patio cart

7/30/2019 Patio Cart

1/15

Patioserving Cart

2012 August Home Publishing Co.


2/151 WoodsmithPlans.com WS16520 2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

This easy-to-build cart features fold-out leaves, a recessed tray, and

customized inserts. Perfect for your next cookout!

versatilePatio Serving Cart

versatilePatio Serving Cart

Outdoor Project

When cooking out, there never seemsto be enough space or all the stu

that goes along with grilling. I needa spot or all those cooking utensils,

platters, and sauces. Then theres theissue o what to do with all the ood.So when I irst saw the design or this

patio cart, I knew I had to build one.With its old-out leaves, recessed

storage area, and an adjustable shel,theres more than enough space or

all the grilling gear and ood. Thelarge, heavy-duty casters make iteasy to roll wherever I need it and

then lock it in place or stability.The construction is straightor-

ward with simple joinery. A specialjig helps you assemble the shelves,

top, and leaves. All o the slats aidentical, so its easy to make a lot

parts with one setup.Knock-down connectors an

dowels hold the rame together an

make it easy to tighten up the joini necessary. Finally, I used durab

hardwood with a tough exteriinish or long-lasting service.


3/15

0

OVERALL DIMENSIONS:

593/4"W x 24"D x 351/2"H

(with leaves open)

{ This handy serving tray is sized to fit snugly in the recessedarea in the top of the patio cart. Youll find all the details

for building it on page 10.

2 WoodsmithPlans.com WS16520 2012 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.


4/15

I you look at the drawing above andon the ollowing page, youll see that

the base is made up o our posts (thelegs) and some rails. The nice thingabout assembling the base is that you

dont need to use glue. Dowels alignthe end rails. Open mortises in the

legs house the cross rails. Connectorbolts hold everything in place or a

strong assembly.Laminated Legs. Youll start by

making the legs. Theyre reallythree pieces laminated together. Itsthe middle piece that will orm the

open mortises at the top and bottomo the leg (detail a).

When you rip the pieces or thelegs, leave them a little wide so thatyou can trim the leg assembly to

inal width ater glueup. And youcan leave the two outer pieces long

or trimming later. But cut the mid-dle spacer to inal length. This piece

determines the correct size or thetwo open mortises.

Ater the glue dries, trim the

legs to width. Then, cut the ends tolength. But to make sure the mortises

are the correct depth, measure ro

the bottom o the mortise, as showabove in detail a.

The middle end rails are co

nected to the legs with dowels. Snow would be a good time to loca

and drill the holes in the legs or thdowels and connector bolts (low

margin drawing at let). And you cadrill the holes or the adjustable shepins (upper margin drawing).

Now ater rounding over th

edges, you can set the legs aside anget to work on the end rails.

end raiLs. All o the end rails (an

the two handles shown on the nepage) are cut to the same length.

The handles and the middle raneed dowel holes (detail c). I usethe jig shown on the let to mak

drilling them easier.The top and bottom end rails nee

a hole or the barrel nut that will bused with the connector bolt.

making theBase

b.

C

NOTE:

Dowelscentered on

thicknessof rail

#/8"-dia.dowel

#/8" %/8"-dia. x deephole

-

1

!/2

c.

a.

First, clamp >the jig to your drill

press table. Then

clamp the rail to

the fence of the

jig. Now you can

accurately dri l l

into the ends of

the rails.

A few plywood scraps make a

simple jig for drilling the dowel

holes in the rail ends.

Shop Tip: Dowel Holes




I also drilled a counterbored holeat each end o the top rails. These

holes will be used to attach the top(detail b, previous page).

