# Rolling Pywood/Lumber Cart



## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Well if your like me you never throw wood out and have lots of stuff leaning up on the wall in the shop. 

Well today the family took off for Easter and I stayed to play some hockey because the team I play on made it into the playoffs unlike my Edmonton Oilers :angry:

Went out to the lumber store and bought:

- (5) sheets of 3/4" Spruce plywood 
- (4) 5" Ruber Casters (2 swivel complete with a wheel brake, 2 st wheels)
- (16) 3/8" Lag screws c/w washers 5/16"
- 250 2" deck screws

I am using a plan I got from Shop Notes #55 and have modified it a bit but basically the same plan.

Here are a few pictures of it in the prelimnary stages of building.

Check out my new Clamp rack I bought at Busy Bee Tools for a mere $63.00. Hell I can't build it for cheaper.


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## kartracer63 (Jan 19, 2009)

Dan,

That looks like it should be a nice project. I could use one of those racks myself.

Eric


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## CanuckGal (Nov 26, 2008)

Oh if I only had a bigger garage!


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## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

*Nice racks.*

Nice clamp rack and lumber rack Dan. However, I don't think you play hockey tho. By your avatar, you have all your teeth.:nhl_checking:


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Nice project Dan. I am thinking that the garage that was going to be my shop is where I will keep most of the stock of wood I hope one day to accumulate and something like that would be just right for in there. What are the dimensions of the rack?


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

I've seen quite a few wood racks in my time Dan, but that beats the lot, If only I had the space but space is not a problem for Dave the Doctor so how about making one Dave?


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## Ralph Barker (Dec 15, 2008)

I like the design of the rack, too, Dan.

My only concern would be the load rating on the casters. Once filled, that puppy is going to be heavy. Even hard rubber will flatten a bit under weight, making it difficult to move. Cast iron wheels might be better.


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## vikingcraftsman (Mar 31, 2006)

Great work Dan. Has the snow left Edmonton yet?


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Dr.Zook said:


> Nice clamp rack and lumber rack Dan. However, I don't think you play hockey tho. By your avatar, you have all your teeth.:nhl_checking:



What can I say I have a good Dentist but they charge me through the teeth for them:laugh:


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

splodges said:


> Nice project Dan. I am thinking that the garage that was going to be my shop is where I will keep most of the stock of wood I hope one day to accumulate and something like that would be just right for in there. What are the dimensions of the rack?



The base is 32" x 96". The tower is made from tow full sheets of 3/4" plywood 4' x 8'.

In the shelf widths are: 10 7/16", 12 1/2", 14 1/2", 16 9/16" with a 5 degree bevel cut on it to allow the shelves to sit flat. This matches the bevel cut on the bottom of the two sheets of plywood that make up the tower.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Ralph Barker said:


> I like the design of the rack, too, Dan.
> 
> My only concern would be the load rating on the casters. Once filled, that puppy is going to be heavy. Even hard rubber will flatten a bit under weight, making it difficult to move. Cast iron wheels might be better.


Yup no worries Ralph I bought the caster rated for 400 lbs so I should be good to go.

Hehehehe once you get to know me I tend to over build rather than under build. I would rather try to explain why it cost more that why it collapsed because I was to cheap to do it right the first time.

Oh way I went with 2" 3/8 lag screws into solid 3" material rather that screwing on the plywood for the base.

I have taken other pictures of my progress so I will post them shortly.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

OK well today I made some progress on my project before I had to run out to have a few cold beers at an Irish Pub 

I have included a few pictures of some of my jigs I use which now that I have them I wonder how I did stuff before.

One is a jig I used to make the tapers on the divider panels.

The other jig is something I came up with to layout the curve on the dividers to allow easier access to the material in the bins.

I decided to make one bin 50" to put 1/2 sheets of stuff in there and the other two bins are just 23" in width.

The other side of the cart will accommodate full sheets of plywood.

