Drip Tray (for lack of a better name)

[Elden]

Pat,
   Welcome to the forum.
   I have done a rotating base similar to what you are mentioning. The swivel came from a kitchen chair that had been discarded. See the thread in the following link:
http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1606.msg6906#msg6906

[SharpenADullWitt]

My father picked up a lazy susan for $1, somewhere.  He drilled through it and put a bolt on either side.  (rotate and lock by putting in the bolt)
Because of the location of my Tormek at the time, and the height, I just worked overtime and bought the Tormek rotating base.

[pnwPat]

Elden,

Nicely done! I'm still browsing through old threads and hadn't seen that one yet, but your Tormek workstation is an impressive combination of portable functional ergonomic design, going far beyond just a swivel base! It's fun to see creative solutions like that - and this forum is a great vehicle for disseminating such design ideas. Bits (or all) of such ideas may eventually serve as further inspiration, so kudos and appreciation to everyone who make it happen!

[Ken S]

Pat,

You correctly note most of the constraints of workbenches. They are usually placed against a wall. They are too wide to use a Tormek in walk around mode, and often (like mine) are magnets for anything not properly secured in the shop. 

They are almost always too high for homo sapiens to use comfortably in the vertical position. Height is the issue a lazy susan or rotating base will not correct. WolfY posted a topic with photos showing a clever solution he devised. He used an Ikea table he modified by shortening the legs. Zeev (WolfY) is a Tormek dealer in Israel who also owns a sharpening service. The Ikea table he devised looks much more professional than a sturdy 2x4 stand I might put together in my home shop.

You should be able to find Zeev's post by searching member posts for WolfY.

For anyone building a table for the Tormek, I would suggest legs which can be height adjusted. This can be as simple as two piece legs held together with two bolts and multiple matched holes perhaps 50mm or 2" apart. This is a middle balance between non adjustable and quickly adjustable.

Ideally (and not on this planet) when a Tormek is rotated from vertical to horizontal sleeve position, it should also be raised. That was the purpose of the step drawer Jeff Farris and Norm Abram designed. Clever, but not comfortable for those like me with older, less steady balance. That's why I like the idea of two small tables, one for vertical grinding (lower) and one for horizontal grinding (higher). I would use whichever one suited the day's sharpening needs. Constructed of 2x4s, 1x4s with plywood tops, they would be easily and inexpensively constructed.

Ken