Building a Tech Cart

[jweier111]

It's been a while since I posted. Couple years ago I switched gears from the garage to building a wood shop in my basement. As this isn't" Basement Journal Forum" I figured I'd spare you all the build process. Two years later I'm wrenching a little more regularly again. My daughter is turning 16 in just a few weeks. So we made her a deal; she can have one of our cars, and I'll buy the parts (full suspension overhaul, minor engine tune up). But she has to be out in the garage helping. She's helped me with cars before, but pretty much the second I have to spend more than a minute look for something...her attention span is checked out for the rest of day. So I got looking at buying a tech cart for my most used tools. Trouble was everything I looked at within my budget was pretty underwhelming. Everything I liked was above what I could justify spending cash on. My tools are "Money Savers" not "Money Makers". So, I got to thinking "I've got a wood shop, and abundance of oak faced plywood in stock and some steel floating around. Maybe I'll just build it?". I know what your thinking "Wood? What?". We'll it's done now and I think it turned out pretty well. Here's the build process.

 

[jweier111]

So glamor shots time. Here's how it turned out.

 

[lardy1]

Nice work.

 

[sk farmer]

that thing is awesome. it looks great and professionally built.

not a fan of that style of cart and don't get why you would want to put ratchets and screwdrivers in trays above the sockets. i would think less used items like the torque wrench under there would be better but if it works for you that's great.

 

[ezover]

belongs in the thread of awesome as far as i am concerned.

 

[txvwnut]

Yeah that cart is awesome.

 

[FuzzyTiger]

That looks awesome! I've been thinking of making a cart for myself.

 

[Fedwrench]

Well Done!!!

 

[PelicanPines]

September 2020 Official Nifty Award Winner !!!

That is beautiful. Thanks for sharing...

 

[dthor68]

What size angle did you use?

 

[CGarage]

Wood is an amazing material with excellent strength and hardness. This is really well done.

 

[Wyoming09]

Beautiful!!!

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Very cool. How much weight do the drawers hold? Depth/width of drawers?

 

[jweier111]

The over all dimensions are 30 x20. The drawers internal measurements are approx. 25.5 x 13 (to achieve the peg board alcove in the back). Vertical angle is 1.5" and the drawer pulls are 1" (about a 1/4-3/8 gap for fingers is enough for my hands). Drawer slides are 120lbs capacity ball bearing (non-soft close). The drawer boxes are made out of 1/2 inch sanded ply with a 3/8 inch bottom (and 3/4" face). Joints are doweled and the bottoms rabbited. I wouldn't want to do the stand test on them, but I guess they'd hold about 100lbs from past experience with this type of drawer construction.

I know there are some aspects that may not suit all. If I was designing it as a production item there are some changes I'd make. The way it's currently setup is specifically to my taste and work types. Bonus of designing and building it myself I guess. As far as the clamshell opening style, again I get where this might not be everyone's favorite flavor. When not in use this thing is going to sit just inside the door of the "mini-shop" out in my garage (basically a 6x20 tool galley). I'm anticipating things are inevitably going to land on the top at some point. And I wanted to still be able to open it...regardless of how much junk collects on top.

 

[mcmlvif100]

belongs in the thread of awesome as far as i am concerned.

Yeah that cart is awesome.

^^^ This ^^^

 

[richfinn]

Love it, great job!!!!

 

[M635_Guy]

That's fantastic - congrats!

 

[casmurbax]

That looks great, nice job, thank you for sharing.

 

[Tireman]

Awesome cart!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SeisMec]

Absolutely beautiful and highly practical.

 

[Sparkyjack]

Two things.
1. Very nice cart, I wish I had all things I needed to do that level of work. (I’m lacking space for a woodshop)
2. Helping to make your daughter aware of what goes underneath the paint of a car is knowledge that will last her a life time. It also makes it easier for you to help when you get one of those ‘dad my car ...’ calls.

My daughter has helped me with car stuff over the years, she’s now 1500 miles away and comfortable in solving problems as they arise both with her cars and others.

 

[pault28]

Really nicely executed! Now get out in the garage and make some memories!

 

[dnschmidt]

I agree with what my fellow Phoenician FED said ^^^^^ HOWEVER, Your daughter's ADD isn't going to be solved by this beautiful work of art. I don't know if there is something in the water (or it's the obvious drugs they must include in Starbucks coffee since people seem addicted to it) but young people today have ZERO ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. Perhaps it's the continuous media bombardment they endure looking at their phones all day that's responsible for this malady but to get them to focus is as close to Mission Impossible as anybody is likely to get.

 

[RTM]

As far as the clamshell opening style,.... I'm anticipating things are inevitably going to land on the top at some point. And I wanted to still be able to open it...regardless of how much junk collects on top.

Besides the fact that it looks great, I think this is my favorite feature. Dedicated work / junk storage, opened or closed. Well done.

And even a custom Brand label too.