Ater chamering the edges othe rails, you can assemble the end

rames. Then you can turn yourattention to the top and bottom siderails. These will tie the end assem-

blies together to create the base.stretchers. As you can see in detail

c above, the ends o the bottomside stretchers are notched. The

notched section its into the legsbottom mortise. The top stretchers

extend past the legs tohold the handles. You can

use the drawing below tocut them to shape and drill the

dowel holes that hold the handlesin place. Like the bottom stretch-

ers, the notch sits in the mortise atthe top o the legs (drawing above).Next, you can rout a chamer on the

edges o all our stretchers.base assembLy. Now, you can com-

plete the base. You might needsome help clamping everything in

place. Then you can drill throughthe legs and stretchers or the

connector bolts, as shown in detaila. The Shop Tip below will help

with drilling these holes.

c.

b.

a.

Shop Tip: Drill GuideDrilling the hothe top and b

end rails for th

nector bolt is

after assembly

predrilled ho

the legs act

guide. Drill b

the hole whe

barrel nut con



With the base complete, you can start

to work on the top. In the drawingsabove and on the next page, youll

see that the top is made up o threemain assemblies. First, theres an

open-top rame thats astened to thebase. Below it sits a recessed storagetray. This rame also provides a con-

venient home or the cutting boardand serving tray shown on page 9.

Attached to each end o this toprame is a hinged lea. When the

leaves are closed, they orm a solidtop or the patio cart. When open,

they expose the recessed tray below.The top rame and leaves havegrooved rails to hold the slats. Youll

start by making these rails.Frame Pieces. The rails or the leaves

and top rame assembly are the samewidth. But when you cut them to

length, its best to cut the rails a littlelong (12" or so). Its easier to trim

them to the right length ater theleaves and top rame are assembled.

Now youll need to cut a groovecentered in one edge o each rail tohold the slats. Beore you make the

slats, rout a chamer on the insideedges o the rails.

maKing the sLats. I you take the timeto count them, youll ind out that

there are 46 slats used or the patiocart. But the nice thing is, theyre allthe same size. So it makes sense to

cut them all to size at this point anduse them as needed.

Youll start by ripping the stock the slats to width. Since each slat w

have a 12"-long tenon on each enyou need to take that into accou

beore cutting them to length. Nex

you can make the 14"-thick stutenon centered on each end (deta

a above). These tenons should snugly in the grooves o the rails

the top rame assembly and leaveas you can see in detail a.

With a V-groove bit and enmounted on your router table, roa chamer on all o the edges, inclu

ing the ends, as shown in details and c above.

Now, you can start to work on thassembly jig to help with spacing thslats during glueup.

assembLy Jig. With all these slats glue in place, I knew it was goin

to be tricky to get everything postioned just right. The goal is to get

adding theTop assemBly

c.

SIDE VIEW

G

NOTE: chamfer

on ends of slats

!/16"

#/4

!/2

!/2

!/4IJ

a.

TOP VIEWI

!/2"radius

#/8"

radius

!/2#/8

2!/8

3

b.

This shop-made

ji g (page 11 )

will help you

assemble the

shelves and top.

It maintains an

even spacing

between the slat

during glueup.

d.

>



consistent, 14" spacing between the

slats. So I made a simple assembly jigto help out (photo, page 5).

toP Frame & LeaVes. The top rame ismade up o our slats (two on each

end) and the two rails. You can usethe assembly jig to space and posi-tion the slats. A iller strip is glued

into the rail grooves ater assembly(detail c, previous page).

Ater removing the clamps, youcan trim the ends o the rails lush

with the slats and add the handrecesses on the two rails (detail b,page 5). Then round the corners and

chamer the outside edges.The leaves are assembled just

like the top, except that youll usesix slats. Here again, trim the rails,round o the corners, and add the

chamer beore you move on toattaching the hinges.

hinges. Theres a simple trick toinstalling the hinges on the leaves

and top rame. The box below showsyou what you need to know.

recessed storage. Below the top

rame sits the recessed storage tray.It has vertical ends, narrow side

rails, and eight slats, as shown inthe main drawing above.

When you make the ends, cut arabbet on the inside bottom edge.This rabbet will it over the end slat.

