48″ long outdoor serving cart plans

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw or miter saw
• Drill bit, 5/8″ (axle) or the caster insert size
• Hacksaw and file (axle)
• Clamps, 2 at least 24″
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Drill the axle holes

   Clamp the two wheel-end legs (B) together, ends and edges flush. Mark a point 1 3/4″ up from the bottom, centred across the 3 1/2″ face.

   Drill a 5/8″ hole straight through both at once, a drill press if you have one, or with a helper sighting the drill from two sides. Drilling them together keeps the holes in line so the axle slides through.

   • Tip Put a scrap board under the leg so the bit exits cleanly instead of tearing a chunk out.

   ✓ Push a 5/8″ bolt or the axle through both legs at once: it slides without forcing.

4. 4Build the two side frames

   Lay two legs flat, the handle-end leg on the left, 41″ apart inside. The wheel-end leg is shorter: line up the tops, not the bottoms.

   Glue and screw a top side rail (C) across their outside faces, its top flush with the leg tops. It runs 6″ past the handle-end leg (that is where the handle goes) and 3/4″ past the other end. 4 1 5/8″ stainless screws into each leg, predrilled.

   Glue and screw a shelf side rail (D) across the same face, its bottom 9 1/2″ above the handle-end leg's bottom, flush at the handle-end leg and 3/4″ past the other leg.

   Build the second side as a mirror image, rails on the other face.

   ✓ Lay one frame on the other, legs touching: rails and legs line up.

5. 5Join the sides with the end rails

   Stand the side frames up, rails out, 20″ apart outside to outside. Fit an end rail (E) between the side rails at each end, top and shelf, against the end faces of the legs.

   Glue and drive 2 1 5/8″ stainless screws through each end rail into the leg end face, and 1 through each side rail into the end rail.

   ✓ Measure corner to corner across the top: the diagonals match within 1/8″.

6. 6Fit the handle

   Round the long edges of the handle (F) with sandpaper or a round-over bit; it is what your hands grip.

   Fit it between the top side rails near their ends, 1/2″ in from the ends and centred top to bottom. Drive 1 2 1/2″ stainless screws through each rail into each end of the handle, 2 per end, predrilled.

   ✓ Lift the cart by the handle: nothing creaks or moves.

7. 7Add the top and shelf slats

   Lay the top slats (G) across the top rails, 5/16″ apart, the end ones flush with the end rails. Predrill and drive 2 1 5/8″ stainless screws at each end into the side rails.

   Lay the shelf slats (H) across the shelf rails the same way, 9/16″ apart.

   • Tip Sand the top slats smooth before you fit them; it is the surface glasses sit on.

   ✓ Sight along the slats: the gaps are even and the ends make a straight line.

8. 8Mount the wheels

   Cut the axle rod to 26″ with a hacksaw and file the ends smooth.

   Slide it through both wheel-end legs. On each end add a washer, the wheel, another washer, and tap on a push-on cap. The wheels must turn freely with a little side play.

   Screw nylon glides under the handle-end legs so the end grain stays dry.

   ✓ Lift the handle and roll the cart: it tracks straight and both wheels turn.

9. 9Finish it for outdoors

   Cedar can stay bare. It weathers to silver-grey in a season or two and still resists rot. To keep the warm colour, use an exterior penetrating oil or a semi-transparent stain with UV blockers.

   Outdoors, choose a finish that soaks in rather than one that forms a skin. Oil and stain fade gently and you just clean and recoat every year or two. Indoor polyurethane cracks in the sun, water gets under it, and it peels. If you want a hard clear coat anyway, use spar urethane and expect to sand and recoat it.

   Brush two coats on every cut end. End grain drinks water like a straw and is where outdoor furniture rots first.

   If food will sit right on the top, use a finish rated for food contact there, or serve from a cutting board.

   • Tip Finish the bottoms of the legs and the undersides too; they stay damp the longest.
   • Tip Oily rags can catch fire on their own as they dry. Lay them flat outside to dry, or keep them in a closed metal can of water.

   ✓ Sprinkle a little water on a finished surface: it should bead up. When it soaks in again (usually next spring), it is time for another coat.

10. 10Finish

    Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

    Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

    Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

    Outdoors, use an exterior finish: a penetrating deck oil or exterior stain, or primer and exterior paint. Leave cedar bare to weather silver if you like. If it holds soil for food plants, leave the inside unfinished.

    Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

    • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.