Mobile Plywood Storage Rack

[Vince Rosypal]

Hello all,
Looking to build a basic plywood storage rack that can be incorporated into the dance of gear that seams to happen in my shop.... all my equipment is mobile as I am still trying to figure the best layout in my shop.
Desires:
Mobile
sturdy
NOT huge but good support for sheet goods

Couple questions:
1) What are some good plans that people have used.... I have been getting my google on... seen a lot of different styles
2) Most units I see have been a full 8' length, does it have to be? Is there a down side to being 5-6ft long?
3) I have some 3/4" laminated particle board that has been laying around forever (probably because I hate the stuff). Would this be an OK base instead of plywood? Thought is that it would be smoother for pulling out the sheet goods.... and free :D

Any and all suggestions welcome
Thanks

[Chris Schoenthal]

1. I built the cart from ShopNotes #55 years ago and love it.
2. You don't have to make it the full 8', but unless your plywood is less than 8', it will end up being that long anyway.
3. You can use the particle board, but keep in mind that it has a tendency to fall apart when getting even the least bit wet.

[Rich Engelhardt]

+1 to what Chris said about it ending up 8' anyhow.

Mine is a typical "A" frame type.

One change in the design I would make though is to use 6 wheels instead of 4, with the center 2 wheels being just a bit higher than the corners - that way the cart will teeter/tot and roll over uneven surfaces better. That would allow it to be rolled out to the truck in the driveway to unload it better.
I'd thought about retro fitting mine to do that, but, the truck is gone now and I have no plans to replace it, so it's a moot point.

I would shy away from particle board for anything. It's too heavy & it has no real strength - - plus any water or moisture at all is Kryptonite to it.

[Greg Parrish]

Wonder if you can buy one of the Home Depot or lowes metal carts.

That would cut the cart size when empty but still let you store and move around 5 or so sheets of wood and dimensional lumber too.

[Vince Rosypal]

1. I built the cart from ShopNotes #55 years ago and love it.
2. You don't have to make it the full 8', but unless your plywood is less than 8', it will end up being that long anyway.
3. You can use the particle board, but keep in mind that it has a tendency to fall apart when getting even the least bit wet.

Thanks Chris
1) I seen that one in my googling and like it. One That I have been looking at also is from Wood #205 image and link to Jay Bates build Video at the bottom
2) Most of the time full sheets are purchased for a specific job (they might sit around awhile waiting for that job to be done). Then its mostly cut offs (some large) that I am dealing with. If long I was thinking I could just push on plywood rather than cart... similar to how the carts at the box stores work
3) Ya particle board and water is a bad mix....


+1 to what Chris said about it ending up 8' anyhow.

Mine is a typical "A" frame type.

One change in the design I would make though is to use 6 wheels instead of 4, with the center 2 wheels being just a bit higher than the corners - that way the cart will teeter/tot and roll over uneven surfaces better. That would allow it to be rolled out to the truck in the driveway to unload it better.
I'd thought about retro fitting mine to do that, but, the truck is gone now and I have no plans to replace it, so it's a moot point.

I would shy away from particle board for anything. It's too heavy & it has no real strength - - plus any water or moisture at all is Kryptonite to it.

Thanks Rich
Good point on the pivot point of the two added center casters
The only reason I am even considering the particle board is it is free and taking up space in my shop (less to put on the cart ;) )... when I build the cart I think I will make it so that the particle board can be easily removed and replace if it gets damaged


Wonder if you can buy one of the Home Depot or lowes metal carts.

That would cut the cart size when empty but still let you store and move around 5 or so sheets of wood and dimensional lumber too.
I think you can buy commercial carts but I like building stuff and have some material kicking around for this

One That I have been looking at is from Wood #205
Jay Bates YouTube Video for the Unit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T16skEZ6JYg
357402

[Chris Schoenthal]

That one definitely is narrower and would be easier to build.
I kinda like the middle shelved section of mine for dimensional lumber.
All of my hardwood goes on wall racks.
I guess I'm too much a hoarder since it's already overflowing on both sides.
I either need to build another or get rid of some of the scraps.
Not ready to do either and not sure which would be harder.

