Sporting Goods Storage Cabinet

My garage is a mess. You can see that in the background of my videos. So that has been a focus for my projects lately. I still have a lot of work to do in that area, but this project should be a good start.

I wanted this garage storage cabinet to organize all the larger sporting balls, Frisbees, and bats that we have. I made another basic cabinet off camera that will store softballs, baseballs, and other equipment. This video focuses on the bat and larger ball storage. This could be a good start for overall garage storage and organization of sporting goods. 

I started by determining the volume of equipment to be stored. After that was calculated, I figured out rough dimensions and designed it in Fusion 360 to fine tune it and create plans that I could build from. I wanted this to be a fast and simple build.  Having plans at the start of the build makes it go much faster.

The power tools used for this build were a table saw, drill press, drill, and nail gun.  You could build it with just a circular saw and drill. 

The top rails are 2 x 2’s or something similar. I had some squared off 2 x 4’s that I ripped into 2 pieces and cut to length. Then I used ¾” plywood for the sides and shelves. ½” plywood was used for the back. I also used ¾” plywood for the bat shelf and triangular supports.

I marked off locations for the holes to run the bungee cords through on the front top rail and shelf.  I recently got a Kreg Multi-Mark tool which has been very handy to mark points consistently.

When drilling the holes it works best to have a sacrificial piece underneath to minimize breakout around the hole.  I had did that on the top rail when I used the drill press but not on the plywood shelf with the hand drill.  I drilled these about 90% through, and finished the hole from the opposite side as another approach to reduce breakout.  The smaller hole from the spade bit kept it centered.  The top rail bungee holes included a larger counterbore to nest the ends of the bungees.  That keeps the plastic portion of the bungee mostly hidden.

Most joints used a combination of pocket holes/screws and glue. I wanted to make this a fast and easy project. The focus was on function. Although I did do simple things like position the pocket holes facing sides where they aren’t as visible. 

I measured the cabinet corner to corner to make sure it was square. The back was glued and used nails to hold it in place. The pneumatic nail gun is relatively new tool for me and helped this project get completed much faster. I had been nailing the old fashioned way until recently but that would be another option or to use more pocket holes/screws.

I could have knotted both ends, but instead just cut off the hook portion of the plastic end on one side of the bungee cords. To install the bungees, I nested the plastic end in the top rail and used a vise grip to hold the free end under the shelf while I knotted it. You can easily experiment with different tensions on the bungee cords. Generally, you want it just tight enough that the weight of the balls won’t open them up and fall out.

This design is able to fit 7 bats. The diameter of the handles varies for bats depending on the size and type. I drilled the holes for the bats, then cut slots from the edge to the hole for the bat to slide in. I did a few different widths to account for a couple unique bats that we had. Using the table saw for the slots worked well, but it’s a must to have a sacrificial piece over the slots to ensure the cutoff doesn’t become a projectile.  Having the table saw blade up a bit higher than normal would give a more perpendicular cut and prevent undercut on the bottom.  Using a jigsaw would be another good (better?) way to cut the slots. 

The supports for the shelf were glued on and held in place with nails while it dried. The bat shelf was also secured to the cabinet with glue and nails. 

I’m happy with how it turned out. The bats now have an organized place to be stored. We keep Frisbees on the bottom shelf, but you could adjust the height of the shelf and put a lip on it to store baseballs, softballs, etc.   The cabinet keeps all the balls in one place and makes them easy to access. As a bonus, the kids love shooting the balls in the top, so I guess it can be fun to be organized. 

Download Plans for the Storage Cabinet in the store!