| Project by LoneRider | posted 426 days ago | 648 views | 5 times favorited | 13 comments | ![]() |
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Fellow lumber jocks, I have got a number of ideas from y’all, so I thought I would try to reciprocate. I made this cart a year or so ago. I have only a 2 car garage for my shop, and I have to be able to work on vehicles in there as well. So storage/space is at a premium, as many of y’all know.
The main driver for the form was a place to hide my air compressor and hold my clamps. Along the way I have some tool and hardware storage.
The cavity where the air compressor sits is lined with ceiling tiles to attempt to lesson the noise, and to a large extent it helps. You can at least hold a conversation in the garage when it is on, but that is the best that can be said on that note.
The clamp storage end works well, as do the drawers.

Power and air hose connections are provided through a small box in the back.

And of course, the sliding panels give me a place to store some of my commonly used tools.

The top front storage is really a door, behind I store a few tools that I don’t use that often. Again, I am trying to do the best I can with the volume at hand.
I still have a lot more cleanup to go, but one step at a time.
-- Tom - Canadian in N. Texas

































13 comments so far
Derek Lyons
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266 posts in 466 days
posted 426 days ago
That’s a very clever use of space! The picture doesn’t show it very clearly, but is the hole through to the compressor compartment baffled or sealed to prevent it from being a noise source?
-- Derek, Bremerton WA --
LoneRider
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23 posts in 570 days
posted 426 days ago
Derek,
Thanks, the box in the back is sealed. I originally planned to have a fan inside, it would turn on when the compressor was running; but I found there was not enough heat in the enclosure to make it worth it.
In the clamp end there is a baffled intake, and another baffled exhaust on the bottom

If you look above at the pictures of the compressor cavity, you may be able to see the intake baffle box at the top, and the exhaust baffle box behind the tank. In each of the baffle boxes I used pieces of ceiling tile to attempt to attenuate the noise. My best guess is about a 10, maybe 12 db reduction, guesstimate based on 20bd ear plugs.
cheers,
Tom
-- Tom - Canadian in N. Texas
Lee A. Jesberger
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3710 posts in 878 days
posted 426 days ago
Tom;
I have to hand it to you. This is a great design, and very well executed.
This has to make keeping your toys organized much easier.
Simply put a great addition to any shop.
Bravo!
Lee
-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com
CharlieM1958
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7673 posts in 1117 days
posted 426 days ago
Wow! First class both in design and construction!
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
DustyDave
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69 posts in 846 days
posted 426 days ago
Very nice.
-- Dave _-^-_ Baltimore, MD
Bradford
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787 posts in 721 days
posted 426 days ago
Awesome cabinet!
-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford.
jcees
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553 posts in 697 days
posted 426 days ago
Very cool indeed. Great use of space. Is it stable when you move it around? How tall is it?
always,
J.C.
-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein
conbillb
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38 posts in 486 days
posted 426 days ago
OH MAN! That is perfect for what I need in my basement shop, but my ceiling is low. The tallest areas are 6’ 1”. To be able to roll it everywhere in the basement I will need to make one around 5’ 6”. I really like your design Tom! Excellent!
-- Bill, S.E. Iowa
John Gray
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1754 posts in 784 days
posted 426 days ago
Nice job but I can’t understand how you did the top “doors” is there storage inside them?
-- Only the Shadow knows....................
LoneRider
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23 posts in 570 days
posted 426 days ago
Thanks for the compliments, mine is 6’ tall so I can get it out of the garage, and it is pretty stable.
As far as the door, it is about 1’ thick, and actually somewhat of disappointment, with the hinges on the front edge of the right side there is a bit of torsion, unfortunately. It is not bad, but the rear left droops about 1/4”, enough so it drags along the top of the drawer area. But indeed with about 11” of space between the back and the sliding doors I have enough room for my brad nailer, drills, porter cable router and a few other bits.
To help out the right side, with the hinges, I had to put in a gusset, as better seen:

I thought about putting the hinges on the rear right of the “door”, but the would require the cart to be at least 13 or 14 inches from anything else on that side, so the droop sucks, but I only need about 2” clear on the left of the cart.
As far as lessons learned, I am starting to really think about not having 4 casters, go with 2 casters + 2 fixed wheels might wind up being more useful. Second, and this is the big one, I really need to put the corded power tools in their own bins. Wrapping the cords around the body of the tool is hard on the cord, but if you have three corded tools in a bin they tend to get tangled.
My next big organization project will be to properly fill the voids under the side and extension tables of the cabinet saw. Sadly, I’ve got a few windows and shoulder repair to get done before then. But the design is almost complete, at least in the privicy of my head, and it will have compartmentalized drawers for the corded power tools. Yes and idea I got from y’all here!
cheers,
Tom
-- Tom - Canadian in N. Texas
Denappy
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62 posts in 580 days
posted 426 days ago
Wow, very nicely done and what an excellent idea!
-- -=Den
Icemizer
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68 posts in 438 days
posted 425 days ago
Terrific design for everyhign you have. You have given me an idea for hiding my compressor. A box within a box design should help to remove even more noise. Thanks for stirring the creative juices!!
-- Say what you mean and mean what you say.
clieb91
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681 posts in 833 days
posted 425 days ago
Tom, What a great workshop addition. Well built and thought out. Think the behind storage is an awesome addition. Thanks for posting.
CtL
-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."