Sheet Goods Cart

[Mike Hill]

In about 3 1/2 hours today I threw together this cart to hold Plywood, MDF etc. 2X4 8's and some $17.00 3/4" Plywood with a lot of plywood left over. Joints are half lapped and everything is glued and screwed. I needed to clean up in the shop before the weather turns cold and wet again and this allows me to get the big stuff out of the way.
Mike

55671

55672

[Jim Becker]

That works nicely for you Mike...and you can roll it out easily as you show when you are working away, as long as the sun is shining. Good solution.

[Frank Chaffee]

Mike,
I congratulate you for having constructed a durable cart to help you utilize your shop space.

I don’t know exactly how to say this next part, but I hope you will accept it in the spirit I intend… which is concerned for the safety of your family.

Mike, under optimum conditions you can roll sheetgoods into and out of your shop with the cart, but with the presence of one or more variables it could easily tip over.

As pointed out by…
:p You are going to need a big cart. You will want large caster wheels at each end. The center of gravity of upright plywood is 2 feet off the floor plus the height of the wheel axle; this means that your outrigger wheels have to be at least one foot plus from the plywood. That means that the footprint for your cart will be at least 3 by 8 feet. Cart tipover with several sheets of plywood is a real safety problem. Borg carts are really heavy but they can tip if overloaded.:( It might be better to store it against the wall
…the distance from the back of the cart to the wheels is too little. Add to that the low height of the back support wall, and any active shifting of the load could cause tipping.

Some ways to remedy the instability are:
• Extend the back wheelbase outwards.
• And raise the back support to near the top of plywood width.
• Or build an identical cart and attach it back to back with this one.

Frank (who has tipped over lotza stuff).

[Mike Hill]

Frank: Your correct, the way this is constructed it is a little "tippy". I am really crunched for space and did not want a large foot print. When I am not moving this I back it up to the wall or my band saw. When moving, I hang on to the rail to keep it stable. Good point though and a larger base would be the way to go.

Mike

[Frank Chaffee]

Glad to hear you’re aware of the need for caution while moving the cart Mike. Like I said, I’m experienced in tipping things over, so an alarm went off for me when I saw it!

Well made cart and it will serve you well.

Frank

[Alan Joseph]

Hi folks,

I too needed space for the Garage-Mahal, and made 2 carts, one for long stock and one for 4 ft sheets and smaller.

I used the design that was free at the following link.
http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/wood/story/data/494.xml

I had to modify it as the castors would not spin around freely with the way it was mounted and bringing them in made it tippy for sure. I simply put blocks in the corners to raise it and spread the castors out. Problem solved.

[Jeff Wright]

I used the design that was free at the following link.
http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/wood/story/data/494.xml

I had to modify it as the castors would not spin around freely with the way it was mounted and bringing them in made it tippy for sure. I simply put blocks in the corners to raise it and spread the castors out. Problem solved.

Alan, I am about to build the same cart. I am not clear on what you meant by your statement above. What kind of blocks and how did you install them? What do you mean by spreading the castors out? Do you have a photo?

[Corey Hallagan]

Alright Mike that looks great and should more than do the job! What I am really digging is your table saw :)

Corey