Finding the straight pieces.
Now that the trailer was built and functional it was time to start building the cart body. A trip to Lowe’s was required to get the materials to get it all started. One of the main things I thought was pretty important was getting good straight materials. So, I looked at each piece picking out only the pieces that looked straight for the most part. You would not believe how much wood is actually crooked. I don’t know if it is naturally curved or if it ended up curved because of the way it was processed, stored or both.
Selecting the best materials for the job.
After spending more than four hours at Lowe’s to get the initial batch of materials, I was finally able to check out. As it turned out, this would be the first of many, many trips to get parts and materials. Also, as it turned out, it appeared that Lowe’s didn’t ever seem to have exactly what I needed. They usually had something close but never exactly what I needed. That said, a simple run to the home improvement store usually turned into a road trip that included stops at Russell Do-It Center (the local folks), Harbor Freight Tools, and even Home Depot. This was also a learning experience. Although Lowe’s sometimes had what I needed, Home Depot usually had what I needed and Harbor Freight Tools had the exact tools I needed to get the job done. The folks at the Russell Do-It Center seemed to be the most knowledgeable and helpful.
Windle J…”Look y’all, no safety glasses.” He he he.
When I finally got back to Windle’s house, I unloaded the materials and began laying out the foundation for the cart. I am pretty good with pencil and a square. That said, I couldn’t cut a straight line using a straight edge, a saw mounted on a jig, a yard stick and a ruler. In fact, lines that I have cut in the past that were supposed to be straight, looked like al dente spaghetti. Windle, on the other hand, who is quite a bit more adept with a circular saw than I am, cut out the floor perfectly, the very first time using my lines as a guide. The picture below shows the perfectly cut out floor, which is the actual base of the whole cart. Well done, Windle!
The floor of the cart now laid on the frame.
You’ll notice that at the front of the trailer, there is a tongue jack with a wheel and a leveling crank. That did not come with the trailer and was one of those purchases that we didn’t really know we needed until we tried to put the floor in place and realized that the tongue needed to be level before we could proceed. Then we were off to find a tongue jack. I found the jack at Harbor Freight Tools. It was about $20.00 cheaper than Auto Zone O’Reilly Auto Parts. Now its on to the next step.ðŸŒ.
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