I built this materials cart a while back to clear up some space in my shop. The build is relatively straight forward starting with the base. I made mine from 2-4X8 sheets of 19/32” OSB and a couple of 2X4’s, some scrap ¾” plywood, and 4-3” locking casters.
Recommendations:
After building this cart and using it for a short while, here are a few recommendations on how I would make the cart better if I ever have to do it again.
• Use non-locking casters or only 2 locking casters in opposite corners. Even living here in earthquake country, I don’t think the casters need to be of the locking variety. It would take the “Big One” to make this thing move. If that happens, I’ve got bigger problems than figuring out how my lumber cart got moved. This would also reduce the cost slightly without affecting the functionality of the cart.
• Use 4” casters or larger. When the cart gets fully loaded, it is quite heavy making it a challenger to roll on the 3” casters that I used. 4” or larger casters would make it easier to roll, especially if you encounter a wood chip or power cord.
• Use 3/4” plywood instead of OSB if you can afford it. Placing screws on or near the edges would be more solid with plywood than with OSB.
• Install “handles” under the 3rd shelf from the top to aid in pulling cart. I did incorporate the recommendation into my cart after it was completed. It does make it easier to start rolling out of a corner of from against a wall.
For me, organization is an important part of creating an efficient workspace and keeping frustration to a minimum while I’m woodworking. It’s hard for me to keep it organized but, I like to start a project with a clean slate. The smaller the workspace, the more important it is to me. Whether workshop or desk, organization is important, that and not trying to put 10 gallons of stuff into a 5-gallon bucket.
I know there are woodworkers out there that will disagree with me or, at least, they don’t mind working in what some would consider a cluttered and disorganized shop. And, that’s fine. They know where everything is in their shop and they create projects of wonderful craftsmanship in an environment that they are comfortable and familiar with.
You can see from the photos on this site that my shop is far from organized in its current state. So, how can I be talking about organization you may ask. The fact is that I had odd pieces of lumber and sheet goods stacked all over the place. One stack in my shop area and two stacks in the other part of the garage. I had to keep looking in each of the stacks to see if I had what I needed at the moment and I had to keep moving the stacks around to get to things behind them.
To solve this problem, I built the Materials Cart shown above. I don’t have very much space overhead and no open walls at this point so I searched around for materials storage on wheels ideas and found a design I liked in ShopNotes, Issue #55. It had storage for lumber, cut-offs and sheet goods. It had a panel-cutting guide as a bonus. Originally designed to store a full 4’X8’ sheet of material on edge, it was too big for my small area. I adapted that design to a 48” X 25-1/2” footprint that works better in my space and left off the guide since I figured that I would have to have already cut the panel down in order to use the guide on this smaller cart.
Additionally, I changed the method of construction and the material from plywood to OSB; it saved me a lot of money (2 full 4X8 sheets, $20 vs. $50+). The most expensive single component of building the cart was the 3” casters. I’ve since found a cheaper source for those as well; which is good because I have several mobile workstations, storage and cabinets yet to build.
Now I have all of my larger pieces of lumber and sheet goods in one place, out of the way and easily movable if needed. This is just the start but, it will help to reduce the frustration level on my next project. Do you store your lumber and/or sheet goods on wheels? If so, or if you have other recommendations, I invite you to share them.
I’ll go through the building process of this materials cart in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.