[Tom Paulley]

I built the cart that Marc Spagnuolo built, but added more casters to make it a stand-along moveable cart. Has served me quite well.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/racking-my-brain/

[Vince Rosypal]

That one definitely is narrower and would be easier to build.
I kinda like the middle shelved section of mine for dimensional lumber.
All of my hardwood goes on wall racks.
I guess I'm too much a hoarder since it's already overflowing on both sides.
I either need to build another or get rid of some of the scraps.
Not ready to do either and not sure which would be harder.
Hi Chris,
Good points
Use the scraps to built another one :p
I am a hoarder of wood also, I have some wood that has lived in 3 different work spaces with me...... but in my defense wood is expensive here.... well that's my excuse to my wife anyway


I built the cart that Marc Spagnuolo built, but added more casters to make it a stand-along moveable cart. Has served me quite well.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/racking-my-brain/
I seen that video and dismissed it as it was a wall rack..... so this time I skipped ahead and low and behold a plywood rack...:o
Something like that (whole wall he has) would be nice but with my current layout I'm not sure how I would fit it in unfortunately

[Randy Red Bemont]

One That I have been looking at is from Wood #205
Jay Bates YouTube Video for the Unit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T16skEZ6JYg
357402

This is the one I built and it works great. I would not use any particle board for the bottom. This is also an easy fun build! I tried posting some pics but it doesn't work.

Red

[Vince Rosypal]

This is the one I built and it works great. I would not use any particle board for the bottom. This is also an easy fun build! I tried posting some pics but it doesn't work.

Red

Hi Red,
Glad its working great for you!!
Couple questions.... if you don't mind
1) Why not use particle board for the bottom?
2) At ~3 1/2" for the sheet area do ever find that it is not enough space.... do you think making it a little wider (say 6") would be useful? Or would it make is unbalanced?
3) What are you thoughts on having the cart only 5-6 feet long rather that the full 8'?
4) Do you ever use the rear panel saw add on?

Thanks
Vince

[Vince Rosypal]

Guy at work just showed me this from Princess Auto
1600lb capacity drywall dolly for $140CAD
It wouldn't have the features of a built one but comes in cheaper by the time I buy all the pieces to build....thoughts?

357541

[Dave Cav]

I went in a completely different direction. I built my plywood storage into my assembly table. First I built a torsion box 3 1/4" thick (using regular 1 x 4" lumber for the frame and interior webbing) and 48 x 96", and skinned the top and bottom with 1/4" plywood. Then I framed around it with 1x material to make the entire thing 49 1/2" x 97 1/2. Then I built several web frames the same size out of 2x material and skinned them with 1/8" Luan for shelves and a bottom. I used regular lumber to connect the top, shelves and bottom, and put six heavy duty casters underneath. I can store quite a few sheets of plywood on the lower shelves (it loads from one of the short ends); you just need an additional 8' or so on that end so you can get the sheets in. I normally use the top shelf for lumber storage for boards I am using or are planning to use in the near future. The top also incorporates a sacrificial hardboard top which I flip over when it gets too nasty, and discard when both sides are too bad, although I do make a serious effort to keep glue drips off of it. I later mounted an extra vise on one end, as well.

The main drawback with this design is the sheet you want is invariably on the bottom of the stack, but unloading it isn't that big a deal. The advantage is it doesn't take any additional room, assuming, of course, that you have room for a 4x8' assembly table in the first place.

357651

The lumber loads from the end you can't see.

[Vince Rosypal]

I went in a completely different direction. I built my plywood storage into my assembly table. First I built a torsion box 3 1/4" thick (using regular 1 x 4" lumber for the frame and interior webbing) and 48 x 96", and skinned the top and bottom with 1/4" plywood. Then I framed around it with 1x material to make the entire thing 49 1/2" x 97 1/2. Then I built several web frames the same size out of 2x material and skinned them with 1/8" Luan for shelves and a bottom. I used regular lumber to connect the top, shelves and bottom, and put six heavy duty casters underneath. I can store quite a few sheets of plywood on the lower shelves (it loads from one of the short ends); you just need an additional 8' or so on that end so you can get the sheets in. I normally use the top shelf for lumber storage for boards I am using or are planning to use in the near future. The top also incorporates a sacrificial hardboard top which I flip over when it gets too nasty, and discard when both sides are too bad, although I do make a serious effort to keep glue drips off of it. I later mounted an extra vise on one end, as well.

