Mobile Island Help

[John Zeitner]

I'm making a mobile kitchen island with butcher board top and bottom shelf. The bottom is 28" x 58" and the top is 30" x 60". Both are made of flatsawn pine that ended up at 1.25" thick. There will be wheels bolted to the underside of the bottom shelf then 3" x 3" x 29" legs on top of the bottom shelf. The top will be held onto the runners and stretchers using wooden buttons. I was going to use pocket screws all around but my research indicates that will cause me grieve because of seasonal wood EC.

My question is how to attach the legs to the bottom shelf and allow for movement. Before discovering that wood movement could be a problem I planned to use lag bolts screwed up through the bottom into the center of each leg. The bolts heads would be in recessed holes and hidden when the wheels are bolted to the bottom, over the leg bolts. But if the bottom shelf expands or contracts with the legs bolted to it and the top of the legs are restrained by the stretchers I could have an issue. I thought about making the bolt holes in the bottom shelf slightly oblong but don't think the legs will be able to slide along the top of the bottom shelf. Anybody got any ideas?

[John Zeitner]

Not sure if my description of the issue is clear, so here is a pic of the table legs just sitting on the base. Getting ready for assembly.276264

[Andrew Hughes]

Hey, nice looking cart.I made one just like that several years ago.For your cart I would notch the shelf around the legs and move it up.I think it would look nicer and make cleaning under less of a chore,I have found 7inches to be a good height.
But of course what looks best to you is right.Some L brackets under the shelf connecting to the legs would give lots of strength.you could then use a slotted bracket on the shelf side with a screw.Hope this helps Andrew

[John Zeitner]

Thanks Andrew, I agree with your comment about having the bottom shelf a little higher and your suggestion about the L brackets would address my concerns about the bottom shelf movement but I will have to check and see if my meat grinder will fit under the top if the bottom is raised more. There will be wheels under the bottom shelf so I can move this beside our kitchen island when I am grinding meat or making sausages. So cleaning under it won't be an issue.

I call it my mobile meat station.:) I will have my slicer and vacuum sealer on the top. My meat grinder and stuffer will be on the bottom shelf. The stuffer is very tall and may have to be laid on it's side. I might go with the current design for now and if I find it doesn't look right when it's setup next to the pantry I can always move the shelf up later. Failing any other suggestions, I will likely just try using oblong bolt holes in the bottom shelf and hope for the best.

[Sam Murdoch]

I think you could attach the base to the legs with lags but slightly oversize the holes through the base. An 3/16" hole bigger than the lag hole in the leg should be sufficient. Recess the lag heads and use a washer at each leg. Then attach the casters to the base.

[John Zeitner]

Thanks Sam. That's sort of what I was trying to describe in my original post and now that I've got a confirmation from someone else I think I will go with it.

I haven't done a lot of woodworking and next to none with solid wood, so this is new to me and I don't want to screw it up. Especially after all the work that's gone into this. It's taking way longer than expected but that's ok, I'm enjoying the adventure and learning. So far with no major problems.