Lumber Storage Cart

[big tim]

Finally finished this lumber storage cart.
Sheetgoods are stored in the centre.

It's from plans from the Dec. 2003 issue of "Woodworker's Journal". I did make some changes to the plans to suite my preference. My shop is in the basement, about 8' x 16', quite small but since I'm in the process of more than doubling it in size, I have to organize my lumber, cut-offs, sheetgoods, etc.
Since the shelf brackets and standards they showed in the picture were going to cost me over $600, I decide to do it differently; I used 5/8"OD steel tubing, which I bought, cut to size, from Metal Supermarkets, and slid PEX plastic tubing over the steel tubing after first warming the PEX in hot water and using handlotion as lubricant to press the PEX onto the steel tubing.
It did mean building a jig to plunge drill the 5/8" holes for the steel tubing:

I used a 5/8" lipped brad-point drill bit in the router(at slow speed) to plunge the holes. The router was mounted at a slight angle so that the tubing would protrude at a slight upward angle from the 2 x 4's. The jig was kept in line by a long straight edge, this assured that the holes would be in line. The router's plunge range is about 2.25", I wanted to go deeper than that and finished drilling the holes deeper, to about 3", by using the 5/8" bit in the hand drill.
Here are some intermediate construction stage pictures.

Tim

[John Hunter]

Very nice.

[jhart]

Looks like it will be very functional. Nice job.

[lrogers]

I like that! Looks like it has room for everything!

[LCHIEN]

Big Tim,

I've been looking at building a lumber cart...
yours looks nice.
What is the specification of the metal tubing/pipe you bought from Metal supermarkets...
did you bought it precut is what I read?
How much did they cost roughly.

did you cover with plastic pipe to prevent it from rusting or marking to the wood, WHy?

I was thinking of putting them into the vertical members with a 5° slope, (e.g. drilling at 5° inclination) to keep stuff from walking off when rolling and keep round goods in place.

What angle did you use and hows it working?

Are you going to call this the Tim-will-roll?

Thanks for your help.

[footprintsinconc]

that is a real nice rack! i think i like the idea so much, that i may build one of these to alleviate my storage problems!

how much wieght do you think the rods could take? where did you get the casters from?

[JR]

Nice rack, Tim!

[Uncle Cracker]

Nice rack, Tim!

Ditto! First time I've ever said that to a guy... (I think... )

I would suggest one thing, though. You need to get some solvent and eradicate any trace of that hand lotion you used as a lubricant. It it gets on your stock, it could cause finishing problems.

[big tim]

Thanks for all the interest and positive comments.
Here is some more information and answers to questions.
Overall cost worked out to $460Can. including sales taxes. That's for 2x4's, 2x6's, 2 sheets if plywood(I've got 1/2 sheet left),
1-12"x97", 5/8 MDF,6 casters,30-5/16" carriage bolts(various lengths), 44-5/16" lag-bolts, lots of 5/16" washers, 25-10.5" long steel tubes, 20-12.5" long steel tubes and 1 roll(100ft) of 1/2"/12mm IPEX (that is what's printed on the plastic tubing) The inside diameter is 5/8".(I've got about 60+ft left of course)
The steel tubing was bought precut from Metal Supermarkets here in Toronto. The product # CTR/58065, Crew Tube RD, .065ODx.065, so 5/8" OD with a wall thickness of 1/16" nominally. They charged me $47.01 for the 25-10.5" tubes and $53.73 for the 20-12.5" tubes(Canadian dollars)
The casters came from a company called "Princess Auto" they sell all kinds of automotive stuff as well as tools, and obviously casters. The casters are 5". I bought all swivel casters with brakes that lock the wheel as well as the swivel. I disabled the wheel lock part on the centre two casters but left the swivel lock enabled. This allows me to lock the swivel with the wheels in line with the base for normal "operation" but rotate them 90degrees, lock them and push the whole cart sideway, for instance up against the wall.
The upward angle of the tubes is about 3 degrees, it worked out that way because of the way I built the jig. I didn't look for any specific angle, I just wanted a slight angle upward. I don't know how effective this will be in practice because I just finished the cart and haven't loaded it up yet.
Most of the stuff I have is sheetgoods, very little solid lumber. That's one of the reasons I made the sheetgoods section 2" wider then the plans called for and the reason that the tubes on the "backside" of the cart are 2" shorter.
As you speculated, Loring, I did not want the steel tubing to mark the wood, for whatever reason. That's why I covered them with the IPEX.
I don't want to be accused of copyright infringement, since I didn't design the cart, other than some modifications, so I can't call it the "Tim-Will-Roll"
As far as load-bearing capability. Even with 12-8"wide, 3/4"thick planks of the same weight as MDF, the weight on each tube is only approx. 32lbs, 4" away from the 2x4. I don't think the tubes will have any problem with that.
No one has ever commented on any of my bodily protuberances as being a "nice rack". Although I must say that my wife, on more then one occasion, has suggested that I invest in a training bra. Nasty!!
By the way, Uncle Cracker, I did wipe the plastic with acetone to wipe off the yellow lettering, but I will clean them again though, just to make sure. Good point.
I'd be happy to answer any other questions or if any one would like to have the plans, I could try to scan them from the magazine and e-mail them to you.

[footprintsinconc]

princess auto! man, i loved that place. personally, its several steps up from HF and they carry allllll sooorts of things. if you cant find it anywhere, we always found it there (actually, that was the first place we use to go to .

just out of curiosity, what did the casters cost?

[ejs1097]

Great solution and it'll provide a ton of storage.

[mater]

Very nice work. It looks like it will hold a good bit of lumber.

[ewingda]

as another option...you could use heavy duty shelving supports and rails. They are called Fast-Mount. I have used them to support a u-shaped desk built into my office and as lumber storage in the previous shop. I picked them up at Home Depot - they will take 300lbs (angle support style). So with 4 of them you have plenty of heft. Also by using the rails...you can adjust their height. The rails will hold like 1000 lbs each also.

To be sure I explain - these things are BIG heavy galvanized shelf supports - not the rinky-dink closet storage systems. Here is a link: http://www.johnsterling.com/aboutfastmount.htm

I think I am going to have to do this myself..this is a great idea.

Take care all!