Mobile Plywood Storage Rack

[Vince Rosypal]

I would discourage using anything with particle board. Any amount of pressure or moisture will cause deformation. As far as design, I built a dual design mobile cart completely out of 2x4's and a single sheet of cheap ply. It stores lumber on one side and a single leaning shelf for plywood. I would recommend an A frame structure for your design. This will give you two sides to store on. I used the 300# 5" urethane castor wheels from Lowes. I started out trying to go cheap with 80# castors. They literally collapsed when I tried to change directions with the cart.

Ok there appears to be a pretty common opinion to NOT use the scrap particle board I have laying around so I will try to find an alternate use for it
I have been looking at the A frame designs but concerned about how wide it will start to get.... the "nook" I am looking at rolling partially into isn't that big
For casters I have been looking at these ones http://www.leevalley.com/us/hardware...t=3,51976&ap=1

The shop in the picture is 24 x 48; my new shop will be 30 x 40. I normally have the assembly table/plywood storage about 6 feet from the table saw, but since it's on wheels, I can move it over a couple of feet when I need to remove a full size sheet.

Nice size.... I'm about half of that
I would love to see more pictures of your layout....always looking for ideas for mine.... I'm still trying to figure out my layout

[Randy Red Bemont]

No problem.

Couple questions.... if you don't mind

1) Why not use particle board for the bottom?
Particle board will fall apart if your cart twists, gets wet and I just don't use it. I used a sheet of 3/4" that I had.

2) At ~3 1/2" for the sheet area do ever find that it is not enough space.... do you think making it a little wider (say 6") would be useful? Or would it make is unbalanced?
I made mine wider too. The 3 1/2" area fills up quickly. My carts in storage now so I can't measure how wide I went.

3) What are you thoughts on having the cart only 5-6 feet long rather that the full 8'?
I think going 6' would be fine.

4) Do you ever use the rear panel saw add on?c
No. I use the back side for plywood cutoff storage.

Also use a quality caster. You will appreciate it moving this beast around. It's heavy when loaded! Good luck and enjoy.

Red

[Jim Dwight]

I built one that looks like the Woodsmith model but the plans I found were for 4 feet long. I extended that to 6 feet and like it. I have six casters on it. I used 3/4 plywood from Home Depot that cost $30/sheet. I agree with everybody else that particle board for the base is a bad idea but there is more material in the other pieces anyway. Anything vertical is not supporting much load and particle board might be OK. It doesn't hold fasteners well either, however.

I am probably going to make the full sheet area at least twice as wide this weekend. It's way too narrow. I will also cut scrap 2x4 into 5 angle wedges so the bottom shelf for the sheet goods is at the same angle as the back. I think it will help them lay right. I can also cantilever the 2x4s out glueing and screwing them to the existing cart so I won't have to redo a lot. Probably won't even unload the cart. It is pretty full.

I have a wall of pieces of conduit set in the wall for hardwood storage and this cart for storage. I plan to add some shelves over the cart and then throw stuff out when all my storage is full. My little shop can only hold so much.

[Vince Rosypal]

No problem.

Couple questions.... if you don't mind

1) Why not use particle board for the bottom?
Particle board will fall apart if your cart twists, gets wet and I just don't use it. I used a sheet of 3/4" that I had.

2) At ~3 1/2" for the sheet area do ever find that it is not enough space.... do you think making it a little wider (say 6") would be useful? Or would it make is unbalanced?
I made mine wider too. The 3 1/2" area fills up quickly. My carts in storage now so I can't measure how wide I went.

3) What are you thoughts on having the cart only 5-6 feet long rather that the full 8'?
I think going 6' would be fine.

4) Do you ever use the rear panel saw add on?c
No. I use the back side for plywood cutoff storage.

Also use a quality caster. You will appreciate it moving this beast around. It's heavy when loaded! Good luck and enjoy.

Red

Thank you Red for the added information

I built one that looks like the Woodsmith model but the plans I found were for 4 feet long. I extended that to 6 feet and like it. I have six casters on it. I used 3/4 plywood from Home Depot that cost $30/sheet. I agree with everybody else that particle board for the base is a bad idea but there is more material in the other pieces anyway. Anything vertical is not supporting much load and particle board might be OK. It doesn't hold fasteners well either, however.