Next, you can make the groove thatwill hold the table top asteners, as

shown in detail b.To assemble the tray, I glued the

slats into the side rails irst (detail

a). Ater that, you can glue each endrail to the end slat.

Now you need to asten therecessed tray to the bottom side othe top rame. Then you can use

screws through the top rails to mountthe whole assembly to the base.

How-To: Hinge Mortises

Pare Away the Waste. Lastly,

carefully remove the waste with

a sharp chisel. Aim for a flush fit.

Drilling the Mortise. Use a 11/4"-dia.

Forstner bit to drill out the hinge mortise.

Check the depth on a scrap piece first.

Marking the Mortise.Use the hinge as a tem-

plate to mark the mortise. Center the hinge

knuckle on the gap between the leaf and top.

FRONT

SECTIONVIEW

L

!/2" lip is formedwhen tray is attached

Table topfastener

!/4

#/4

&/16

2!/4

2!/4

G

!/8" #/8"xgroove fortable top fastener

b.

a.



The last two pieces youll need to

make or the cart are the bottom sheland the middle, adjustable shel.Since youve already cut all the slats,

you just need to make the rails tohold the slats in place. And once

again, the assembly jig comes inhandy to help out during glueup.

The bottom shel orms a base orthe cart, so it comes next.

bottom sheLF. The construction

o the bottom shel is a lot like theleaves. Its made rom a couple o

rails and twelve slats like you see inthe drawing above.

Like beore, you want to leave the

rails a little long and trim them lushwith the end slats ater assembly.

Then you can round o the cornersand rout the chamer on the edges.

making theTwo shelves

c.

a.

b.

d.

{ Notches cut inthe bottom of the

middle shelf fit

over these shelf

supports to keep it

from slipping off.

Now, you can drill the screw holes

that are used to mount the shel tothe bottom o the base. Then its just amatter o drilling pilot holes and as-

tening the shel in place, as shown indetail c above. Next, you can move

on to making the middle shel.middLe sheLF. Youll make the mid-

dle shel the same way as the bottomshel. But here, youre only using 10slats. And once the shel is glued-up,

I trimmed the ends to it the inside othe cart rame (detail a). Ater that,

I rounded the corners and routeda chamer on all the outside edges.

sheLF cLiP mortises. To keep the mid-dle shel rom sliding o the shelsupports, there are mortises or the

shel supports. These mortises areshown in detail d above. To locate

the mortises, I installed the she

clips in the legs, placed the shel othem, then traced around the she

clips with a pencil. The dimensioshown in detail d will give yosome guidelines.

To create the mortises, I used thdrill press and a Forstner bit to dr

a 18"-deep recess. Then clean up thmortises with a chisel like you d

with the hinge mortises on the twleaves and top rame.

Once the shelves are complete, yo

can move on to adding the casteand applying the inish.


9/15

A couple o simple tasks are all thatslet to complete the cart.

casters. Part o the enjoyment in

using this patio cart is its mobility. Ichose large casters to make it easier

to move over rough suraces. And tokeep the cart steady once I have it in

place, the casters have brakes (detaila). I turned the cart upside downon a padded surace and used lag

screws to asten them.dUrabLe Finish. To inish the cart, I

used a spray gun to apply severalcoats o spar varnish thinned with

mineral spirits. I let each coat dry thor-oughly, then lightly sanded betweencoats or a smooth, durable inish.

I you dont have a spray gun, youcan use a brush-on or wipe-on oil

inish thats made or outdoor use.

Turn to page 12 or some ideas.To keep your patio cart looking

new, its best to wipe it down with

a mild cleaning solution and a damprag occasionally. And I try to wipe

up any spills right away. Ater all,youll be using it or ood prepara-

tion and serving, so its importantto keep it clean.

With a little care, your patio cartwill be around or a long time.

a.

" x 5" - 84" White Oak (3.2 Bd. Ft.)