The main drawback with this design is the sheet you want is invariably on the bottom of the stack, but unloading it isn't that big a deal. The advantage is it doesn't take any additional room, assuming, of course, that you have room for a 4x8' assembly table in the first place.

357651

The lumber loads from the end you can't see.

Nice solution Dave
Do you have 8 ft on the far end to the table saw.... if so you must have a very large shop!!!
Unfortunatly I don't think I would have the room for that setup

[Robert Stanton]

I would discourage using anything with particle board. Any amount of pressure or moisture will cause deformation. As far as design, I built a dual design mobile cart completely out of 2x4's and a single sheet of cheap ply. It stores lumber on one side and a single leaning shelf for plywood. I would recommend an A frame structure for your design. This will give you two sides to store on. I used the 300# 5" urethane castor wheels from Lowes. I started out trying to go cheap with 80# castors. They literally collapsed when I tried to change directions with the cart.

[Dave Cav]

Nice solution Dave
Do you have 8 ft on the far end to the table saw.... if so you must have a very large shop!!!
Unfortunatly I don't think I would have the room for that setup

The shop in the picture is 24 x 48; my new shop will be 30 x 40. I normally have the assembly table/plywood storage about 6 feet from the table saw, but since it's on wheels, I can move it over a couple of feet when I need to remove a full size sheet.

[Vince Rosypal]

I would discourage using anything with particle board. Any amount of pressure or moisture will cause deformation. As far as design, I built a dual design mobile cart completely out of 2x4's and a single sheet of cheap ply. It stores lumber on one side and a single leaning shelf for plywood. I would recommend an A frame structure for your design. This will give you two sides to store on. I used the 300# 5" urethane castor wheels from Lowes. I started out trying to go cheap with 80# castors. They literally collapsed when I tried to change directions with the cart.
Ok there appears to be a pretty common opinion to NOT use the scrap particle board I have laying around so I will try to find an alternate use for it
I have been looking at the A frame designs but concerned about how wide it will start to get.... the "nook" I am looking at rolling partially into isn't that big
For casters I have been looking at these ones http://www.leevalley.com/us/hardware/page.aspx?p=66166&cat=3,51976&ap=1


The shop in the picture is 24 x 48; my new shop will be 30 x 40. I normally have the assembly table/plywood storage about 6 feet from the table saw, but since it's on wheels, I can move it over a couple of feet when I need to remove a full size sheet.
Nice size.... I'm about half of that
I would love to see more pictures of your layout....always looking for ideas for mine.... I'm still trying to figure out my layout

[Randy Red Bemont]

No problem.

Couple questions.... if you don't mind

1) Why not use particle board for the bottom?
Particle board will fall apart if your cart twists, gets wet and I just don't use it. I used a sheet of 3/4" that I had.

2) At ~3 1/2" for the sheet area do ever find that it is not enough space.... do you think making it a little wider (say 6") would be useful? Or would it make is unbalanced?
I made mine wider too. The 3 1/2" area fills up quickly. My carts in storage now so I can't measure how wide I went.

3) What are you thoughts on having the cart only 5-6 feet long rather that the full 8'?
I think going 6' would be fine.

4) Do you ever use the rear panel saw add on?c
No. I use the back side for plywood cutoff storage.

Also use a quality caster. You will appreciate it moving this beast around. It's heavy when loaded! Good luck and enjoy.

Red

[Jim Dwight]

I built one that looks like the Woodsmith model but the plans I found were for 4 feet long. I extended that to 6 feet and like it. I have six casters on it. I used 3/4 plywood from Home Depot that cost $30/sheet. I agree with everybody else that particle board for the base is a bad idea but there is more material in the other pieces anyway. Anything vertical is not supporting much load and particle board might be OK. It doesn't hold fasteners well either, however.

