Idea on organizing body hammers and dollies

[Grigg]

Here's an idea I had this past weekend on how to organize body hammers and dollies and reduce the clutter on the workbench. It was aggravating having 3 or 5 different hammers I needed but in the way laying on the table. Also gives a place to store dollies.

It's 8" wide, 19" tall, the slots for the handles are about 1.5-1.625" wide.
top is made of 1/4" round, post are 3/8" round, bottom is 16ga sheet with 1/8"x1/2" sides. Length I'd make the tray probably 10" and the rack on top 14 or 15" to have plenty of room... mine's a little smaller (and full) but I sure wouldn't go shorter than an 8" tray and about 11-12" rack.

Before

The solution

After


It has a handle of sorts on top and is easy to move around, take them to the work.

EDIT
Sorry for the dead links... here is one good picture, and no, they dont all fit.

Grigg

 

[Provincial]

Weld a piece of pipe or tubing in the "handle" area when fabricating to allow a better grip.

If it were much bigger, it looks like you could load it with enough weight (especially dollies) to make it hard to move. If too heavy and casters were added to make it a cart, I would suggest making the base, or at least the caster mounting points, so it had a much bigger footprint, since a caster could drop in a low spot and tip the unit over.

Nice design! It is well thought out and should be very stable with the weight of the dollies at the bottom.

 

[Terry454]

Nice design. Needs powder coat.
Terry

 

[Outlawmws]

Nice! If it has a "home" on the bench, instead of casters, get a lazy Susan piece to put under it. if it doesn't have a home, mini casters mounted outboard the way some antique tool boxes had them.

 

[d_rock]

I wouldn't put casters on it. if its sitting on the bench and your pounding away at something the vibrations might make it roll off the bench onto your foot. That would be a nice stream of colorful language i'm sure.....

 

[nine4gmc]

Thanks, now I'm looking for some scrap rod and of course...more hammers and dollies...

 

[compyello]

very nice

 

[Hammer1963]

Great idea for a home garage or shop. I like the idea of making it mobile by using a wider base with nice creeper casters. Maybe add a shelf for spoons and prying bars and body picks.

 

[Grigg]

I wouldn't put casters on it. if its sitting on the bench and your pounding away at something the vibrations might make it roll off the bench onto your foot. That would be a nice stream of colorful language i'm sure.....

Thanks guys,
Like I said I don't think I'd do anything different it's about right as it is... well other than room for a few more hammers. The fellow who taught me relayed the advice his teacher told him "You can never have enough body hammers".... If I get over run with them I'd make another stand/holder the same size.
I thought more room on the tray would be good but honestly I could set aside some of the lesser quality dollies and invest in some more good ones, there should be plenty of room for a normal set. As it is now I've got two and three of several and some don't deserve the space... it's hit and miss getting a good hard dolly at the swap meets and then it's hard to let go of the duds.

I can't imagine that casters would be a good idea on this, the thing is not all that heavy or hard to pick up and move and I don't want it moving around when I'm not looking.
It's not much more than an open portable tool box and you don't see casters on a box that size, for a good reason I think.
The lazy Suzanne idea is interesting but also unnecessary, by design it's easy to get to anything, all the hammers are on top and the dollies have ample room above to reach in and pick the right one. The idea was to keep it simple and functional, sometimes simple really is best.

If y'all are stuck on casters you may as well make something a good bit larger and taller to hold more related tools and stand on the floor. By then you won't want to or be able to pick it up and set it on the bench and may as well push it around the floor. That would be a whole different critter than what I set out to make, and not as handy in my opinion.

It's very sturdy and stable with the weight on the bottom.

Grigg

 

[Grigg]

Sorry for the bad picture links, I put a new one in the first post.

 

[fordcragar]

Sorry for the bad picture links, I put a new one in the first post.

Thanks Grigg for fixing the links. It looks good. After almost three years of using it, would you make any changes to it?

 

[404]

Very nice. Do you have a pic with all the hammers in it?