How to Build a Simple DIY Scrap Wood Storage Cart

With this easy step-by-step guide, you can learn how to build a DIY scrap wood storage cart perfect for small spaces. This cart will organize your workshop and help you make the most of your scrap wood.

I know I say this all the time, but my scrapwood pile is always on steroids. With every project I make, the pile grows exponentially. I feel like I am always trying to figure out the best way to store my scrap wood.

Years ago, I built a scrap wood organizer. To be honest, I used it more as a lumber organizer than just for scrap wood because it was pretty big. This worked okay for a while, but the truth was that it was too big and took up too much of a footprint in my workshop.

I ended up moving that into the shed in the backyard, turned it vertically, and now store paint in it 🙂

I also added a lumber rack in my workshop, which helped organize larger pieces. But all the smaller cut-offs ended up underneath my workbench. When I built my current workbench, my goal was to keep all the scrap wood limited to the two small shelves on the side.

Who was I kidding? The scrap wood pile took over the shelf. I also had piles of scrap wood in various spots in the workshop—in a cardboard box, leaning against the cabinets, leaning against the back wall—it was out of control.

So, I decided it was time to do something about it and make a scrap wood organizer.

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DIY Scrap Wood Cart

The best part is that I was able to make this scrap wood cart out of scrap wood! It doesn’t get any better than that!

The overall footprint of the scrap wood cart is 24″ and 18″ which is great for a small workshop.

I also wanted to keep it small, mobile, and light so I can move it around as needed. I only need this to store pieces that are shorter than 24″ because anything longer goes on my lumber rack.

I had a piece of ¾” plywood that was 25″ by 20″ so instead of cutting down, I modified my design to fit that. You can also easily modify it for the dimensions you need – bigger or smaller. Although I don’t really think going smaller will be very functional.

As always, I have the full detailed video on how I built it along with showing you how I sorted all of my scrap wood. A detailed written tutorial follows below.

See how to use a miter saw

How to Build

The scrap wood organizer has two “tiers” :

• The front can save all the smaller cut-offs
• The back can store wider boards and taller pieces.

The best way to build it is to build the frames for each tier and then attach them starting at the back.

Step 1: Prepare the Lumber

• Gather all the boards and make the cuts per the cut list.
• You can sand down the boards if you like. I didn’t bother sanding them because the cart is going to store lumber anyway.

As I mentioned, I used various scrapboards and ripped down a few of them to make enough 1×2 and 1×3 boards.

Step 2: Make Pocket Holes

• Set up the pocket hole jig for ¾” material and make pocket holes. Learn more about pocket holes here.

I use a Kreg 720 as it is quick and efficient to make multiple pocket holes. You can use any pocket hole jig. See which Kreg Jig works for you.

There are a lot of pocket holes in this project, but it is well worth making them to make assembly super quick and easy.

Pro Tip: Check intermittently if the collar is tight and in the right position as you make pocket holes. Sometimes, it can start to slip, causing the pocket holes to be too deep.

Step 3: Assemble the Frames

The easiest way to build this structure is to assemble each tier separately and then attach it to the base.

• Build the front, back, and middle frames by attaching the slats to the sides using wood glue and 1 ¼” pocket hole screws.

Note the bottommost slat is attached with the pocket holes facing downwards. These will eventually attach the base and keep the frame stable.

Pro Tip: I highly recommend using clamps to hold the boards together. It is like having a second set of hands. In this case, face clamps make sure that the boards stay in the same plane and aligned as you add the screws.

• Attach the dividers to the slats on the front and middle frame using wood glue and 1 ¼” pocket hole screws. This is where you want to use the F-style bar clamps to keep the boards aligned and in place.

Step 4: Attach the Frames to Build the Cart

To attach the frames to the cart, we start at the back and then go to the front.

• Attach the back frame to the base plywood by adding pocket hole screws through the sides and the slat. A right-angle clamp can be helpful to hold the structure in place.

• Attach the middle frame to the base and the dividers to the slats of the previous frame using wood glue and pocket hole screws. A right-angle drill attachment will be extremely helpful in getting into the tight spots.

• Attach the front frame the same way using wood glue and pocket hole screws.

And that is the scrap wood organizer.

Step 5: Add the Casters

• To make the entire cart mobile, add 2″ casters to the bottom of the plywood base.

I used 1″ screws to attach the casters. ¾” screws would have been ideal, but I didn’t have them on hand, so I added a few extra washers to make up for the difference.

And that’s the scrap wood cart!

I sorted through all of my scrap wood and got rid of a few pieces because they were too short and I shouldn’t have saved them in the first place.

Pro Tip: Don’t save pieces smaller than 3″-4″ because they would be very dangerous to cut on any saw and you are never going to use them. Trust me.

Now, I have a nicely consolidated simple scrap wood storage cart. No more piles of random scrap wood all around the workshop. And my workbench shelf is actually empty, and I can store tools underneath! My goal is to keep it this way!

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