 

[richfinn]

I agree with what my fellow Phoenician FED said ^^^^^ HOWEVER, Your daughter's ADD isn't going to be solved by this beautiful work of art. I don't know if there is something in the water (or it's the obvious drugs they must include in Starbucks coffee since people seem addicted to it) but young people today have ZERO ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. Perhaps it's the continuous media bombardment they endure looking at their phones all day that's responsible for this malady but to get them to focus is as close to Mission Impossible as anybody is likely to get.

I watched the "Social Dilemma" last night on Netflix

Kids dont stand a chance against that kind of technology

 

[richfinn]

https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81254224?preventIntent=true

 

[Don1357]

I had a similar concept cart on our data center, everything you needed to work on servers down to putting terminals on fiber cable.

The one thing I would add to yours is built in power outlets and a light. With ours I was able to run around, connect our crash cart, and everything I was instantly powered and ready to go.

 

[m6z]

That turned out great.

 

[joshmodelskidoo]

You should sell those. Then your tools would be money makers

 

[jweier111]

I agree with what my fellow Phoenician FED said ^^^^^ HOWEVER, Your daughter's ADD isn't going to be solved by this beautiful work of art. I don't know if there is something in the water (or it's the obvious drugs they must include in Starbucks coffee since people seem addicted to it) but young people today have ZERO ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. Perhaps it's the continuous media bombardment they endure looking at their phones all day that's responsible for this malady but to get them to focus is as close to Mission Impossible as anybody is likely to get.

I feel obliged to give some credit where credit is due (dad brag warning). There aren't that many kids in my daughters generation who ask for a work permit for their 14th birthday, find a job a week later, stick with it for 2 years while staying on the honor role, and throw more than 1/2 what they earn in savings for college. With out any arm twisting I might add lol. That's all a big reason why we're giving her the car in the first place. That and the experience I had driving beaters from the time I was 16 till...well 30. She's been working with me in the woodshop for a number of years now. Be it cooking, woodworking or painting she's been a pretty good student. Wrenching is just something new for her. And I'm not going to lie, I am prone to wandering around like an old man looking for my glasses lol. In truth, she's my little bestie. Wrenching has mostly been a "Dad and grandpa" thing up till now. To her credit she understood why I was so insistent on her learning a bit about cars. Partly because I'm not always going to be here. Partly because an ounce of knowledge can save a pound of gold. But mostly it's a tradition in our family. Grandpa was a farmer and ran a salvage yard. My dad and his 9 brothers all grew up working on cars. When I was a kid we were broke, so taking cars to a mechanic wasn't even an option most of the time. Even though I live an hour away I still drive down once every month or so to work with my dad in the garage. Within our family the garage is more the living room than anywhere else in a house. So, yeah, for a kid with a Systems Admin super nerd for a dad and access to pretty much any piece of tech she could possibly want, I feel pretty fortunate that she'd rather be making lasagna from scratch on a Friday night with her old man. Or hanging out in the woodshop watching John Wayne movies and making saw dust with me. OK, dad brag over lol.

 

[Bogie1632]

You should sell those. Then your tools would be money makers

x10. That is an outstanding example of wood shop meets auto shop. You'd have no problem selling a few of those. Great job.

Kudos on the kiddo assisting/dad bragging too. Obviously learning some talent from the old man she'll appreciate down the road.

Now...to go round up my three and get the yard work done.

V/R
Bogie

 

[jeffmoss26]

awesome!!

 

[larry4406]

Excellent craftsmanship and well thought out design. I like the sliding top.

Kudo's that your daughter takes interest in your woodshop and car hobbies.

 

[MJOPE]

Congrats on a cool build. Very professional and practical.

The true congrats, however, go to you in your role as dad. Your positive role model and relationship with your daughter will not only serve her well for the rest of her life, but others as she’s learned to be a good role model as well.

Congrats again and thanks for making a positive difference in this world.

 

[ChefRex]

Outstanding! On both accounts.

 

[jonshonda]

Really well done! If you wanted to get really crazy you could have a hinged work surface that would flip up from thr back and rest between the two open work surfaces to give you a really long work surface, yet still have access to tools underneath.

 

[RTM]

I feel obliged to give some credit where credit is due (dad brag warning). There aren't that many kids in my daughters generation who ask for a work permit for their 14th birthday, find a job a week later, stick with it for 2 years while staying on the honor role, and throw more than 1/2 what they earn in savings for college. ..... OK, dad brag over lol.

Fun story from my younger daughter's recent past. While a freshman in college, in some class on Human Society, the prof asked everyone who knew how to use tools to raise their hands. Only 3 girls, including her, total, out of a mixed gender class of about 30. Never so proud. Now that she's a homeowner, and calling to "verify" her opinion of how to fix something.

I mailed her a box of tools as a Happy Homeowner kit.

 

[Darby9]

Great work, and a great reason for doing it.