Ike
nOob for life
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2015
- Messages
- 532
- Reaction score
- 187
This one is so simple it's barely worth writing up, but... things have been getting a bit crowded in the "fermentation chamber," aka the hallway closet. A mead, a cider, a hard root beer, soon to be another beer started: all with SGs to check at different times, things moving from primary to secondary, you all know the story. Moving things around my little space has become quite a literal pain in the back, so I decided to make some dollies to make moving the buckets and carboys easier, with a minimum of sloshing.
Emboldened by the LONG thread about using 1x3 furring strips to make bottle cases (and banging a couple of them out myself), I decided to use the same material. Based on measurements from my carboys and buckets, I settled on an 11" wide dolly (a bit narrow for my 6.5 gal carboy, but perfect for everything else and still usable for the "big boy"). SO...
For each dolly,
- I measured out two 11" lengths, and four 4.25" lengths (one $2 furring strip yields enough for two dollies);
- Arrange the two long lengths in a cross;
- Use the four shorter lengths to make up the difference in the thickness;
- Affix using your hardware of choice (nails and/or screws, a wee bit of glue as well)
The casters were a tricky bit, simply because everything I was finding at the big box stores was too expensive. At $5 per caster, the price was going to get out of hand quickly. Fortunately, I found these on Amazon for $5 per set of 4. Just affix them to the bottom:
And just for kicks, and since I had it laying around already, I added some of the non-slip stuff that goes inside toolbox drawers to the top of each one, held on with a bit more glue:
And there you go. Here's one in action. The angle of the pic is making it look like it sticks out further from the carboy that it actually does, it's pretty much the same diameter as the carboy...
My verdict: all in all, not bad for $6 each. They're definitely a wee bit top-heavy, I wouldn't go skating full carboys down the hallway like I was at a curling match. BUT, for moving things around in the closet with a minimum of hassle, they'll be a big bonus.
First DIY post is in the bag!
Emboldened by the LONG thread about using 1x3 furring strips to make bottle cases (and banging a couple of them out myself), I decided to use the same material. Based on measurements from my carboys and buckets, I settled on an 11" wide dolly (a bit narrow for my 6.5 gal carboy, but perfect for everything else and still usable for the "big boy"). SO...
For each dolly,
- I measured out two 11" lengths, and four 4.25" lengths (one $2 furring strip yields enough for two dollies);
- Arrange the two long lengths in a cross;
- Use the four shorter lengths to make up the difference in the thickness;
- Affix using your hardware of choice (nails and/or screws, a wee bit of glue as well)
The casters were a tricky bit, simply because everything I was finding at the big box stores was too expensive. At $5 per caster, the price was going to get out of hand quickly. Fortunately, I found these on Amazon for $5 per set of 4. Just affix them to the bottom:
And just for kicks, and since I had it laying around already, I added some of the non-slip stuff that goes inside toolbox drawers to the top of each one, held on with a bit more glue:
And there you go. Here's one in action. The angle of the pic is making it look like it sticks out further from the carboy that it actually does, it's pretty much the same diameter as the carboy...
My verdict: all in all, not bad for $6 each. They're definitely a wee bit top-heavy, I wouldn't go skating full carboys down the hallway like I was at a curling match. BUT, for moving things around in the closet with a minimum of hassle, they'll be a big bonus.
First DIY post is in the bag!