I have also taken a picture of a device I recently bought to assist me in handling full sheets of plywood by myself. This is by far the best thing I have in my shop thus far. Believe me when I say it is the best $60.00 I have spent for making life easier in your wood shop. It is called "Leg Up" and I bought it from Lee Valley Tools. It really works well and I have to say it works just like it says it does... yes I know I was a nay sayer to but this is no BS it does work. So have a look and see for yourself:

Table-Saw Panel Lifter - Lee Valley Tools


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

vikingcraftsman said:


> Great work Dan. Has the snow left Edmonton yet?


Yes we had our first lighting storm last night with rain. 

Nice thing about this precipitation is you do not have to shovel it!


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Well I am all done the Rolling Plywood Lumber cart and must say it is a tad bit bigger than expected but wow can I store a lot of stuff on this thing.

Some things I did to make this a little easier to build by myself were to use plenty of quick release clamps. I also made a "Story Stick" for helping lay out the shelve spacing and when it came to screwing in the tower sides to the shelves I used it again to ensure the screws were centered on the plywood.

All in it cost me $175.00 in material and about 9 hours of my time.

My next phase of this project will be to build the panel cutting attachment as seen in ShopNotes #48 - Tilt-Out Panel Cutting Guide. Now that I have purchase more tools I don't seem to have the floor space to lay the sheets down to cut them. This is a big issue in the winter time because now that spring is here I can do it on the driveway but not when it is covered in snow. I bought a new circular saw and will use the old one for the panel saw.


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## lmpavek12 (Mar 17, 2011)

TRN_Diesel said:


> Well if your like me you never throw wood out and have lots of stuff leaning up on the wall in the shop.
> 
> Well today the family took off for Easter and I stayed to play some hockey because the team I play on made it into the playoffs unlike my Edmonton Oilers :angry:
> 
> ...


Do you have a copy of the plans?


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

G’day Lloyd

Welcome to the router forum. 

Thank you for joining us


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## Neil Tsubota (Mar 20, 2010)

*Estimating Weight for Casters*



Ralph Barker said:


> I like the design of the rack, too, Dan.
> 
> My only concern would be the load rating on the casters. Once filled, that puppy is going to be heavy. Even hard rubber will flatten a bit under weight, making it difficult to move. Cast iron wheels might be better.


I would like to know how "other" Wood workers estimate the weight for casters. 

If you look for "wheels" for a project it is always based on weight capacity.


Review: Heavy Duty wheel casters - by Don K. @ LumberJocks.com ~ woodworking community

I "like" these....at what cost ?

But a back injury will be more expensive that a set of 3 or 4 of these.....in fact after a back injury you could "pay" some to move the equipment around the shop for you 

:yes4:

Neil


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## dalepenkala (Feb 1, 2012)

Dan that is one heck of a wood cart!
Great job & thanks for sharing!


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Great project Dan. You've given me some ideas to solve the problem of wood stacked around the shop. For some reason the stuff I lean against the wall keeps creeping farther from the wall at the base and impedes traffic. This looks like a great solution. Thanks.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Thanks Oliver I now store this outside and tarp it. My tool addiction has taken up some more floor space and well its getting a little crowded in the shop.


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## medkellogg (Mar 12, 2012)

Looks good Dan! I made the exact same rack and Ralph is correct about the weight. It's all I can do to get mine rolling once it was loaded. Luckily I don't need to move it often! 

The only thing I added were a couple of straps, with clips to clip into small eye bolts, on either end which go around the plywood storage side of the rack. It allows me to lean the sheets stored on the outside edge of the away from the rack to slide an inside piece off the rack.

All in all it was a great project for shop organization, no more digging through the pile of wood in the dark corner!


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## medkellogg (Mar 12, 2012)

Oh yes, I forgot to mention...great modification to leave one or two of the dividers out to store bigger pieces of sheet goods. I installed all of the dividers and that is the reason I installed the straps because I end up with smaller sheet goods stored on the "sheet" side of the rack.


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