by Robert Dalheim
robert.dalheim@woodworkingnetwork.com SMALL SHOP SUCCESS
Six-function, transforming shop cart
is a stroke of genius
Belgian furniture maker develops multi-use shop cart
that’s perfect for the small shop.
Acustom-built shop cart from Belgian furniture maker Timothy Wilmots is a height- adjustable assembly table,
a glue-up table, a panel cart, a Festool-inspired dog-hold bench, a drying rack,
and a mobile shop cart - all in one.
Wilmots began building the MFSC
(Multi-Function Shop Cart) three years
ago, seeking a mobile shop fixture
“designed to assist woodworkers all along
the construction of a piece of furniture,
from the first to the last step.”
“All these designs exist and can be
made/bought,” Wilmot writes. “But in
my production oriented shop I would
have needed two of each to be really use-
ful, that would have cost a fortune and
I didn’t have the room anyway because
then we’re talking about at least 10 dif-
ferent carts/workbenches.”
Wilmot explains why he decided to
build the cart:
“While working in my workshop I
encountered several problems that were
slowing me down or causing frustra-
tions, such as the need for a cart to move
around parts from tool to tool, the need
for a height adjustable assembly table,
the occasional need for additional work
benches or the need for drying racks.
For most of these problems, there are
commercial solutions, but these are
costly and would have filled my workshop
while only being used periodically.
“So about three years ago in 2014, I
had the idea to design a single cart that
would solve as much of these problems
as possible. It had to be a workbench,
a wheel cart, a rack and adjustable in
height. As soon as I started drawing a
prototype, it became clear that combining these apparently simple functions
in a solid and reliable manner would be
extremely complicated as nobody had