I am probably going to make the full sheet area at least twice as wide this weekend. It's way too narrow. I will also cut scrap 2x4 into 5 angle wedges so the bottom shelf for the sheet goods is at the same angle as the back. I think it will help them lay right. I can also cantilever the 2x4s out glueing and screwing them to the existing cart so I won't have to redo a lot. Probably won't even unload the cart. It is pretty full.

I have a wall of pieces of conduit set in the wall for hardwood storage and this cart for storage. I plan to add some shelves over the cart and then throw stuff out when all my storage is full. My little shop can only hold so much.

Great feed back thanks Jim.
If you get a chance I would like to see some pictures of the unit you made and modified

[Rich Engelhardt]

For casters I have been looking at these ones http://www.leevalley.com/us/hardware...t=3,51976&ap=1

Check out Great Lakes Casters - now known as Caster Depot... http://www.casterdepot.com

I've always had good luck finding something in their clearance area for real, real, real cheap.
Also keep in mind that the larger the wheel is, the easier it will be to roll the cart.

I made my first cart with 2" wheels and it was too hard to roll around.
I changed over to 4" wheels & it made a world of difference.

I bought some 12" pneumatic wheels from Harbor Freight - but - never got around to using them.
My plan was to use the 12" wheels and roll the whole cart out into the driveway so I could unload right from the back of the van onto the cart.
I ended up selling the van so,,,,,

[Vince Rosypal]

Check out Great Lakes Casters - now known as Caster Depot... http://www.casterdepot.com

I've always had good luck finding something in their clearance area for real, real, real cheap.
Also keep in mind that the larger the wheel is, the easier it will be to roll the cart.

I made my first cart with 2" wheels and it was too hard to roll around.
I changed over to 4" wheels & it made a world of difference.

I bought some 12" pneumatic wheels from Harbor Freight - but - never got around to using them.
My plan was to use the 12" wheels and roll the whole cart out into the driveway so I could unload right from the back of the van onto the cart.
I ended up selling the van so,,,,,

WOW Rich some pretty good deals in the sales area..... wonder if they ship to Canada and is I would save that much in exchange and shipping.... something to look into
Thanks

[Ben Rivel]

Been looking into building something myself. Need to get this wood scattered all over the shop organized! Was thinking of starting with the Wood magazine version Jay Bates used and modifying it a bit. Seems to be a good, sturdy and small solution. Since I dont typically keep more wood on hand than I need for the current project or two Im working on I think itll work well for me.

[Vince Rosypal]

Been looking into building something myself. Need to get this wood scattered all over the shop organized! Was thinking of starting with the Wood magazine version Jay Bates used and modifying it a bit. Seems to be a good, sturdy and small solution. Since I dont typically keep more wood on hand than I need for the current project or two Im working on I think itll work well for me.

Yes I have decided to go with the WOOD mag version..... of coarse slightly tweaked
Wood is waiting for me in the shop

[Andy Shearon]

Vince,

A couple of notes as you start your project...

Something to consider in terms of length is:

1) How often you move the cart

2) How much maneuvering room you have for the cart

Counter intuitively, the smaller your space, the longer you want the cart. If you have six sheets of decent veneered plywood, you could easily have $1000 worth of plywood rolling around. The last thing you want to have happen is to bang into a machine and damage the edges of your expensive plywood. That's the cart's job. A small area (or undersized casters) will likely result in damage to your good stuff if it is too short.

On the caster front, go big and go with six, especially if you upsize the amount of space that the cart can handle. Since you can only count on three-four of your casters touching the ground at one time (dependent on levelness of your floor and floor junctions), you don't want to be pushing the specification limits of your casters, or your ability to control the cart will suffer. I would use a rule of thumb to have three casters supporting no more than 50% of your maximum load out on the cart. Your pocketbook suffers up front, but your swearing for the rest of the life of the cart will be less. Keep in mind that each sheet of 3/4" plywood can run up to 100 lbs each (MDF cored) :-)

Last thing I would do (and did do) with the wood magazine plans is make it a few inches taller and add some flip around braces at the top of the two vertical supports. It's hard to describe in words, but those flip around braces allow you to "tip" the pieces of plywood outward like the pages of a book to pick a piece from the bottom of the stack, without the need to unload the whole thing. I'll try to take some pictures later tonight of what I built, but I love that feature in mine. If you have the ability to buy plywood on an as needed basis, and don't need to store anything for more than a few days, then this feature will not be important to you. I buy for a couple projects at a time (6-10 sheets), so for me, ability to select a sheet is critical.