" x 5" - 96" White Oak (3.7 Bd. Ft.)

" x 5" - 96" White Oak (3.7 Bd. Ft.)

" x 5" - 96" White Oak (3.7 Bd. Ft.)

" x 5" - 96" White Oak (Five boards @ 3.7 Bd. Ft. each)

" x 7"- 96"White Oak (3.6 Bd. Ft.)

" x 7"- 48" White Oak (2.4 Bd. Ft.)

A Outer Leg Facings (8) #/4 x 2!/4 - 27*B Leg Spacers (4) #/4 x 2!/4- 23C End Rails (8) #/4 x 2!/4 - 18!/2D Lower Stretchers (2) #/4 x 2!/4 - 28#/4E Upper Stretchers (2) #/4 x 2!/4 - 40#/4F Handle Rails (2) #/4 x 2!/4 - 20G Slats (46) #/4 x 2!/4 - 18!/2H Groove Filler Strips (2) !/4 x !/2 - 20!/4I Top Rails (2) #/4 x 3!/4 - 29#/4*J Leaf Rails (4) #/4 x 3!/4 - 14#/4*K Tray Rails (2) #/4 x 1!/4 - 19#/4L Tray Ends (2) #/4 x 2!/4 - 20M Bottom Shelf Rails (2) #/4 x 3!/4 - 29#/4*N Middle Shelf Rails (2) #/4 x 3!/4 - 24!/8*

* - Cut parts to rough length. Dimensions

shown are final dimensions

(8) !/4"-20 x 3!/2" Connector Bolts (8) 10mm-dia. x 16mm Barrel Nuts (2 pr.) Single-Pin Hinges & Screws (4) 5"-dia. Locking Swivel Casters (4) Tabletop Fasteners & Screws (20) #8 x 1!/4" Rh Woodscrews (16) %/16" x #/4" Lag Screws (16) %/16" Washers (24) #/8"-dia. x 1 Dowels (4) Shelf Supports

Materials List, Supplies, & Cutting Diagram

the finalDeTails




This serving tray and cutting board

are easy to build and can be used

alone or with the patio cart.

outdoor grillingAccessories

Weekend Projects

I enjoy cooking out, so anything that makes it easier isalways welcome. And thats why I like this serving tray

and cutting board. Besides being easy to build, theyredesigned to it into the recessed storage area on the topo the patio cart as shown above.

The serving tray uses simple joinery. The bottom ismade rom 14"-thick slats with a tongue on each end.

These slats it into grooves cut into the sides o the tray.The end pieces orm the tray handles and are astened

with the same knock-down connectors as the patio cart.

For the cutting board, I edge-glued some maple boards

using waterproo glue. The juice groove in the top is easyto make using a core box bit and a template.

The handy thing about these projects is that they makethe patio cart a complete grilling station. But they also

look and work great all by themselves.

outdoor grilling Accessories



To make the tray, youll start with the

ends. The pattern thats at the bottomo the previous page will help youlay out the shape.

Ater the end pieces are cut toshape, sand the edges smooth. I

wanted to soten the look o the

serving tray, so I created a bullnoseon the top edge and on the ends. To

do this, I used a 38"-radius roundo-ver bit on the router table, as you

can see in detail a at right. You canuse the same setup to orm a bull-

nose on the inside o the handles.Now you can move on to the sides.

First, an 18" groove on the inside bot-tom edge houses the tongue on theends o the slats (detail b). And, like

the end pieces, I routed a bullnoseon the top o the side rails.

Next, you can make the eight 14"-thick slats. They get a 18"-thick

tongue on each end, as shown indetail b at right. Youre aiming ora snug it in the grooves.

The assembly jig (page 11) comesin handy or aligning and spacing the

slats. You need to trim the width othe two outside slats to it the side

rails. Ater you glue the slats in place,you can attach the ends with glueand connector bolts.

