BBQ Grill Cart
You’ve perfected your grilling technique. You’ve mastered the marinade. Now take your outdoor culinary skills to the next level by building our red cedar cookout cart. It’s the perfect mobile staging area for storing and preparing food. Chop vegetables or slice meat on its lift-off polyethylene cutting board, then dump scraps through its hole and into a sliding stainless-steel pan below. Another larger pan on the left slides out to give you access to stored meat, fish, vegetables or ice. Lean cookbooks against the backsplash and keep condiments in the lift-out tray on the left. After the feast, the slide-out pans, the cutting board and the condiment tray come inside for cleaning while the cart stays outside with your grill.
- A – (2) 5/4” x 4” x 44” (handle)
- B – (2) 1” x 4” x 34 ½” (front leg)
- C – (2) 1” x 4” x 32” (rear leg)
- D – (6) 1” x 4” x 22” (frame end)
- E – (6) 1” x 4” x 30 ½” (frame side)
- F – (2) 1” x 4” x 20 ½” (frame, stretcher)
- G – (1) ¾” dia. x 24 ¼” (steel handle)
- H – (2) 8” dia. (cart wheel)
- I – (1) 1” x 4” x 17 7/8” (top, center) (actual width is 4”; rip from 1×6)
- J – (1) 1” x 4 ½” x 17 7/8” (top, end) (rip from 1×6)
- K – (1) 1” x 3” x 37 ¼” (top, back)(rip from 1×4)
- L – (1) 1” x 4” x 23 ½” (top, stretcher)
- M – (1) 1” x 4 ¼” x 37 ¼” (top, front) (rip from 1×6)
- N – (2) 1” x 1 ¾” x 20 ½” (top, cleat)(rip from scrap or 1×4)
- O – (2) 1” x 1 ¾” x 22 ¼” (top, cleat)(rip from scrap or 1×4)
- P – (1) 1” x 6 ¼” x 37 ¼” (backsplash)(cut from 1×8)
- Q – (3) 5/4” x 1 ¾” x 22” (pan runners)
- R – (6) 3/8” x 2 ½” (dowels)
- S – (4) 1” x 2 ¼” x 2 ¼” (corner block)
- T – (2) 1/8” x 8” x 14” (knife shield)
- U – (1) ¾” x 17 ¾” x 23 ¾” (cutting board)
- V – (22) 3/8” x 1 ½” x 31 7/8” (shelf slats)
- W – (1) 6” x 12 ¾” x 21” (large pan)
- X – (1) 6” x 10 ½” x 12” (small pan)
- Y – (1) 3” x 5” x 18 ¾” (condiment tray)
Crosscut the parts for the three frames. Clamp the parts together and bore countersunk pilot holes. Apply waterproof glue to the joint to add a little strength and to seal the end grain. Next, drive 1¼-inch galvanized or stainless-steel screws into each joint.
Crosscut the two rear legs, apply waterproof glue to the joint and fasten the legs using 1¼-inch screws driven into pilot holes.
Make a knife shield from two pieces of acrylic plastic cut to shape with a jigsaw. Drill and countersink three screw holes into each piece. Then screw one to the outer surface of the upper frame. Attach the other to the inner surface of the wood handle.
Fasten the cart’s wood handle to the upper frame with glue and deck screws. Drive the screws from the back so they’ll be hidden. Make sure that the square end of each handle is flush with the rear legs.
To create five partitions to hang knives, start by drilling six holes through the upper frame and both acrylic panels, and into (but not through) the wood handle. Insert a dowel into each hole, then trim it flush.
Rip the slats from a cedar 2 x 4 and sand or plane them smooth. Shape their top edges with a router and a rounding-over bit. Using a pneumatic finish nailer, fasten the slats to the frame, spaced 5/8 inch apart.
Rip and crosscut the top parts and test fit the cutting board in it. Next, use glue and biscuits to assemble the top and clamp the assembly. Screw the cleats to the bottom of the assembly.
With the cart upside down, screw on the runners, which will support the two stainless-steel pans.
Rip and crosscut the back-splash from a cedar 1 x 8, then cut the gentle top curve using a jigsaw. Finally, fasten it by driving deck screws through pilot holes into the back of the top assembly.
The original plan can be found at https://www.popularmechanics.com