46 - Utility Workbench, страница 24
Roll-Around Clamp CartSimple hangers make it easy to customize this cart to hold all your clamps. EXPLODED VIEW OVERALL DIMENSIONS: (31" W x 24" D x 53" H) One of the guys told me that this clamp cart reminded him of a Christmas tree — big and green, with stuff hanging all over. Well, the more I thought about that, the more it made sense. After all, it's what you hang on a tree that makes it special, not the tree itself. That same idea is true for this clamp cart as well. The "tree" is just a large, H-shaped box on wheels. Then it's "decorated" by hanging clamps on the front, back, and sides of the cart, see photos above. One big advantage to storing clamps on a cart like this is you don't NOTE: ALL PARTS ARE MADE FROM A SINGLE SHEET OF MDF CUT 3/4"- WIDE GROOVE, V4" DEEP (CENTERED ON WIDTH) #& x ZV2" Fh SHEET METAL j SCREW yS, SIDE (24" x 47!/2") have to lug them back and forth across the shop. Just "park" the cart right next to where you're working. Then grab the clamps needed for that particular job and hang them back up once you're done. HANGERS. The clamps are held securely in place by hangers that are mounted to the cart. Each hanger is designed to fit a certain type of clamp. This keeps the clamps from falling off the cart as you roll it around. The hangers also make it easy to remove a clamp (or put it back) without a lot of fussing around. Since I have a variety of clamps, I made a number of different hangers. They hold everything from wood handscrews and lightweight spring clamps to my bar clamps and heavy I-beam clamps. I even added an open bin to hold glue-up supplies. (There's #14 x %" Ph SHEET METAL-SCREW more detailed information about each hanger in the rest of the article.) CUSTOMIZE CART. The nice thing about all this is it's easy to customize the cart. Just make the appropriate i number (and type) of hangers for the clamps in your shop. Then mount the hangers on the cart. CART The cart itself has a simple, straightforward design. In fact, there are only four pieces — all made from a single sheet of 3A" MDF. CONSTRUCTION. I began by cutting the base (A) of the cart to final size, see drawing at left. There's a dado near each end of the base that makes it easy to align the sides (B), see detail. And a centered groove in each side accepts a divider (C) that separates the front and back of the cart. ASSEMBLY. To help simplify the assembly (and strengthen the cart), the pieces are assembled with glue and screws. (I used sheet metal screws because the straight shanks won't split the MDF like the tapered shanks on standard woodscrews.) After completing the assembly, l\ spray painted the cart. Then I turned it upside down and mounted four locking swivel casters, see detail 'a'. 24 ShopNotes No. 46 |
