand is always resting on the four wheels. As a result, the Jet base moves more, even when locked. The HTC leveling feet also allow you to adjust the base to conform to an uneven floor, something you can't do with the Jet. But the biggest difference between the two is how the pieces fit and lock together. Because the Jet base relies on side rails that slide into the corners and lock with a single pin, there is a lot of movement between the pieces. The design makes it impossible to tighten any of the pieces to one another - short of drilling the corner pieces and installing bolts - and as a result there is too much flex and movement in the Jet base. The HTC on the other hand, because of all those irritating bolts and nuts you have to install, is actually more rigid. I found a lot less flex in the HTC base, and when combined with the fixed leveling feet, I found the HTC base to be a lot more stable in the down and locked position then the Jet. What Went Where: Sander: The sander went onto a Jet base, and it fits the open stand very nicely. The tool rocks slightly in the down position, but it's a pretty heavy tool, so that seems to add some stability. The wheel locks are hard to reach and operate, but I rarely move this tool, so that's not a big deal. This one remains on the Jet stand. Drill press: The drill press went onto one of the HTC bases, but in the end I found that I didn't like having my drill press on a mobile base. It's so top heavy that no matter what I did, it still didn't feel very stable. I ended up taking it off the mobile base altogether. Router table: This went onto the HTC base as originally intended. It moves very nicely when necessary, and locks down nice and stable the rest of the time. I'm very happy with this setup. Ba
