My bride asked me to make her a small table and/or utility cart to position beside her lift chair to keep odds n ends she frequently uses, of which I checked my scrap aka unallocated wood and had enough to do so.

I had some 2 x 4 in red cedar that was in the rough and ran it though the planer and ended up with about 1 7/8 inch thickness.  The wood had some rot in various places, but had enough to get the four legs which were cut 20 inches in length.  I ordered four swivel casters with a stem and will increase the height a little over 2 inches and also the 3/4 inch Birch plywood top will add to the overall height as well.  The width of the utility cart not counting the overhang of the top is 18 3/16 inch and the length is 25 7/8 inches.

I did not do a complete pictorial step by step of this project, but there are enough pixs to if anyone desired to make one.

LETS GET STARTED

I decided to use mortise and tenon joinery for the basic frame and had not done any mortise and tenons since 2017 while constructing the curly maple coffee table.

I used a Shop Fox mortise machine to excavate the cavity for the tenons and a Delta table saw fixture for the mortises.

The shoulder and face of the tenon with excess material removed with the table saw.

Used the table saw to nibble away the shoulder of the tenons.

Pix of the finished rails aka curtains of the utility table and the legs; legs do not have the mortise cavity yet.

Mortises

Pix of the set-up for boring the mortise cavity using the Shop Fox mortise machine.  I used the 1/2 inch square bit and made the mortises 1.5 inches in length.

I marked the length of the mortise at the top of the legs and used a stop block for the initial set-up.

I used a 1/2 inch width chisel to clean the cavity up.  The tenon fit nicely into the cavity, in fact very tight.

GLUE UP

I glued each side of the utility cart using two pipe bar clamps and when the glue dried, completed the entire frame glue-up.

INSTALLED DOWELS TO LOCK THE GLUE JOINTS

Since there will not be a lot of weight on this utility cart, I used only one 1/4 inch dowel in each mortise/tenon connection.  I will later saw each dowel flush with the leg.

TOP FOR THE CART

I had plenty of scrap aka unallocated Birch plywood 3/4 inch thickness to use for the top and the lower shelf.  I used a 1/4 width clotting cutter in the router table to route a slot about 1/2 inch deep centered in the plywood top.  Plan to use a spline to lock a 1 inch width red cedar boarder around the top and miter both the spline pieces and the border.

Set-up used to cut a 1/4 inch width x 1/2 inch deep slot in the border aka banding for the spline to rest in.

Didn't have to move the router bit adjustment for the top.

I used my custom home made table saw miter sled to do all the forty-five (45) miters.

I made one "rookie" mistake gluing the red cedar border to the Birch plywood top, whereas I had each piece numbered 1 thru 4 and when gluing them in place, I had part 2 and 3 reversed, of which the miter did not fit perfectly on one of the pieces, my bad!

ADDED BOTTOM SHELF

I used scrap aka unallocated Birch plywood and added a bottom shelf to the frame and also sawed the dowels flush to the legs with a fine tooth Erwin trim saw.

Tomorrow, our Lord willing of course, I will glue some hangers onto the inside of the rails for attaching the top with screws.  I will then flush sand the edge frame of the top and final sand using a couple palm sanders.  I might add a small radius to the top edge, but with the forty-five (45) degree miters, I might get tear out unless I fashion and attach some kind of sacrificial board to the end of the router cut.  The entire utility cart will be final sanded and spray clear nitrocellulose musical instrument grade lacquer on it.

Web page published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 04-22-2024.

GLUED HANGER BLOCKS TO CART RAILS

I probably did an overkill on using hanger blocks, but that is my usual method of operation, grin if you must!

I drilled a pilot hole for the wood screw before gluing in place.

SANDED THE UTILITY CART TOP

Before sanding the top, I flushed up the red cedar boarder, of which was a little proud of the plywood using a small block plane.

Our Lord willing of course, I am going to let the glue dry on the hanger blocks and then start sanding the utility cart frame tomorrow and will probably drill holes for the swivel casters which should arrive late this afternoon.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 04-23-2024.

FINISHING THE UTILITY CART

After sanding the utility cart top and the base, I applied a few coats of nitrocellulose lacquer and later drilled the holes in the legs for the swivel casters.

I used the above spray gun with pressurized quart container, however I had problems getting it adjusted.  The last time I used it was applying redwood stain to our deck and apparently had not cleaned it enough.

I applied three (3) coats of lacquer during the day.

Before spraying the cart, I glued a thin red cedar strip to hide the raw edge of the Birch plywood shelf and sanded them smooth.

I later drilled holes for the swivel casters in the base of each leg.

Tomorrow, our Lord willing of course, I will screw the top onto the base unit and install the casters and the cart will be an early Mother's Day gift for my bride aka Joyce of 56 years!

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 04-25-2024.

FINISHED UTILITY CART