tool_scrounge
Well-known member
For those who were able to buy one or more of the $79 Durham LIC-243644-2-95 Low Profile Instrument Cart, what are you doing with it?
For reference:
This is my project for the cart:
I do not like messy tools like bench grinders, cut-off saws, buffers or belt grinders that are hard to clean up after in my cramped shop. So the plan is to mount them to the cart and wheel it outside to do the messy projects as needed. This is possible in Southern California as the weather is usually pretty nice. It also saves space as I will mount the less used tools to the bottom shelf.
One issue though - the concrete outside my shop is slopped down. Enough that I need to make sure it is locked in place when taken out and get some help moving the heavily loaded cart up into the shop.
First is to add a Vestil pedal floor lock to the cart. The mounting holes are already in the cart for it. I had a 4" spare one so I need a spacer block to mount it to the cart.
To add another bit of safety, I ordered a pair of Grilla Grills All-Terrain Wheel Chocks ($11.89). Nice smaller size compared to ones for cars. Smells a bit of the early Harbor Freight showrooms though.
https://www.grillagrills.com/product/4000057
There is the issue of moving the fully laden cart back up into the shop. My solution was to find a tiny 120VAC winch with remote. I needed one small enough to mount under the bottom shelf of the card to not use shelf space for tools. An ATV winch from Harbor Freight would have worked, but they are 12V so a battery would have been needed. Also, they usually do not have a remote control pendent. Fortunately I found a tiny used Dayton 1000lb winch off of Ebay that works nicely.
One down side of the winch is low duty cycle. At full load, it is rated for 20 seconds of use every 20 minutes - a 1.6% duty cycle. Realistically my load is less and so from the calculations the duty cycle is more like 50 seconds every 20 minutes. Which should be enough. But this being the Garage Journal, lets add a 120V cooling fan. I had most of the parts in the junk pile. For the sake of overkill, I spent $2 on Ebay to buy finger guards including UPS shipping. How someone makes money on a transaction like this when your business is in California I have no idea.
The next part is power distribution. A power strip would work, but I had a APC 1U rack mount power distribution module in the junk pile. I really like that it comes with a ~20' heavy duty integral power cord and cable management brackets on the back. I will mount this in the end of the cart just under the top shelf. I need to get some child proof plugs for the unused outlet or make a shield to keep dust out of the plug area.
For reference:
Amazon.com: Durham LIC-243644-2-95 Low Profile Instrument Cart : Office Products
Buy Durham LIC-243644-2-95 Low Profile Instrument Cart: Utility Carts - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
This is my project for the cart:
I do not like messy tools like bench grinders, cut-off saws, buffers or belt grinders that are hard to clean up after in my cramped shop. So the plan is to mount them to the cart and wheel it outside to do the messy projects as needed. This is possible in Southern California as the weather is usually pretty nice. It also saves space as I will mount the less used tools to the bottom shelf.
One issue though - the concrete outside my shop is slopped down. Enough that I need to make sure it is locked in place when taken out and get some help moving the heavily loaded cart up into the shop.
First is to add a Vestil pedal floor lock to the cart. The mounting holes are already in the cart for it. I had a 4" spare one so I need a spacer block to mount it to the cart.
To add another bit of safety, I ordered a pair of Grilla Grills All-Terrain Wheel Chocks ($11.89). Nice smaller size compared to ones for cars. Smells a bit of the early Harbor Freight showrooms though.
https://www.grillagrills.com/product/4000057
There is the issue of moving the fully laden cart back up into the shop. My solution was to find a tiny 120VAC winch with remote. I needed one small enough to mount under the bottom shelf of the card to not use shelf space for tools. An ATV winch from Harbor Freight would have worked, but they are 12V so a battery would have been needed. Also, they usually do not have a remote control pendent. Fortunately I found a tiny used Dayton 1000lb winch off of Ebay that works nicely.
One down side of the winch is low duty cycle. At full load, it is rated for 20 seconds of use every 20 minutes - a 1.6% duty cycle. Realistically my load is less and so from the calculations the duty cycle is more like 50 seconds every 20 minutes. Which should be enough. But this being the Garage Journal, lets add a 120V cooling fan. I had most of the parts in the junk pile. For the sake of overkill, I spent $2 on Ebay to buy finger guards including UPS shipping. How someone makes money on a transaction like this when your business is in California I have no idea.
The next part is power distribution. A power strip would work, but I had a APC 1U rack mount power distribution module in the junk pile. I really like that it comes with a ~20' heavy duty integral power cord and cable management brackets on the back. I will mount this in the end of the cart just under the top shelf. I need to get some child proof plugs for the unused outlet or make a shield to keep dust out of the plug area.