I am probably going to make the full sheet area at least twice as wide this weekend. It's way too narrow. I will also cut scrap 2x4 into 5 angle wedges so the bottom shelf for the sheet goods is at the same angle as the back. I think it will help them lay right. I can also cantilever the 2x4s out glueing and screwing them to the existing cart so I won't have to redo a lot. Probably won't even unload the cart. It is pretty full.

I have a wall of pieces of conduit set in the wall for hardwood storage and this cart for storage. I plan to add some shelves over the cart and then throw stuff out when all my storage is full. My little shop can only hold so much.

[Vince Rosypal]

No problem.

Couple questions.... if you don't mind

1) Why not use particle board for the bottom?
Particle board will fall apart if your cart twists, gets wet and I just don't use it. I used a sheet of 3/4" that I had.

2) At ~3 1/2" for the sheet area do ever find that it is not enough space.... do you think making it a little wider (say 6") would be useful? Or would it make is unbalanced?
I made mine wider too. The 3 1/2" area fills up quickly. My carts in storage now so I can't measure how wide I went.

3) What are you thoughts on having the cart only 5-6 feet long rather that the full 8'?
I think going 6' would be fine.

4) Do you ever use the rear panel saw add on?c
No. I use the back side for plywood cutoff storage.

Also use a quality caster. You will appreciate it moving this beast around. It's heavy when loaded! Good luck and enjoy.

Red

Thank you Red for the added information


I built one that looks like the Woodsmith model but the plans I found were for 4 feet long. I extended that to 6 feet and like it. I have six casters on it. I used 3/4 plywood from Home Depot that cost $30/sheet. I agree with everybody else that particle board for the base is a bad idea but there is more material in the other pieces anyway. Anything vertical is not supporting much load and particle board might be OK. It doesn't hold fasteners well either, however.

I am probably going to make the full sheet area at least twice as wide this weekend. It's way too narrow. I will also cut scrap 2x4 into 5 angle wedges so the bottom shelf for the sheet goods is at the same angle as the back. I think it will help them lay right. I can also cantilever the 2x4s out glueing and screwing them to the existing cart so I won't have to redo a lot. Probably won't even unload the cart. It is pretty full.

I have a wall of pieces of conduit set in the wall for hardwood storage and this cart for storage. I plan to add some shelves over the cart and then throw stuff out when all my storage is full. My little shop can only hold so much.
Great feed back thanks Jim.
If you get a chance I would like to see some pictures of the unit you made and modified

[Rich Engelhardt]

For casters I have been looking at these ones http://www.leevalley.com/us/hardware...t=3,51976&ap=1 (http://www.leevalley.com/us/hardware/page.aspx?p=66166&cat=3,51976&ap=1)
Check out Great Lakes Casters - now known as Caster Depot... http://www.casterdepot.com

I've always had good luck finding something in their clearance area for real, real, real cheap.
Also keep in mind that the larger the wheel is, the easier it will be to roll the cart.

I made my first cart with 2" wheels and it was too hard to roll around.
I changed over to 4" wheels & it made a world of difference.

I bought some 12" pneumatic wheels from Harbor Freight - but - never got around to using them.
My plan was to use the 12" wheels and roll the whole cart out into the driveway so I could unload right from the back of the van onto the cart.
I ended up selling the van so,,,,,

[Vince Rosypal]

Check out Great Lakes Casters - now known as Caster Depot... http://www.casterdepot.com

I've always had good luck finding something in their clearance area for real, real, real cheap.
Also keep in mind that the larger the wheel is, the easier it will be to roll the cart.

I made my first cart with 2" wheels and it was too hard to roll around.
I changed over to 4" wheels & it made a world of difference.