The cutting board is made by edge-

gluing stock to orm a wide panel.Youll want to make the panel over-size and trim it later. I cut and

arranged the boards or the bestappearance and used waterproo

glue or assembly.Ater the glue is dry, you can trim

the cutting board to size and sand

both aces smooth.

To orm the handles, irst drill a1"-dia. hole at each end (detail a).Then you can use your jig saw to cut

out the waste between the holes.Next, cut a 12" radius on the our

corners. Ater sanding the edgessmooth, I routed a bullnose proile

on the edges and inside the handles(detail b at right).

The last thing to do is create the

juice groove on top. Shop Notebook(page 11) shows you how.

a.

a. b.

c.

b.

Srvg Tra

Cuttg Board


12/15

F

tips from our shop

1 2 3

When I was assembling the top andshelves or the patio cart, it wastough to keep all the slats alignedand spaced just right. So I built this

jig to help during the assembly andglueup process (photo above). It

separates the slats with hardwoodspacers to keep a consistent gap

between the slats.

I used a piece o34"-thick melamine

about 2' wide and 4' long. It keeps the

glue rom sticking during glueup.You can use a 14" dado blade to

make the grooves or the spacers.To properly space the grooves, I used

a 14" spacer and a piece o stock thesame width as the slats to adjust

the location o my rip ence or eachcut (Figure 2). The dado blade acts

like an index key to locate the ence

or the next cut. Youll need to make

at least 12 grooves.The spacers create a 14" gap

between the slats during assembly. Iplaned them or a tight it in the slots,

so you dont need glue.

Assmb Jg forPato Cart

Whether you use the cutting board(page 11) or cutting vegetables or

meat, its handy to have a juicegroove to keep liquids rom spilling

o the edge (see photo at right).The juice groove is easy to make

with a 12"-dia. core box bit in yourrouter and a 14"-thick template, as

you can see in the drawing below.And to guide the router around thetemplate, I used a bushing in my

routers baseplate (see detail below).

maKing the temPLate. The templateis a rectangular piece o hardboardwith a 1/2" radius on the corners. I

mounted the template to the cuttingboard using carpet tape. Youll want

to make sure the template is centeredon the cutting board.

roUting the grooVe. To rout thegroove, install the bushing and core

box bit in your router. I set the depth

o the bit to cut a groove thats 3/16"deep. Then its just a matter o rout-

ing in a counterclockwise direction

Routg A Juc Groov

a.


around the template. I youre notusing a plunge router, youll need to

tip the router to start the cut.


13/15

finishing room

It never ails. Every time I build anoutdoor project, one o the irst ques-

tions riends ask is What inish didyou use? The truth is, theres no per-

ect outdoor inish. All o them willbreak down over time and need to be

renewed. But there are several goodoptions to choose rom.

Paint. The irst is to use paint. Paint

protects wood with a thick barrierthat blocks out light and water. Its

just that ater going through a loto work to build a project with nicewood, its a shame to cover it up.

Varnish. Another option is to usespar varnish. This inish orms a

tough ilm over the wood. Thedownside is that the varnish lakes

and peels as it ages. And reinishinit can be a long, tedious job.

oiL. Theres one choice that I turn when I want protection rom sun an

rain without a lot o uss. And thaa penetrating oil inish.

This inish was made to protedecks and wood siding. It works bpenetrating into the wood, witho

leaving a ilm. This makes it easy apply multiple coats. The end resu

is a water-repellent, ade-proo inisTo handle extreme weather, th

inish is made up o a combinatio

o ingredients. It all starts withlight oil base. The thin consistenc

allows it to penetrate deeply. Anits what stops rain and snow ro

Keep your outdoor projects looking great year after yea

with an all-in-one, water-repellent finish

easy-to-apply Outdoor Finish

{ A thin oil finish

soaks in easily

for the best

protection.



