Now that Christmas is all over and the decorations are put away, it was time to make a couple things for the shop to help me work easier and keep things more organized. I made two things that had been at the top of my shop "to do list" over the past week and they worked out very well.

 

First was a tool cart to permanently mount my planer to and also allow me to store and swap out as needed my mortiser, belt/disk sander and scrollsaw. All of these tools lived underneath my workbench and it was a pain to pull them out (especially the 80+lb planer) and put them away when done. Also the only place I had to use them was on my workbench but that is my primary workspace, so I needed a dedicated area. I mounted the planer permanetly to the stand and then added in some threaded inserts into the table top and then made simple bases for the mortiser and scroll saw since they are oriented the same way and could use the same threaded inserts. The sander is a different orientation so I did not make a base for it. So now I can easily mount and remove each tool as needed in just a few minutes, I also put in a full extension drawer to store all the stuff for these tools and put it on a Harbor Freight mobile base. The materials used were a full sheet of plywood, screws, mobile base, scrap MDF and hardboard for the top and scrap poplar to wrap the top. Total cost about $80 and 2 part time days in the shop.

 

 

The second thing I did was to make a rolling scrap wood cart to replace all the buckets and tubs that I was using as well as just leaning the larger pieces up against the garage door. Since I roll my tablesaw in front of the scrap wood, it had to be narrow enough not to interfere with moving the tablesaw in and out. It was made using plywood and 6 swivel casters so it is easy to move as needed. The dimensions are 72" long, 19" deep and 36" tall. I had a lot of scrap and filled up trashcan with stuff that was too small or couldn't use. The materials used were 2 full sheets of plywood, 6 swivel casters and a box of screws. Total cost about $80 and 2 part time days in the shop.

 

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Allen, I'm glad to see I'm not the only person to use threaded inserts in my shop.  My assembly table is 4' X 7' and I have inserts in the top to attach my latch with I use infrequently.  The table is castered and weights a ton.  It has drawers up one end and a pancake compressor underneath for my nailers.

 

By the way, is that some purpleheart I see hiding in the tote?

Yes, there is a smattering of Purple Heart as well as some Padauk, Cherry, Maple and Walnut in the trash can. I make quite a fewcutting boards and save anything leftover that I thought I might use for making trivets. But I have a lot of larger pieces that I saved so I had to force myself to "thin the herd" so to say of the smaller pieces. Most are about 8" or less.

Yes, I am liking the threaded inserts very much. I have used "Tee-Nuts" before for some things which worked out well, but I really like this type better. Just drill a hole and then screw them in using an Allen Wrench.

Ron Dudelston said:

Allen, I'm glad to see I'm not the only person to use threaded inserts in my shop.  My assembly table is 4' X 7' and I have inserts in the top to attach my latch with I use infrequently.  The table is castered and weights a ton.  It has drawers up one end and a pancake compressor underneath for my nailers.

 

By the way, is that some purpleheart I see hiding in the tote?

I hate Gorilla glue for 99.9% of all jobs.  However, when I put my inserts in I used it.  The table top is MDF and I figured the gloue would fill in the gaps.  So far, so good.  BTW, what brand of mortiser is that?

Nice cart Allen, I like the excellent use of space. I have used those inserts on a few projects and I think what you did there is  really smart. Gives me a couple of ideas.

 

The scrap cart is also nice. I just don't have enough space in my shop right now to even think about rolling it around. There are several days of cleanup and organizing coming up. Right now I have way too much lumber in the shop. It is going to have to go to a friends barn to give me some room.

 

Nice projects, very well done and thanks for sharing them.

The mortiser is by Harbor Freight and was a gift from a fellow woodoworker on the Wood Magazine Forums. I had posted about getting some information to buy one as I will be making a bunch of A&C style picture frames with through tenons, but he emailed me and let me know I could have it since he was done using it for his projects.

I thought about using some epoxy for added strength with the thread inserts, but I figured that I would go with it for awhile to see how things held up as I could do the epoxy later on.

Ron Dudelston said:

I hate Gorilla glue for 99.9% of all jobs.  However, when I put my inserts in I used it.  The table top is MDF and I figured the gloue would fill in the gaps.  So far, so good.  BTW, what brand of mortiser is that?

The cart will live in that spot and only be moved when I need to clean things up or if for some reason I will need to open the garage door. We have a 3 car garage and that is the single car side. The last time it was opened was when we had the garage doors painted over the summer. I can't remember the last time it was opened prior to that.

John Moody said:

Nice cart Allen, I like the excellent use of space. I have used those inserts on a few projects and I think what you did there is  really smart. Gives me a couple of ideas.

 

The scrap cart is also nice. I just don't have enough space in my shop right now to even think about rolling it around. There are several days of cleanup and organizing coming up. Right now I have way too much lumber in the shop. It is going to have to go to a friends barn to give me some room.

 

Nice projects, very well done and thanks for sharing them.

Allen

It's kinda like you were looking over my shoulder when you built the cart that carries your planer and mortiser. But, yours is taken to the next level. You constructed your legs identical to what I did, but my shelf and top are actually a tray and you added a drawer. Well, ok, the main simularity is in the legs. :-)

 I sure do envy your shop and the great way you have it organized.  I am also very jealous of all the space you have.  Your new cart is great, I like the strudiness and especially the wheel setup, mobile, yet solid when it needs to be.

 Thanks for sharing.

 

Ron