I bought some 12" pneumatic wheels from Harbor Freight - but - never got around to using them.
My plan was to use the 12" wheels and roll the whole cart out into the driveway so I could unload right from the back of the van onto the cart.
I ended up selling the van so,,,,,

WOW Rich some pretty good deals in the sales area..... wonder if they ship to Canada and is I would save that much in exchange and shipping.... something to look into
Thanks

[Ben Rivel]

Been looking into building something myself. Need to get this wood scattered all over the shop organized! Was thinking of starting with the Wood magazine version Jay Bates used and modifying it a bit. Seems to be a good, sturdy and small solution. Since I dont typically keep more wood on hand than I need for the current project or two Im working on I think itll work well for me.

[Vince Rosypal]

Been looking into building something myself. Need to get this wood scattered all over the shop organized! Was thinking of starting with the Wood magazine version Jay Bates used and modifying it a bit. Seems to be a good, sturdy and small solution. Since I dont typically keep more wood on hand than I need for the current project or two Im working on I think itll work well for me.

Yes I have decided to go with the WOOD mag version..... of coarse slightly tweaked
Wood is waiting for me in the shop

[Andy Shearon]

Vince,

A couple of notes as you start your project...

Something to consider in terms of length is:

1) How often you move the cart

2) How much maneuvering room you have for the cart

Counter intuitively, the smaller your space, the longer you want the cart. If you have six sheets of decent veneered plywood, you could easily have $1000 worth of plywood rolling around. The last thing you want to have happen is to bang into a machine and damage the edges of your expensive plywood. That's the cart's job. A small area (or undersized casters) will likely result in damage to your good stuff if it is too short.

On the caster front, go big and go with six, especially if you upsize the amount of space that the cart can handle. Since you can only count on three-four of your casters touching the ground at one time (dependent on levelness of your floor and floor junctions), you don't want to be pushing the specification limits of your casters, or your ability to control the cart will suffer. I would use a rule of thumb to have three casters supporting no more than 50% of your maximum load out on the cart. Your pocketbook suffers up front, but your swearing for the rest of the life of the cart will be less. Keep in mind that each sheet of 3/4" plywood can run up to 100 lbs each (MDF cored) :-)

Last thing I would do (and did do) with the wood magazine plans is make it a few inches taller and add some flip around braces at the top of the two vertical supports. It's hard to describe in words, but those flip around braces allow you to "tip" the pieces of plywood outward like the pages of a book to pick a piece from the bottom of the stack, without the need to unload the whole thing. I'll try to take some pictures later tonight of what I built, but I love that feature in mine. If you have the ability to buy plywood on an as needed basis, and don't need to store anything for more than a few days, then this feature will not be important to you. I buy for a couple projects at a time (6-10 sheets), so for me, ability to select a sheet is critical.

Last: don't ignore the weight of all those plywood off cuts that you'll store on the backside of the "official rack". Those add up fairly quickly both in terms of weight and quantity. The other thing to consider is that the inner dimension on that back side is only 93", so you won't be storing any long-side off cuts back there unless you extend that cart length another 3.5 inches or so. If you go that route, I'd use dimensional lumber to go the extra 3 inches, and accept that you won't be able to use 8' pine boards for the horizontal braces. You will not be able to drop those pieces in the back vertically - it pushes the center of gravity too high and the horizontal back brace isn't high enough to keep those pieces from tipping out and creating a catastrophe. Another thing to consider is a second horizontal brace in the back. That would help keep shorter pieces in place.

Last thing: consider adding a second set of handholds lower down. When heavily loaded and you want to turn the blasted thing, low handholds will apply less of a tipping moment to the device, and therefore less opportunities to swear...

Have fun!

Andy

[Ben Rivel]

Vince,

A couple of notes as you start your project...

Something to consider in terms of length is:

1) How often you move the cart

2) How much maneuvering room you have for the cart

Counter intuitively, the smaller your space, the longer you want the cart. If you have six sheets of decent veneered plywood, you could easily have $1000 worth of plywood rolling around. The last thing you want to have happen is to bang into a machine and damage the edges of your expensive plywood. That's the cart's job. A small area (or undersized casters) will likely result in damage to your good stuff if it is too short.