Last: don't ignore the weight of all those plywood off cuts that you'll store on the backside of the "official rack". Those add up fairly quickly both in terms of weight and quantity. The other thing to consider is that the inner dimension on that back side is only 93", so you won't be storing any long-side off cuts back there unless you extend that cart length another 3.5 inches or so. If you go that route, I'd use dimensional lumber to go the extra 3 inches, and accept that you won't be able to use 8' pine boards for the horizontal braces. You will not be able to drop those pieces in the back vertically - it pushes the center of gravity too high and the horizontal back brace isn't high enough to keep those pieces from tipping out and creating a catastrophe. Another thing to consider is a second horizontal brace in the back. That would help keep shorter pieces in place.

Last thing: consider adding a second set of handholds lower down. When heavily loaded and you want to turn the blasted thing, low handholds will apply less of a tipping moment to the device, and therefore less opportunities to swear...

Have fun!

Andy

[Ben Rivel]

Vince,

A couple of notes as you start your project...

Something to consider in terms of length is:

1) How often you move the cart

2) How much maneuvering room you have for the cart

Counter intuitively, the smaller your space, the longer you want the cart. If you have six sheets of decent veneered plywood, you could easily have $1000 worth of plywood rolling around. The last thing you want to have happen is to bang into a machine and damage the edges of your expensive plywood. That's the cart's job. A small area (or undersized casters) will likely result in damage to your good stuff if it is too short.

On the caster front, go big and go with six, especially if you upsize the amount of space that the cart can handle. Since you can only count on three-four of your casters touching the ground at one time (dependent on levelness of your floor and floor junctions), you don't want to be pushing the specification limits of your casters, or your ability to control the cart will suffer. I would use a rule of thumb to have three casters supporting no more than 50% of your maximum load out on the cart. Your pocketbook suffers up front, but your swearing for the rest of the life of the cart will be less. Keep in mind that each sheet of 3/4" plywood can run up to 100 lbs each (MDF cored) :-)

Last thing I would do (and did do) with the wood magazine plans is make it a few inches taller and add some flip around braces at the top of the two vertical supports. It's hard to describe in words, but those flip around braces allow you to "tip" the pieces of plywood outward like the pages of a book to pick a piece from the bottom of the stack, without the need to unload the whole thing. I'll try to take some pictures later tonight of what I built, but I love that feature in mine. If you have the ability to buy plywood on an as needed basis, and don't need to store anything for more than a few days, then this feature will not be important to you. I buy for a couple projects at a time (6-10 sheets), so for me, ability to select a sheet is critical.

Last: don't ignore the weight of all those plywood off cuts that you'll store on the backside of the "official rack". Those add up fairly quickly both in terms of weight and quantity. The other thing to consider is that the inner dimension on that back side is only 93", so you won't be storing any long-side off cuts back there unless you extend that cart length another 3.5 inches or so. If you go that route, I'd use dimensional lumber to go the extra 3 inches, and accept that you won't be able to use 8' pine boards for the horizontal braces. You will not be able to drop those pieces in the back vertically - it pushes the center of gravity too high and the horizontal back brace isn't high enough to keep those pieces from tipping out and creating a catastrophe. Another thing to consider is a second horizontal brace in the back. That would help keep shorter pieces in place.

Last thing: consider adding a second set of handholds lower down. When heavily loaded and you want to turn the blasted thing, low handholds will apply less of a tipping moment to the device, and therefore less opportunities to swear...

Have fun!

Andy

Some good suggestions there Andy. Thank you for taking the time to write that! I was thinking of shortening my rack, will not be doing so now, and I will be building it a bit taller for those flip braces you mentioned. I like that idea. Ill probably order six casters too. Post some pics when you get a chance.

Also, what kind of plywood did you use to build yours? I was thinking of using Baltic Birch because its so nice, but it is also very pricey.

