Modular Workshop Cart (Half-Built Edition)

I built the bottom half of this exact cart and have been using it for three months. The top shelf and the drawer? Still on the to-do list. Here's the half I built, documented honestly, in case you want to copy it.

Tools you'll need

• Drill/driver
• Pull saw or circular saw
• Combination square
• Tape measure
• Sandpaper or block plane
• Four caster wheels (the part I almost forgot to buy)

The build, broken into units

Each step is one focus burst, give or take. Stop whenever your brain says stop. The clamps will hold the line.

1. 1

   BUILT — Cut all four legs to length

   I went with 30" legs because that put the bench top at a comfortable working height for me. Adjust to your own elbow height. Cut all four at once for consistency.

   ~1 unit

2. 2

   BUILT — Cut the bottom shelf

   I cut the bottom shelf from 3/4" plywood at 18"x24". Big enough to hold my benchtop planer and a bin of scraps. Sanded the edges so I wouldn't cut myself reaching in.

   ~1 unit

3. 3

   BUILT — Attach legs to the bottom shelf

   Set the shelf on the bench upside down. Position each leg in a corner, drill pilot holes, run two screws through the shelf into each leg. Add a dab of glue if you're feeling fancy. The legs are now attached and the cart's basic geometry is set.

   ~2 units

4. 4

   BUILT — Install casters

   Flip the whole thing over so the legs point up. Center each caster on the bottom of each leg, mark holes, drill pilots, screw them in. Make sure at least two of the four casters lock — three is even better. This is the moment the project becomes a *cart*. Very satisfying.

   ~1 unit

5. 5

   BUILT — Cut and attach the top shelf (no edge-banding yet)

   I cut a top shelf at the same 18"x24" and screwed it to the top of the legs from above. No edge-banding, no fancy joinery. Plywood edges exposed. Functional, ugly, mine. This is where I currently stopped.

   ~2 units

6. 6

   TODO — Add a middle shelf (optional)

   I marked where I want the middle shelf to go but never cut or installed it. It would hold tools that I currently stack on the bottom shelf. I keep meaning to do this. I keep not doing it. The cart works fine without it.

7. 7

   TODO — Build the drawer for hand tools

   The original plan had a shallow drawer on rails between the top and middle shelf. I have not built this. I have a drawer slide kit in a box somewhere. If you want to build the drawer, I'd love to see it.

8. 8

   TODO — Edge-band or chamfer the plywood edges

   The plywood edges are still bare. I will get to them. (Reader, I will probably not get to them.) If you want to do this part, iron-on edge banding is the easy route. A 45-degree chamfer with a router is the prettier route.