On the caster front, go big and go with six, especially if you upsize the amount of space that the cart can handle. Since you can only count on three-four of your casters touching the ground at one time (dependent on levelness of your floor and floor junctions), you don't want to be pushing the specification limits of your casters, or your ability to control the cart will suffer. I would use a rule of thumb to have three casters supporting no more than 50% of your maximum load out on the cart. Your pocketbook suffers up front, but your swearing for the rest of the life of the cart will be less. Keep in mind that each sheet of 3/4" plywood can run up to 100 lbs each (MDF cored) :-)

Last thing I would do (and did do) with the wood magazine plans is make it a few inches taller and add some flip around braces at the top of the two vertical supports. It's hard to describe in words, but those flip around braces allow you to "tip" the pieces of plywood outward like the pages of a book to pick a piece from the bottom of the stack, without the need to unload the whole thing. I'll try to take some pictures later tonight of what I built, but I love that feature in mine. If you have the ability to buy plywood on an as needed basis, and don't need to store anything for more than a few days, then this feature will not be important to you. I buy for a couple projects at a time (6-10 sheets), so for me, ability to select a sheet is critical.

Last: don't ignore the weight of all those plywood off cuts that you'll store on the backside of the "official rack". Those add up fairly quickly both in terms of weight and quantity. The other thing to consider is that the inner dimension on that back side is only 93", so you won't be storing any long-side off cuts back there unless you extend that cart length another 3.5 inches or so. If you go that route, I'd use dimensional lumber to go the extra 3 inches, and accept that you won't be able to use 8' pine boards for the horizontal braces. You will not be able to drop those pieces in the back vertically - it pushes the center of gravity too high and the horizontal back brace isn't high enough to keep those pieces from tipping out and creating a catastrophe. Another thing to consider is a second horizontal brace in the back. That would help keep shorter pieces in place.

Last thing: consider adding a second set of handholds lower down. When heavily loaded and you want to turn the blasted thing, low handholds will apply less of a tipping moment to the device, and therefore less opportunities to swear...

Have fun!

AndySome good suggestions there Andy. Thank you for taking the time to write that! I was thinking of shortening my rack, will not be doing so now, and I will be building it a bit taller for those flip braces you mentioned. I like that idea. Ill probably order six casters too. Post some pics when you get a chance.

Also, what kind of plywood did you use to build yours? I was thinking of using Baltic Birch because its so nice, but it is also very pricey.

[Andy Shearon]

So, here's what the braces look like stowed:

358094
Not that I had to cut an opening on the brace to reach the handhold so I could drag this thing around. That was a doh! moment... Also note that I have a ton of plywood on this thing. Four 4x8 sheets of 1/2", seven sheets of 4x8x3/4", one sheet of 5x5x3/4" baltic birch, and some bending plywood and four sheets of 4x8" veneer that will be vacuum molded to a mid-century modern bookcase one day (That is a quarter round piece of plywood on top of everything that will be a part of that project). Not seen on the back, other than that big piece of cardboard I'm saving to use as a free disposable drop cloth, is probably another 2 sheets or so equivalent of cutoffs.

This is what the other end looks like deployed:

358096

This is what the brace looks like from the end:
358095

Now that you have the general idea, here's some important details. Look at the first picture and note the small piece of plywood on the baseline vertical supports. That, plus the base of the "u" of the brace, are sized so that when flipped out to the deployed state, the brace rests against that little plywood chunk horizontal to the floor. I added that piece simply because I was using dimensional lumber and wanted a little more strength right there.

Second, the hinged flappy piece on the end of the brace is gravity driven. If I wasn't holding it horizontal in the third picture, it would naturally hang down as seen in picture #2. You want that to hang down far enough so that it catches the top edge of the plywood when there is only a single piece on it. You can do a bunch of math to derive this, or finish everything else on the cart except that piece, then put a sheet on, lock the casters, and flip it out to the end of the brace and guesstimate a length and add a few inches. While we are on this piece, note that you have to mount that hinge in the middle of the piece in order to use the non-plywood end as a stop against the U-shaped brace. Hard to explain, but look at picture #2 and put the hinge there. :-)

The last subtle plywood piece is below the brace on the vertical support 2x12 (See picture #1). That (mostly) keeps the hinged piece from hanging out when stowed.

