I built a fliptop tool stand recently and wanted to share the design. The driver for this was that my bandsaw and drill press are heavy and awkward and it was a pain to bring them out for use. I also needed to conserve space so my truck would still fit in the garage.
I looked online and found lots of these, but they mostly involved some weird latch design that required all four corners be latched once the top flipped given that the tops allowed 360 degree rotation. I didn't need that (and I'm not sure why anyone would) so I used bits of another design I saw in the depths of youtube, using mostly scrap I had lying around (hence all of the different wood types). The 2x6 was actually in my wood pile, left over from taking apart an old work bench a few years ago.
The top is all centred around a 3/4" steel tube. On each side of that tube is a piece of 3/4" MDF which are sandwiched between two pieces of 3/4" plywood. These are all glued with wood glue and screws to keep it solid. The tube is free moving (not attached) to the top. I cut the top in a "T" shape so that it would support itself on one side and act as a stop to prevent over rotation (I had no idea if the tools would be balanced). I notched out a 2x6 which acts as the support and cross member for the stand. The ends of the tube fit inside these 2x6 boards and are pinned in place with a large nail through a hole I drilled in the tube. There's a latch on each side to ensure the top doesn't spin on its own.
The rest is pretty simple, just a 2x3 frame with some supporting plywood on a plywood base sitting on 2" casters.
On top of this I added my drill press and grinder on one side (attached with hex bolts that run through the whole table top) and a bandsaw on the other side. The whole thing was sized so these would fit with about 1/2" clearance on either side. The weight of the tools is predominantly on the tube and turning it is very easy.
I also put a quick drill press table together which is sized to fit when the stand is rotated.
Here's a video of the stand in action. You can see it's relatively balances and doesn't require any great effort to rotate around.
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