14/15

soaking in and leading to rot. Themain photo on the previous page

shows how this works.The most common oil used or the

base is tung oil. But some brands

use other oils. Penoin, or one, usesBrazilian rosewood oil as the base.

Another inish, Cabots AustralianTimber Oil contains a combination

o tung oil, linseed oil, and long-oil alkyds meant or projects made

rom tropical hardwoods. TheSources list on page 14 can showyou where to ind these.

miLdew. Drenching rains arent theonly problems outdoor projects ace.

Damp conditions can breed mildewwhich can spoil a project quickly.

So, semi-transparent stains includea mildew inhibitor to keep it rom

getting a oothold.UV bLocKers. To stand up to the sun,

the stains contains an ultraviolet

light (UV) blocker. This light is whatbreaks down and bleaches the wood

ibers to a silvery gray.its a stain, too. Theres one inal

ingredient. These inishes oteninclude stain pigments. These col-ors even out variations in materials

and tint sun-bleached wood withoutconcealing the grain. (Some exam-

ples o these are show in the photoat right.) Because o this eature,

they are sometimes called semi-transparent stains.

APPlyinG The FiniShLike I said beore, one o the biggest

advantages to penetrating oils is justhow easy they are to apply all you

need is a brush. But things can get a

little messy. So I like to do my inish-ing outside. A large, plastic tarp willprotect suraces rom drips.

a heaVy First coat. I ind that a brush

works well or most projects. But youcan spray on the inish (box below).

The goal here is to apply a good,wet coat to all parts o the project.

Then, ater letting it soak in or 20-30minutes, wipe o the excess.

Youll notice that endgrain will

suck up the oil like a sponge. So Icheck back every ew minutes to

brush on additional inish.Depending on the inish, you may

need to apply a second coat. The sec-

ond coat goes on like the irst. Then Ilet the project dry at least overnight

beore using it.reFinishing. No inish will last or-

ever outside. So, chances are, youllneed to reapply the inish every year

or two. The nice thing about a pen-etrating oil is that renewing it is apretty simple process.

To do this, I like to clean the projectirst and sand out any scratches or

dings. Then, just lay down a newcoat like the original application.

Ater letting it dry overnight, itsback in business.

You can make applying a penetrat-

ing oil inish go a lot quicker i youspray it on. But that doesnt meanyou need to invest in expensive

spray equipment.garden sPrayer. In act, Ive ound

that an ordinary garden sprayerworks perectly or the job. You

can ind one at any hardware storeor home center.

sPraying it on. An outdoor oilinish is light enough that youdont even need to thin it beore

illing the sprayer and applying

it. Youll notice that the sprayerwill lay down a pretty heavy coat,as shown in the photo at right.

But that will guarantee that youget good penetration o the stain

beore wiping o the excess.When youre done, pour letover

stain back in the can. Then clean out

the sprayer with paint thinner. Thisway, you wont gum up the nozzle.

I label my sprayer so it wont getused in the garden.

Oak with

Transparent

Natural finish

Unfinished Cedar

Unfinished

White Oak

Cedar with

Transparent

Cedar finish


How-To: Save Time Spraying


15/15

Woodsmith Store800-444-7527

Rockler800-279-4441rockler.com

Cabot800-877-8246

cabotstain.com

Penofn800-736-6346penofn.com

MAilORDeR

SOURCeS

Projct SourcsTo get the cart ready or barbecue sea-son, youll need some hardware. Iordered the 5"-dia. total-lock casters

(37138), table top asteners (34215), and14" shel supports (33894), rom Rock-ler. They also carry 312" connector bolts

(31864), 118" connector bolts (31831),barrel nuts (31823), and hinges (29157).

And i you walk into just about anyhome center or hardware store, youll

probably fnd a ull line o outdoor fn-ishes. But the fnishes that I discussed

on pages 12-13 were Penofn and Cabot.You can check both o their websites to

fnd a local dealer.

patio cart

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