[Andy Shearon]

So, here's what the braces look like stowed:

2017-04-10 211.jpg
Not that I had to cut an opening on the brace to reach the handhold so I could drag this thing around. That was a doh! moment... Also note that I have a ton of plywood on this thing. Four 4x8 sheets of 1/2", seven sheets of 4x8x3/4", one sheet of 5x5x3/4" baltic birch, and some bending plywood and four sheets of 4x8" veneer that will be vacuum molded to a mid-century modern bookcase one day (That is a quarter round piece of plywood on top of everything that will be a part of that project). Not seen on the back, other than that big piece of cardboard I'm saving to use as a free disposable drop cloth, is probably another 2 sheets or so equivalent of cutoffs.

This is what the other end looks like deployed:

2017-04-10 216.jpg

This is what the brace looks like from the end:
2017-04-10 218.jpg

Now that you have the general idea, here's some important details. Look at the first picture and note the small piece of plywood on the baseline vertical supports. That, plus the base of the "u" of the brace, are sized so that when flipped out to the deployed state, the brace rests against that little plywood chunk horizontal to the floor. I added that piece simply because I was using dimensional lumber and wanted a little more strength right there.

Second, the hinged flappy piece on the end of the brace is gravity driven. If I wasn't holding it horizontal in the third picture, it would naturally hang down as seen in picture #2. You want that to hang down far enough so that it catches the top edge of the plywood when there is only a single piece on it. You can do a bunch of math to derive this, or finish everything else on the cart except that piece, then put a sheet on, lock the casters, and flip it out to the end of the brace and guesstimate a length and add a few inches. While we are on this piece, note that you have to mount that hinge in the middle of the piece in order to use the non-plywood end as a stop against the U-shaped brace. Hard to explain, but look at picture #2 and put the hinge there. :-)

The last subtle plywood piece is below the brace on the vertical support 2x12 (See picture #1). That (mostly) keeps the hinged piece from hanging out when stowed.

On the length of the braces: You want to keep them long enough that you can flip your sheets of plywood out to the rest against the hinged part, but not so far out that the center of gravity of the flipped boards is close to the edge of your cart (it will tip) or that the hinged part needs to be really long to reach the sheet of plywood (The hinge is carrying the load, so keep the distance from the hinge to the plywood contact point short to keep that moment arm short). I used engineering judgement for both of those lengths - what you will need depends on how much room for plywood you design into your cart base.

With the cart fully loaded as you see it here, I wish I had used bigger casters. I used 6x gimballed 265 lb casters (the four on the ends can lock - middles are unconstrained) and wish I had used ones with twice the capacity. With all six casters contacting the floor (not the three to four I called out in the earlier post), I have to give the cart a fairly hefty jerk to get the casters to rotate to a different orientation to turn the cart. Bigger casters would have mitigated that. Since that pull to get it going takes a bit, that's also why I'd like a lower set of pull handles over what you see in the plans. I'm not sure that I would make the cart any larger. What I have is at the limit of what I'm comfortably moving without an additional person. Not to mention the fact that if I got this thing going, I'm sure it would barely slow down as it blows through the garage door.

I ran 2x lumber around the bottom to protect corners of MDF sheets on this thing, instead of the 3/4" in the plans. On thing I do wish I had done differently is that on the front side (the front being the long side with the full sheets of plywood) is that I rabbited out half of the dimensional lumber so I could squeeze another sheet on. That whitewood 3/4" nubbin sticking up is definitely going to fail one day - I wish I had used plywood for the toe that keeps the plywood from sliding off the bottom and just made the base a little wider.

Here's a bonus picture of the brace almost in the stowed condition:

2017-04-10 214.jpg

You can see here I didn't notch both the outside and inside parts of the brace. I clearly hadn't thought of this when I added the braces, and when I figured that out, I didn't want to compromise the integrity of the brace by cutting the second vertical brace piece too. Practically this hasn't been much of an issue, as I only use those for turning the cart. when going straight, I just grab the vertical support and pull or push. No need for the cutout for that.

With the amount of weight the horizontal supports are carrying, I do get some bowing in them. I haven't had any plywood come off the cart yet that has been permanently deformed yet due to that bow. If I ever do have a project impacted by that, I will put some steel angle iron behind the top two supports. The bottom one I've already braced using some scrap 2x lumber cut on an angle screwed to the middle of the support and the base.

