School me on materials cart

[koenbro]

My metals/materials cart is a mess, an IKEA cart that I adapted to store sheet metal and some light tubing.

I would like to make a new one, and, as space is limited, can't exceed 2x3'. Welded frame out of 1.5x0.75" tube with 3/4" OSB floor, on 4" or 5" HD casters. On one side there is a grid made of 1/2" ply to store vertical stuff, on the other storage for sheet metal. I am a home gamer, I buy 10' sticks of angle or tube and store those elsewhere in the garage, this would be mostly for cut-offs and other smaller/shorter stuff

What would you do differently? Any other advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Milton Shaw]

I would make the vertical storage so that you can store short and long pieces and still get to them. Make the front shorter than the back and go all the way to the base of the rack.

 

[ford33]

Perhaps more vertical storage of long but narrow sheets. You need to keep them from falling sideways and getting lost between the larger sheets.

How's the space under the box going to be used? Doesn't look very useful.

Also consider adding a shelf or shelves and a box on top to hold odd smaller pieces of metal.

That cart is going to get heavy. Put 4" or 6" casters so it can roll easily. A long metal rod with handle to allow you to move the cart in the shop.

 

[rayra]

I just recently built a similar small cart for lumber offcuts. It's 4'L x 4'H x 16"W and shape in angles to to create bins from short to long and the diagonal on the large sheet-good area makes it easier to see what is stuck in there, as I arranger the larger / fuller pieces to the back. Maybe a similar layout would work for you.

 

[matt_i]

This is an excellent idea as offcuts come in any length and are always changing lengths! Handling the variation is tricky but the triangular/sloped shape is perfect.

 

[bad_idea]

My, what a nice box you have. So clean and tidy. I need to build one of those.

As far as material cart - I built mine from an old furniture cart I bought on CL. It has tube sides that the sheet goods lean against between the rails - pretty basic. The one detail I have found useful is the drawers. The cart is on 4" casters, that leaves a good amount of space under the storage deck. I mounted some 4" deep drawers to the under side of the deck for storage of exceptionally small off cuts. Limits the ground clearance, but my garage floor is flat.

 

[bugnut]

The 1/2 plywood dividers for vertical storage are eating up a bunch of your space, could you use fewer? If that is not open all the way thru I would put it on the base. I would give thought to the maximum and minimum lengths for vertical storage and cascade the dimensions as Rayra did-I would also mark the lengths on each section so I know at a glance which goes or is in each slot. I think ubolts or the like, maybe even a drawer for really short pieces, underneath would provide space for storage, but I would put a stop at one end, and not let the material protrude to become a shin buster.

some other images here https://www.remodelandolacasa.com/2016/02/wdstrg2.html

 

[A**holes Garage]

I mades a similar steel remnant cart years ago, still using it today

 

[koenbro]

Version 2, added vertical brackets for long/narrow sheet strips, reduced the number of bins, and cascaded them; might even cut the number of bins further (started at 15, now at 12, maybe 9 will do?). Also replaced top frame bracket with a 1x2" 80/20 profile, so I can slide attachments, bins, boxes to the sides and top. I am finding these days that I am adding short 80/20 profiles to add flexibility to my builds.

Thank you for the VERY helpful suggestions and critiques, keep them coming!

 

[koenbro]

I mades a similar steel remnant cart years ago, still using it today

Wow, not only looks great but seems functional (and maybe sturdy? )

 

[larry_g]

Like the #2 version. I would suggest maybe some U shapes on the 80/20 to loop around some of the longer pieces in the rear bins. Just something to keep tall things from flopping around.

lg
on neat sig line

 

[A**holes Garage]

Wow, not only looks great but seems functional (and maybe sturdy? )

I would have it made it larger, and yes it is sturdy.

I fabricated it fit a specific spot along to fit along one of my garage bay walls.

 

[koenbro]

I just recently built a similar small cart for lumber offcuts. It's 4'L x 4'H x 16"W and shape in angles to to create bins from short to long and the diagonal on the large sheet-good area makes it easier to see what is stuck in there, as I arranger the larger / fuller pieces to the back. Maybe a similar layout would work for you.

Man this is brilliant. I’m going to copy/adapt it.


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[bugnut]

Version 2 looking much better.

 

[ford33]

V2 is better.

Are you using 4 swivel casters. It will be easier to move in a confined space. Locking all four casters will be nice but two locking will work.

 

[koenbro]

Have started building the frame.


First TIG project ever.




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[Ray-CA]

My wife was at Michaels the other day and wihile waiting for her, I saw this cart: https://www.michaels.com/gray-gramercy-cart-by-recollections/10555398.html#q=cart&start=10.

Yeah, it's not a large cart, but it will hold about 30-lbs per shelf (I think.) I can see a few uses for this around the shop and it's certainly inexpensive enough.

Ray

 

[rayra]

thx for the kind words on my cart idea, it was adapated form several other found online that used a diagonal cut idea. I made it 3'x4' in part to fit a particular spot in my suburban 2-car garage, but also so I could cut the whole thing out of a single sheet of plywood. Just two small narrow pieces on the short end came from my offcut bin.
The big casters were cast-offs from a Harbor Freight mechanics tool cart, which I turned into a welding and woodcutting organizer and put shorter casters on, so it would match the working height of my larger rolling table.

couple other build pics, I used KD 2x3s for the base frame, all three vertical panels penetrate / overlap that framing, so they are sturdy enough to support the shifting weight of all the flat junk stuffed in it.

 

[koenbro]

thx for the kind words on my cart idea, it was adapated form several other found online that used a diagonal cut idea. I made it 3'x4' in part to fit a particular spot in my suburban 2-car garage, but also so I could cut the whole thing out of a single sheet of plywood. Just two small narrow pieces on the short end came from my offcut bin.
The big casters were cast-offs from a Harbor Freight mechanics tool cart, which I turned into a welding and woodcutting organizer and put shorter casters on, so it would match the working height of my larger rolling table.

couple other build pics, I used KD 2x3s for the base frame, all three vertical panels penetrate / overlap that framing, so they are sturdy enough to support the shifting weight of all the flat junk stuffed in it.

Love it how you repurposed stuff, and thanks for the plans. I will adapt your idea for my wood storage cart.

 

[koenbro]

My wife was at Michaels the other day and wihile waiting for her, I saw this cart: https://www.michaels.com/gray-gramercy-cart-by-recollections/10555398.html#q=cart&start=10.

That cart looks quite good TBH. It's a more polished version of the common IKEA cart which is my current material cart, a disaster waiting to happen.

In the meantime, I am making progress on the cart. The frame is basically done, added to sticks of 1010 8020 profile to add room for shelves or other future additions.

 

[koenbro]

Have decided to make the grid for vertical storage out of aluminum tubing and not OSB. So I got a 4' remnant of 2-1/2 square tube and cut it into 1", 2" and 5" pieces (one had to be 4" as there wasn't enough material). Welded then into groups of 3 and will stagger them to make the cascading grid. The material was very dirty so welding it was hard, even after acetone and stainless brushing -- lots of cleaning action.

 

[koenbro]

Had a chance to work a little bit this weekend. Done withe vertical storage.



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