Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Cart for heavy slabs questions
Barry Irby
Two years ago I got forty oak slabs and now I am ready to start using them. Anybody got a good design for a cart to handle them?
I am thinking of something that would allow tipping the slab onto it's edge to roll them around and then turn them level to allow working on them.
Any ideas?
(The problem is I have a tiny shop and need to turn them on edge to go through the door. So one of the hydraulic carts that raises and lowers would not help much.)
Re: Cart for heavy slabs questions
Mark Nowicki
A-Frame cart, overhead gantry crane with a chain-bloc and a scissor panel clamp.
Re: Cart for heavy slabs questions
Larry Edinger
https://www.rockler.com/rockler-material-mate-panel-cart-and-shop-stand
Interesting...Vedy Interesting..
The cart has me thinking, wish I had a rail
Re: Cart for heavy slabs questions
Keith L Newton
Barry, I move large beams with just a hand cart / dolly, by laying it on the back with the blade up. I park it beside my sawmill so that I can spin the slab around then just lift one end to swing it over the dolly so the balance point is about two feet above the wheels. When the weight is let down onto the blade, the handle end comes up under the slab / beam. But then it is easy to just lift the long end and push it around when the wheels are near the balance point. Soft tires help smooth the ride. But this has the board flat, not up on edge.
However many years ago, I made a plywood sub-blade that when the cart was laying on it's back, this dropped over the blade, but extended up with a slot for plywood or MDF. I picked up my sheet goods from my supplier loaded on edge leaning against one side of my box trailer, so I just slid them out the back through that slot in the blade/box until it was nearly balanced. You could modify that idea to.
Re: The cart has me thinking, wish I had a rail
Mark Nowicki
Don't need a rail. Three 4"x4" X 10' make a decent tripod crane.
Re: Cart for heavy slabs questions
Paul in NJ
A sheet rock lift might fit the bill.
Sheetrock lift...that's high level thinking...
Barry Irby
I will look into that. Not sure of the dimensions and weight range, but that's a good idea. Thanks for the idea.
Re: Sheetrock lift...that's high level thinking...
Mark Nowicki
That is a terrible idea.
You figure out why.
It you do decide to try it see that you don't get killed.
Pictures
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
We have been hearing about this adventure now for two years. Some pictures of this lumber would be entertaining.
Pretty Pricey. Bet you could make one like it.
Re: Pictures
Barry Irby
I have several pictures but for the life of me I can't figure out how to post them.
Re: Pictures
John Jardin
Barry, I had the same problem. Bill suggested his app Irfanview but I have a Mac and it was for Windows.
I went with Dereks app Photoshop Elements. Amazon about $75. I'm still on the learning curve, but determined to finally get my pics organized and bore you guys with some of my work.
Re: Cart for heavy slabs questions
William Duffield
Load limit - 150 lb.
It would work for most coffee tables, but not for a Nakashima Peace Altar.
You probably want to ask yourself whether, even on edge, it will fit through your door with legs attached.
Re: Pictures
William Duffield
On a Mac, you can use the Preview app to resize the pics. While it won't give you an absolute size instantaneously, with a little trial and error, you can get the pic below the 1Mb WoodCentral limit.