Since I’m already talking about Ikea today, it seems like a good time to bring up their Raskog kitchen cart for discussion.
I’ve got 2 of these in use, 1 more in the box from last week’s trip to the Swedish furniture super store.
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These are meant as kitchen carts, but plenty of people use them to holds tools, crafts, and pretty much anything.
The Raskog almost mirrors the functionality of the Hazet Assistant tool box, but is smaller, not very adjustable, and its casters look like they’ll fall apart if you look at them the wrong way.
But hey, they work great for $25. The price recently dropped down from $30, and according to a comment in my Hazet Assistant tool box post, they used to be $50. A quick Google search confirmed the same.
The color options aren’t as good as what I can see via a Google image search – the Raskog is only currently available in black, beige, and orange. You buy something like this for functionality, not looks, but I’d still love to see this in bright blue or cherry red.
The construction is straightforward. You have 3 baskets, a tubular frame, and 4 casters.
The baskets have a mesh bottom.
I would more describe this as a project cart, rather than a tool cart, but I think one would have to load it with an impractical number of tools before it bogged down or broke.
This is not a heavy duty tool storage solution. But for $25, it’s pretty darned useful.
In the cart right next to, I’ve got plywood cut-offs, a camera, a box of wire nuts, a box of new safety goggles, a bag full of Sortimo plastic bins that I’ve got to rinse out because they came with a thick coating of road-like dirt, a few boxes of light switches and outlets, some cover plates, a battery charger, Dewalt Impact-Ready hole saws, a desktop-style electronics enclosure box, a new Amprobe outlet tester, a Craftsman AC line splitter, some USB cables, a wrench roll, a pneumatic 4-way rotary switch, Veritas mortise chisel sharpening jig adapter, an electronics keypad switch I ordered to play around with just because it was on clearance, and a rolled-up magazine.
There might be one or two other things I can’t see from where I’m sitting.
Hmm. That’s a lot of random stuff.
I guess these things also make good “I’ve got too much stuff on my bench, let me clean it all off in one swoop” catch-alls.
Dimensions
- 13-3/4″ wide
- 17-3/4″ long
- 30-3/4″ tall
The middle shelf can be adjusted up or down. I keep mine close to dead-center.
Price: $25
Buy Now(via Ikea)
You can pick it up at your local Ikea store for $25 plus whatever else you end up spending during your 4-hour visit, or $25 + $10 shipping if you order online.
It’s a $25 kitchen utility cart from Ikea. Expect very little from it, and it’ll exceed your expectations by a lot.
I’d buy this again in a heartbeat.
What would you use one for?
Cr8on
I’ve been looking for a solution much like this….. Hummm…. I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks!
Tammy
I love my Raskog, have it in blue & use it for craft supplies – paints & brushes. It’s easy to roll around to wherever I want to use it.
Being metal, it’s also handy to have strong magnets along the edges to hold small tools or bags on the sides for other supplies I need.
Fazal Majid
I have one to hold my 5 year old daughter’s art supplies in a futile attempt to control entropy and art supply proliferation at bay. It works very well for that purpose.
Koko the Talking Ape
At $25, I might buy one just in case I need something like it. I know artists use it to keep paint and brushes handy. Are the casters replaceable? Even if they aren’t, I would figure out some way to replace them (like putting the entire thing on a little tray with a separate set of casters.)
Adam
My dad has two of these for his electronic repair tools and test gear. He seems to be quite happy with them.
Charles
I have two of these things, got them when they were first released (I swear I paid $49 each for them -wasn’t happy about it considering all it was, but useful enough that I forked over the money for a second one shortly thereafter).
They’re great little shelves and at $25, pretty much a no brainer.
Big Adam
Good grief!
These things are over US$63 inc. sales tax here in UK!!
MJ
You think you Brits have it bad with Ikea? It’s about 75usd in Israel.
John
I can better that, $88.16 US dollars($129.00NZ)in New Zealand
glenn
I thought we were getting ripped off in Australia!
$50.72 USD ($69.00AUD)
Looks like the rest of the world is subsidising you guys in the US, lol.
donk
We just saw these last weekend in Moscow, Russia for over $70 USD. Not quite worth it at that price and we passed. At $25 we would have picked one of these up.
Ken
Only about US$30 here in Canada; not bad for once. Usually they stick a few word of French on the package and double the price…
Scott
Easily one of the best products Ikea has produced. I have one I use for car detailing in teal.
RKA
As another alternative here is something to look at. I have a 3 tiered Luxor cart from Costco that I find invaluable. It’s a little different from this in a few ways. Larger surfaces, solid surfaces so small parts don’t fall through and the top shelf is completely flat (tubs for the lower two) so oversized objects can be placed and removed easily or it can double as a work surface. It also stands a bit taller aiding in that last task. The wheels are junk though, as is the case with most of these sub-$100 solutions. Being plastic it’s easy to carry up or down a flight of stairs to bring it where a project requires. It’s size is a little unwieldy, but it’s not terrible.
Luxor also offers a mechanics 3 shelf cart where each shelf is segmented if you wish to organize things on the cart. I prefer the open trays and top shelf because I use to for any project where I have a number of tools and supplies I don’t want littered on the ground. They vary in size often so the segmented bins don’t work well for me.
SharkyTM
My wife bought me one as a surprise gift, and I actually love it. I wish the casters didn’t roll quite as easily, as it tends to roll farther than I’d like with a gentle push on laminate floors.
I lined each basket with rubber anti-skid, and use it as a project holding area for electronics parts and mechanical assemblies. Well worth the money!
KMR
Costco has a very similarly styled car, but with four shelf bins for $30. All metal construction, the shelf bins are 14×16″ and 3″ deep, with the same diamond mesh bottom as the photo in the article.
I picked up one last week at our local Costco… my only complaint about it is the color is a weird goldish silver (somewhere inbetween). Would have preferred black, or even white.
Jonathan
I actually prefer the Costco version as it has four adjustable shelves but its only about 6″ taller at 36″ and I think its 14″x16ish”. I used when I was doing taxes this year and bought to use in my office, but I may get one for use on projects kinda like a mini-mechanic cart for sort tools when doing a Job, next time I see some in stock.
Yeah that garrish goldish-grey color musta of gotten a tad bit to much of one of the paint tints.
Flotsam
There is a bit of adjustment that is possible on these.
Bob S
I just showed this cart to my wife who is an avid quilter. She said, “I need one of those!”.
Darn you Toolguyd. Now I have to go to Ikea this morning. Hmmm…I wonder what else I might find 🙂
Stuart
Haha. They actually have a lot of workshop-friendly products if you keep your eyes open.
Daniel Lawson
Yeah got one a few weeks ago. I like mesh bottoms as it allows the sawdust to fall through.
Joe G
I bought 2 of these after seeing it here. The first became a cart to hold laundry supplies with a dehumidifier on top.
The second i bought as a shop cart for when i am working a project. It is brilliant for storage in this capacity.
Terisa
Are the wheels made of rubber or plastic? I have hardwood floors I want to protect.
Stuart
Hard plastic.
You could try to find replacement non-marring casters. The included casters have a threaded stem, and 2 nuts so that they can be leveled a little if necessary.