Rolling Shop Cart/cabinet

[Richiep]

Hey All,
I just delivered my latest shop cart which came out pretty good for the most part; with one exception, I'll get to that in a minute.

The cart will be used in a pole barn on a moderately level concrete floor and spend most of it's time against a wall.  It'll be rolled out occasionally and people will work on it from all sides.  

I started with a simple frame made of 2x3 pine boards,  I could have used 2x4s but I wanted that extra inch of vertical space and 2x3's should be plenty strong for this.  I don't have a picture but the frame also has 3 more cross braces.  94" X  29"

I then sandwiched the frame with 2 sheets of 15/32 plywood, this made a torsion box.  I used lots of screws spaced approximately ever 4 inches.  This made for strong ridgid base.

Next I attached 4 inch locking casters.  I've become a bit of caster connisseur as of late and find these from Home Depot to be some of the best on the market.  They're economical and high functioning.

With a strong foundation I built the carcass from 2x4s using Kreg pocket holes for the joinery.  

Drawers made of 1/2 A/C plywood and Kreg pocket holes.  The cart is 29 inches wide but I only made the drawers 24 inches deep.  This made some "dead space" which I later made into cubbies.

I attached the top particle board to the carcass using 2x2 pine boards and Kreg holes.

The top is edge banded with Red Oak.  I'm still learning how to make good clean miter cuts... Luckily most of this was covered with laminate

White Oak drawer faces finished with Cherry colored stain and poly finish

I finished the ends with pegboard for some additional storage.

All and all it came out pretty well and the customer loves it.  

But one thing is bothering me.  At some point late in the build I discovered that the cart has a slight sag in the middle.  I put a straight edge on the top and discovered about 3/32 or so of sag in the top and maybe 1/8 inch sag at the torsion box.  This really bummed me out, I thought for sure the torsion box was bullet proof.  

Maybe I should have used six casters instead of four?    I could go back and install a couple more casters.  Or even easier I could install some shims between the counter top and the carcass, but I don't know...  I kinda feel like now that it's all put together that it's not gonna sag much more and I'm obsessing; I've been accused of being a perfectionist in the past....  But I just don't know.  What do you guys think? 

For future builds I'll bite the bullet and use full sized 2x4s instead of the 2x3s.  Or maybe I'll use six casters....

Thanks for reading.

Rich

[Alan G]

Six casters is not the answer. What will happen on all but the flattest floor is the cart will rock. 

Taller horizontal members and some glue will make that tortion box stronger.

[Coop]

Particle board should be used for one thing, and one thing only ....... Nothing!   It's worse than a mother-in-law. 

[drzaius]

11 hours ago, Alan G said:

Six casters is not the answer. What will happen on all but the flattest floor is the cart will rock. 

Taller horizontal members and some glue will make that tortion box stronger.

Even on a perfectly flat floor, 6 casters will just make it difficult to drive.

And yes, glue makes all the difference in the world. On something like a torsion box you want all the components to be as one. Even a screw every 4" will allow creep.