From Crate to Shop Furniture

The past few days I have been busy trying to get my garage changed from junk pile to shop. I was able to get a couple of Crates from work and I have since converted (or mostly converted) them into shop furniture. One is being used as a shelving unit mounted to the wall below my hanging cabinets and the one I was working on today will be a rolling tool table/ outfeed table/ tool cart/ work table. It isn't done yet but here is the progress so far...











Total cost so far is about $5 in screws and a whole 1x2 furring strip. The rest is all offcuts and scrap. I have a 2'x8' piece of baltic birch ply, some of which will go on top of the OSB to make up the table surface, and that is about $18-$20, plus I'll put a coat or two of sealer on top. It should come in in under $30. I'll put a sliding 1/4" plywood shelf on the top set of cleats and a fixed 1/2" ply shelf on the second, leaving a nice big bottom shelf for larger tools like a Circular Saw or anything else that will fit.

 

Here's the shelf unit I made Yesterday...





There was less than 1/4" space to get the box in between the 2x4 running along under the hanging cabinet and the sill plate, and the box had 3.5"x3.5" blocks serving as feet and spacers for forklift tines. A couple of screws through the back and into the wall framing and Bob's your Uncle! That cost me a 1x10 for the shelves. I got stupid and didn't grab the lid when I could have... then it would have cost only the screws. I love crates.

I also assembled a Miter Saw stand that I've had sitting in a box for about a year.

So... anyone else here have salvaged/repurposed items they want to share?

 

This morning's efforts... it's mostly done, except for a small lip on the upper side of the sliding shelf, and the outside storage (I haven't figured that out yet). Table top is 60" x 24" and is about 3/16" below the tablesaw's surface but that could just be the uneven floor.

With the shelf slid in:



with the shelf out to maximum:



Showing the stop on the back of the shelf.

 

I built this out of scraps to use on my small lift cart so I could reach the level of the truck bed when my band saw was delivered. Then I re-purposed it into a planer stand. I just need to add wheels.

 

The material here was bought purposely for the tray but I used some scrap metal for the wheel plates. The wood is from the odds and ends bin at Menards though, so only a few bucks for the pieces. This is for the band saw of course.