Grill cart
I spent some time this summer (more than I’d care to admit) working on a grill cart for my Weber kettle. The goal was to create more work space for handling food going on and off the grill and to have some outdoor storage for fuel and utensils. As a beginner learned a lot of woodworking techniques along the way. Thank you YouTube!
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- The finished product.
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- I started by cutting down some cedar 4x4s to be smaller and to act as the corners.
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- I used pocket hole joinery for much of the structure.
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- The ends of the cart were added to 2×4 cross boards to form the cabinet. I worked on sawhorses to make life a little easier.
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- Added more 2x4s between the front and back to divide the cart’s open-air side and the enclosed side. I also added a vertical 2×4 on the face and a horizontal 1×1 to separate the drawer and cabinet doors.
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- I created paneling from cheap cedar fencing and added chamfered edges. These were screwed in from the inside leaving enough room for a cleat that I’d add later below the panels.
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- Here’s the cleat on the open-air side and the floor going in. I used 1x4s and added a small gap between the boards.
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- Edge-glued some boards together for the cabinet doors
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- Pocket holes for the drawer with 1/8 plywood for the bottom. I later used 2 sided tape to hold the drawer front on while I screwed it in and added the pull.
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- I put spacers inside of the cabinet to get the drawer slides to line up correctly with the opening.
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- I got my hardware from a few different places including our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I used a black metallic spray paint to make it all match.
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- This is the drawer front getting some tung oil. I had also routed the edges with a roundover bit.
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- The whole cart got several coats of tung oil. I used Real Milk Paint’s tung oil with citrus solvent. I used this oil to give it some protection outside without having to worry about a solid film flaking off. The citrus solvent helps it absorb into the wood while remaining safe for food contact.
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- I added a slot along the top for tabletop fasteners. I used a router with a slot cutting bit.
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- The table top was made from 5/4 cedar decking. The boards were edge joined with pocket holes and glue.
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- Part of the glue up. The pocket screws helped keep the boards relatively flat to each other despite being very warped.
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- Cut the ends of the table top with a circular saw and then added a roundover edge with the router.
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- I made a simple circle-cutting jig with some scrap plywood and nailed it to the bottom of the tabletop.
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- To make the grill fit I sawed off the handles.
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- The lip of the grill hangs on 8 conduit straps mounted to the underside of the tabletop.
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- Time to add the cabinet to the upside down tabletop.
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- The tabletop fasteners are there to allow for wood movement.
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- Casters, doors and pulls added. The grill cart is ready for action!
Kylie
April 24, 2019 at 2:19 pm (1 year ago)Awesome looking cart! I was looking for my husband and I to build one. Did you have dimensions or plans for this build? Thanks so much for your time!
Matt Hamilton
January 1, 2020 at 8:03 pm (7 months ago)Thank you! I didn’t take the time to create plans for it beyond some paper sketches. If you have specific questions on the dimensions let me know but I don’t have a comprehensive plan for it.
Joey
June 18, 2019 at 1:11 pm (1 year ago)Could you share your measurements?
Jered
January 1, 2020 at 11:06 am (7 months ago)Do you have a full list of materials you used for this build? Or an approximate cost?
Matt Hamilton
January 1, 2020 at 8:02 pm (7 months ago)I don’t have a full materials list but will do my best to answer any questions that you have. I used dimensional cedar lumbar for the most part and cedar fence panels for the sides.
Jered
January 2, 2020 at 4:00 pm (7 months ago)Do you have general dimensions for the overall cart? Specifically curious about the width and depth of the top. Does the top hang over the edge of the cart frame? Sizes of the lumber and/or more pictures from different angles would be helpful if you had them. I know the corner posts are 4×4, safe to assume the remainder of the frame is 2×4? What about the slats for the top? Thanks.
Pete
April 18, 2020 at 9:58 am (4 months ago)Hey Matt,
Love this – fancy building another and shipping it? 😉
Kevin Bourne
June 3, 2020 at 7:57 am (2 months ago)How is the cart holding up? Has the heat of it charred the wood?
Matt Hamilton
July 26, 2020 at 8:45 pm (1 week ago)The cart is holding up great. No charring from the heat of the grill although dumping the hot coals out of the chimney sometimes causes some hot embers to fly out. Some of these have singed the table top.
Tamer
July 29, 2020 at 10:54 pm (7 days ago)Hi Matt,
I liked the table so much so I decided to give it a try. I followed your pictures and the brief explanations. I added few things of my own. I expanded the table slightly to accommodate a smoker and another drawer. I also used a grill stone insert from Tennessee Stone and Design. I tried to add a picture but it wouldn’t let me. I took me 3 days to built. It came out perfect as I expected. Thank you
Matt Hamilton
July 31, 2020 at 5:34 pm (5 days ago)Glad to hear it Tamer! I bet the smoker is a very nice addition for making bbq.