The last thing is you can see I have knobs on the carriage bolts that can be used to tighten the braces so they don't move in stowed or deployed condition. Other than verifying that they worked when I installed them, I've never tightened them. Just a carriage bolt and a lock nut/washer is fine for these.

Have fun with the cart - I like mine!

Andy

[Andy Shearon]

Oh, on the type of plywood: I used some scrap big box "cabinet grade" plywood I had leftover. I wouldn't use baltic birch at 3x the cost on this unless you had scrap laying around and wanted to get rid of it. Oh, and since I made my cart a little wider than the one in the plans, I skinned both the top and bottom of the base to create a strong torsion box. I'd do that again. I could see the one in the wood plans flexing a lot without it given the amount of plywood mine carries. If you have it laying around, the bottom sheet could be done with half inch ply. Just make sure you have good support for the casters on the inside. I used milled doubled up 2x lumber in the middle and ends to have something meaty for the caster screws to bite on.

Andy

[Vince Rosypal]

Yes Andy thank you very much for writing up all that great information...... unfortunately I am so sick right now that trying to take it in would not give it justice.... I'll definitely come back to it when my head is on straight
Thank you

[Vince Rosypal]

Vince,

A couple of notes as you start your project...

Again thank you for your detailed response.... finally off the IV and hopefully back at it

I wasn't sure how to respond so I will try to break it down to bullet items with my thoughts and answers on each
1) Length of cart
.... not planning on moving often
.... where I am planning on "housing" the cart is near the over head door of my garage and the most open area on my shop
.... I totally get what you are saying about larger cart in tighter spaces and protecting the plywood that I may have on it
.... 90% of the time I have plywood shorts and cut offs in my shop. I really only buy for projects and try not to buy more than I need (with in reason... need a little wiggle room). However, when I do have some on hand for a project it might be in the rack for a few weeks before I am ready for it.
..... I think I am going to try the 5 foot long cart this go around but appreciate your insight.

2) Casters
.... Thank you... I was originally thinking 4 but thanks to tips in this thread 6 it is
.... Yesterday I purchased 6 of these (the 4" dual lock) http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...at=1,240,66331

3) Height
.... Great idea of added height and the flip over brace

4) Flip over Brace
.... I had not thought of a flip over brace, I was thinking a couple removable conduits inserted in to the 2x6 as a catch but am unsure if the ones I have would be strong enough
.... Will look at incorporating you idea of the flip over ones

5) backside storage
.... good point on the height and tippiness for the material on the backside. My concern would be if adding a second cross brace that getting the material in and out would be more difficult

6) Handholes
.... hadn't even considered hand holes.... I will now thanks

7) Construction
.... I see you used a 2x material for you vertical suports, I was planning on ply as per the WOOD plans.
.... Did you maintain the 10 degree vertical angle of go less to get the height and maximize wood storage area?

Hope to get working on this soon.... the ply/mdf I have is in my way
Thanks
Vince

[Andy Shearon]

Again thank you for your detailed response.... finally off the IV andksss hopefully back at it

I wasn't sure how to respond so I will try to break it down to bullet items with my thoughts and answers on each

...

5) backside storage
.... good point on the height and tippiness for the material on the backside. My concern would be if adding a second cross brace that getting the material in and out would be more difficult

7) Construction
.... I see you used a 2x material for you vertical suports, I was planning on ply as per the WOOD plans.
.... Did you maintain the 10 degree vertical angle of go less to get the height and maximize wood storage area?

Hope to get working on this soon.... the ply/mdf I have is in my way
Thanks
Vince

#5: your right that adding another support higher constrains space, at least for larger pieces that stick up beyond the brace. Just remember you want the highest one to be at least half way up the largest piece you want to store. Otherwise it might have a tendency to tip out, and on a lightly loaded cart, that could make for a bad day. Other than that, you know what you plan on storing, so pick the height best for you. There's no wrong answer...

#7: I kept the slope about the same. Keep in mind that For the flip stop braces, the height has to be above 49" (for MDF) to the bottom of the brace when flipped over. I didn't have scrap ply over 4' that I could use, and didn't want to buy more plywood. That said, I like the extra beefiness of the 2x. Makes the handles more comfortable with a round over bit used, plus can hold the weight of the extra plywood I stack on mine. I also like the extra meat for the "axle" of the flip stop. Keeps everything square. I'd use it again, even if I had extra plywood.

andy