I began building the A-frame section of the lumber cart by cutting a second 4X8 sheet of OSB in half to create two 4X4 sheets that would form the sides of the A-frame structure. 

Then I cut to size the shelf pieces, bin separators, and side retainer pieces from the sheet of OSB left over from cutting the top skin of the cart base and then I cut the bin separators to their final shape.

Cutting the bin separators to their final shape meant cutting a 5-degree taper on one of the long sides and a curve along the top edge (the top edge now being the wider of the two ends) making for easier access to shorter pieces of lumber in the bins.  There are probably several ways to cut the 5-degree taper but, I chose to build a taper jig for the table saw (I’ll post a blog and SU model for that later).

To cut the curves, I first used a compass to draw the curve and then cut it out on the bandsaw (this bandsaw has since been replaced by a Grizzly G0555P, 14”).  Because the curve was large compared to the width of the separator and close to the edge, drawing the curve required placing a piece of scrap OSB at the appropriate distance from the edge of the separator for the center of the arc.  I could have free-handed the curve but, I chose to use a compass.

Once the curve was cut, I smoothed it out with a sanding drum on my 10” bench-top drill press (I have since added a used Grizzly G7947, 17” floor drill press and will be selling the BTDP).  I used this process to make the curve on the first bin separator and then used it as a template to mark the curve on the remaining separators.

The next step was to cut the shelf supports to length.  You can use 1X3 or 1X4 material. I had some 1X4 and 2X4 on hand so I used the 2X4s on one side and the 1X4s the other side.  I then cut one of the long edges at 85 degrees on the table saw so that the shelves would sit flat on the supports.  I think the cart could be assembled without going to this detail, especially using 1X material, but, it was easy to do and it make for a better fit so I did.

Because of the size of the A-frame side panels, I used a circular saw to cut the 85 degree edge along the bottom of the panels.  I clamped a fence in place to guide the saw.

OSB has a tendency to flake; especially at the edges so the final step in preparing the A-frame parts was to smooth all potentially exposed edges with a palm router and 1/8” round-over bit then a quick once-over with sandpaper.

See Also:  Lumber Cart

                   Lumber Cart Build – Part 1 – Building the Base

                   Lumber Cart Build – Part 3 – Assembling the Cart

                   Lumber Cart Build – Part 4 – Accessorizing

                   Lumber Cart SketchUp Models

                    Lumber Cart Shop Drawings

Have a great day,

A woodworking shop never has enough clamps or space and my shop is one of the smaller ones.  I built this lumber cart a while back to clear up some space in my small 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 this recommendation into my cart after it was completed and, it does make it easier to start rolling out of a corner or from against a wall.

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Background

My current table saw, a Delta contractor saw, is my second.  The first one was a Ryobi portable table saw.  The user manuals from both manufactures suggested aligning the blade to the miter slot by pounding on the trunnion with a hammer or board or by prying on it with a board.  I tried these methods because I was a newbie and didn’t know of a better way.  While these methods produced barely adequate results, I was never really satisfied with it being close but not quite precisely aligned so I purchased a Contractor Saw Precision Alignment & Locking System (PALS™) almost two years ago.

Although I was not fully satisfied with the blade alignment on my table saw, I shied away from the task of installing the PALS™ kit because I thought it would be tedious and time consuming.  After all, my saw wasn’t way out of alignment. It was close enough to make reasonably accurate cuts.

However, those extra blade marks on the sides of my rip cuts were annoying and time consuming to clean up so before starting to build my materials cart, I decided to fix the problem and install the PALS™ kit.  I went on to do a proper alignment of my saw.

Product Details

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For me, organization is an important part of creating an efficient workspace and keeping frustration to a minimum while 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 stack 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 Lumber 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 cutting guide since I figured that I would have to have already cut a panel down to use the smaller cutting guide.

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 part 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 out-of-the-way place, easily movable if needed.  This is just a start but, it will help to cut 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.

See Also:  Lumber Cart Build – Part 1 – Building the Base

                    Lumber Cart Build – Part 2 – Preparing the A-frame Parts

                    Lumber Cart Build – Part 3 – Assembling the Cart

                    Lumber Cart Build – Part 4 – Accessorizing

                    Lumber Cart SketchUp Models

                    Lumber Cart Shop Drawings