On the length of the braces: You want to keep them long enough that you can flip your sheets of plywood out to the rest against the hinged part, but not so far out that the center of gravity of the flipped boards is close to the edge of your cart (it will tip) or that the hinged part needs to be really long to reach the sheet of plywood (The hinge is carrying the load, so keep the distance from the hinge to the plywood contact point short to keep that moment arm short). I used engineering judgement for both of those lengths - what you will need depends on how much room for plywood you design into your cart base.

With the cart fully loaded as you see it here, I wish I had used bigger casters. I used 6x gimballed 265 lb casters (the four on the ends can lock - middles are unconstrained) and wish I had used ones with twice the capacity. With all six casters contacting the floor (not the three to four I called out in the earlier post), I have to give the cart a fairly hefty jerk to get the casters to rotate to a different orientation to turn the cart. Bigger casters would have mitigated that. Since that pull to get it going takes a bit, that's also why I'd like a lower set of pull handles over what you see in the plans. I'm not sure that I would make the cart any larger. What I have is at the limit of what I'm comfortably moving without an additional person. Not to mention the fact that if I got this thing going, I'm sure it would barely slow down as it blows through the garage door.

I ran 2x lumber around the bottom to protect corners of MDF sheets on this thing, instead of the 3/4" in the plans. On thing I do wish I had done differently is that on the front side (the front being the long side with the full sheets of plywood) is that I rabbited out half of the dimensional lumber so I could squeeze another sheet on. That whitewood 3/4" nubbin sticking up is definitely going to fail one day - I wish I had used plywood for the toe that keeps the plywood from sliding off the bottom and just made the base a little wider.

Here's a bonus picture of the brace almost in the stowed condition:

358097

You can see here I didn't notch both the outside and inside parts of the brace. I clearly hadn't thought of this when I added the braces, and when I figured that out, I didn't want to compromise the integrity of the brace by cutting the second vertical brace piece too. Practically this hasn't been much of an issue, as I only use those for turning the cart. when going straight, I just grab the vertical support and pull or push. No need for the cutout for that.

With the amount of weight the horizontal supports are carrying, I do get some bowing in them. I haven't had any plywood come off the cart yet that has been permanently deformed yet due to that bow. If I ever do have a project impacted by that, I will put some steel angle iron behind the top two supports. The bottom one I've already braced using some scrap 2x lumber cut on an angle screwed to the middle of the support and the base.

The last thing is you can see I have knobs on the carriage bolts that can be used to tighten the braces so they don't move in stowed or deployed condition. Other than verifying that they worked when I installed them, I've never tightened them. Just a carriage bolt and a lock nut/washer is fine for these.

Have fun with the cart - I like mine!

Andy

[Andy Shearon]

Oh, on the type of plywood: I used some scrap big box "cabinet grade" plywood I had leftover. I wouldn't use baltic birch at 3x the cost on this unless you had scrap laying around and wanted to get rid of it. Oh, and since I made my cart a little wider than the one in the plans, I skinned both the top and bottom of the base to create a strong torsion box. I'd do that again. I could see the one in the wood plans flexing a lot without it given the amount of plywood mine carries. If you have it laying around, the bottom sheet could be done with half inch ply. Just make sure you have good support for the casters on the inside. I used milled doubled up 2x lumber in the middle and ends to have something meaty for the caster screws to bite on.

Andy

[Vince Rosypal]

Yes Andy thank you very much for writing up all that great information...... unfortunately I am so sick right now that trying to take it in would not give it justice.... I'll definitely come back to it when my head is on straight
Thank you

[Vince Rosypal]

Vince,

A couple of notes as you start your project...

Again thank you for your detailed response.... finally off the IV and hopefully back at it

I wasn't sure how to respond so I will try to break it down to bullet items with my thoughts and answers on each
1) Length of cart
.... not planning on moving often
.... where I am planning on "housing" the cart is near the over head door of my garage and the most open area on my shop
.... I totally get what you are saying about larger cart in tighter spaces and protecting the plywood that I may have on it
.... 90% of the time I have plywood shorts and cut offs in my shop. I really only buy for projects and try not to buy more than I need (with in reason... need a little wiggle room). However, when I do have some on hand for a project it might be in the rack for a few weeks before I am ready for it.
..... I think I am going to try the 5 foot long cart this go around but appreciate your insight.

2) Casters
.... Thank you... I was originally thinking 4 but thanks to tips in this thread 6 it is
.... Yesterday I purchased 6 of these (the 4" dual lock) http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=66166&cat=1,240,66331

3) Height
.... Great idea of added height and the flip over brace

4) Flip over Brace
.... I had not thought of a flip over brace, I was thinking a couple removable conduits inserted in to the 2x6 as a catch but am unsure if the ones I have would be strong enough
.... Will look at incorporating you idea of the flip over ones

5) backside storage
.... good point on the height and tippiness for the material on the backside. My concern would be if adding a second cross brace that getting the material in and out would be more difficult

6) Handholes
.... hadn't even considered hand holes.... I will now thanks

7) Construction
.... I see you used a 2x material for you vertical suports, I was planning on ply as per the WOOD plans.
.... Did you maintain the 10 degree vertical angle of go less to get the height and maximize wood storage area?

Hope to get working on this soon.... the ply/mdf I have is in my way
Thanks
Vince

[Andy Shearon]

Again thank you for your detailed response.... finally off the IV andksss hopefully back at it

I wasn't sure how to respond so I will try to break it down to bullet items with my thoughts and answers on each

...

5) backside storage
.... good point on the height and tippiness for the material on the backside. My concern would be if adding a second cross brace that getting the material in and out would be more difficult

7) Construction
.... I see you used a 2x material for you vertical suports, I was planning on ply as per the WOOD plans.
.... Did you maintain the 10 degree vertical angle of go less to get the height and maximize wood storage area?

Hope to get working on this soon.... the ply/mdf I have is in my way
Thanks
Vince

#5: your right that adding another support higher constrains space, at least for larger pieces that stick up beyond the brace. Just remember you want the highest one to be at least half way up the largest piece you want to store. Otherwise it might have a tendency to tip out, and on a lightly loaded cart, that could make for a bad day. Other than that, you know what you plan on storing, so pick the height best for you. There's no wrong answer...

#7: I kept the slope about the same. Keep in mind that For the flip stop braces, the height has to be above 49" (for MDF) to the bottom of the brace when flipped over. I didn't have scrap ply over 4' that I could use, and didn't want to buy more plywood. That said, I like the extra beefiness of the 2x. Makes the handles more comfortable with a round over bit used, plus can hold the weight of the extra plywood I stack on mine. I also like the extra meat for the "axle" of the flip stop. Keeps everything square. I'd use it again, even if I had extra plywood.

andy

[Vince Rosypal]

Had a burst of energy and was able to get out to the shop yesterday and finally build the sheet good rack
Thanks to everyone for the great tips and advise

In the end I built a "tweaked" version of WOOD Magazines cart..... 60" long X 21" wide X ~66" tall (With casters)
The length was chosen as the majority of the time the cart will be for cut offs and remnants. I don't store extra sheets typically and only buy for the project.... that said I have 4 X 3/4" MDF sheets of a buddies that I wanted to get off the floor so I can do some rearranging of the shop.
The Width was expanded by 3" to give me more sheet capacity.
Height..... at the moment the side brace is 60" less the base height so ~ 56" and unfinished, I want to work with the unit a little while and see where I need to be in height. I also plan on a hold of some sort.... similar to Andy's
Castors.... 6 x 4" two way lock from leevalley, they are working really well. As others had mentions floors being unlevel some castors do not touch the floor.
Maneuvering the units is pretty good.... fully loaded it is heavy but still manageable. As Andy noted having a full length 8' cart would protect the sheet goods and I totally agree. I do find that with the part sticking out the ends being only ~6" wide rather that the full 21" I am able to thread the eye of a needle better.... with a lot of care not to hit anything
I placed the back cross support at 24" for now to see how i like that.... nothing on this cart is glued so modification will be easier.

Thanks again for the tips and advice
Vince

358467
358469