Striking for a new kitchen cart

Ned Bulken

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5,529
Location
Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Last spring, Mark K called me and asked if I would like a section of bowling alley, to which I said 'of course'. At the time I was thinking benchtop, but honestly, I'm more than covered on that front in my shop. I have three benches, and am probably going to be taking one of them down and storing the parts to gain room for a lathe stand.

So, what to do with the chunk of bowling alley? The LOML asked the other day if I still had it and I said 'of course', at which point she handed me the latest issue of This Old House magazine. They had a butcher block kitchen island. The bowling lane wouldn't be Butcher block, but it sure would be a solid top for an island.

I was out in the shop last night and finished clearing my benchtops of the clutter:
foundbenchtop.jpg


then I hauled this out and put it on my newfangled bench.

presanding.jpg


Roughly 2'x5' of Maple goodness, which has some dings and scratches, and some sort of a polyeurathane I'm guessing, which of course had to go.
About 45 minutes worth of work with the ROS and I now have this:
odddust.jpg


alleytop.jpg


I asked the LOML what kind of legs she would like, and simple pine will do nicely she says. I have lots of that on hand thanks to the boys' bed and desk projects last week.

I still have to trim the ends off a bit however. One end will clean up nicely with a flush trim bit and my router:
easyroughedge.jpg


The other end however, is going to be tricker. I'm going to have to clamp a straightedge and cut as deep as I can with my circular saw, then flip and hopefully get a good edge.

More to follow on that front this weekend.

Lori wants it on wheels, I have to run these by her

My initial thoughts are these:
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5" double locking casters.

there are two smaller versions, the blue ones are 4" and though the attached image is a fixed, they also have a locking swivel available.

I've got to figure out the weight of that chunk of maple, I spotted this new (to me) wheel over at rockler
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21974&tagem=rv
attachment.php

I like the aesthetics of it, but it only handles 84 lbs.
 

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Ned,
I have a 300 pound quilting machine & table that's on four of those red 4" wheels, and my 110# wife can push it around over carpet, with little problem.

I also have my 450 pound planer mounted on the same wheels, and they're holding up well. I got my wheels at Hartville Hardware. Their prices are pretty good.

Whatever you do, don't use a rubber wheel. They'll get flat spots due to the weight. The red urethane ones don't do that.
 
See what happens, make a couple of projects for the kids and the wife feels left out!! :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: Sounds like a great idea, that bowling lane top will be great! Need to router a bowling pin or ball somewhere on the edge.
 
Jim,
thanks, poly for the wheels it is, I like the 5"ers, just have to work them into the budget. I think she'll be getting it as a stationary island at least initially. I'll make some temporary feet so it will wind up at the correct height, then when I can afford the wheels, I'll put them on and remove the feet.

Jon,
Just another project on my very long punch list, trust me. We've got a whole house full of stuff to tackle, but our kitchen table is a rickety hand me down and just winds up covered in clutter. She asked for a new island. I'm hoping that we can train the family (no single individual causes that much clutter) to drop their stuff somewhere else. She does seem happy that I'm out there using the shop these days though, which I'm very grateful for.
 
I was being sarcastic about all except for the bowling pin/ball idea. Think that would be a great conversation starter.

Jon, I'm hoping that the island itself will do that, but I'm thinking about how to do the inlay just the same.

But honey, I Needed the new Router Inlay kit to finish your project, honest!
Thankfully she doesn't mind if I buy tools, so long as I put them to use.
 
Looks like the island is right up your alley and, as far as your wife's reaction, I think it will bowl her over! Don't spare anything in regards to base and casters. You want it to move easily because if she has to push hard on it it might move unexpectedly and strike another cabinet. Then you'll be on the hook to fix something else.
 
Looks like the island is right up your alley and, as far as your wife's reaction, I think it will bowl her over! Don't spare anything in regards to base and casters. You want it to move easily because if she has to push hard on it it might move unexpectedly and strike another cabinet. Then you'll be on the hook to fix something else.
:doh:

I'm Split on how to respond to this. I'm hoping to Spare the cabinetry from any further damage, so the double locking casters are a done deal, just a matter of budget.
 
it looks like mrs ned threw a nice strike with her non too subtle hint about the kitchen island. she figured since you have that bowling alley material, and more than enough pine to spare, it would be a good idea to get you out in the shop, making those frames. if you're worried about the asthetics of the wheels, you can always add a bit of a skirt to the bottom, just making sure to place the wheels so they have enough room to rotate without hitting.
 
Dan,
I don't mind the industrial look, I'd be right at home in a loft with an open floorplan and all that, in fact if the house in va doesn't work out, I plan on looking for a 'flex' building to repurpose into a house/studio (photo)/woodshop.

The wheels will be on display!
 
Reg,
now I Like that idea. I've got 5 linear feet of alley, there has to be some way to incorporate that well into the plan. Of course it's a roll of the dice as to whether or not there are any metal fasteners in the middle somewhere. I wonder if I built up butcher block extension on one end...
 
Ned:

Let me make sure I understand this . . .

Your building what could be described as a workbench with industrial casters and your wife is allowing you to park it in the kitchen? Mrs B is a keeper! :thumb:

I have an extra woodworking vice if your short one for the "island" . . . I'm kidding about the vice - you can never have an "extra" anything, just spares. :rofl:

WRT the bowling lanes - the building my in-laws run their business out of was a bowling alley in an earlier life. They removed the gutters and shifted the lanes together to make a continuous floor. The individual maple strips in their lanes were nailed together - so you should consider checking with a metal detector before you attempt trim that one end.

Post more pics as you move along . . .

Cheers

Jim
 
Jim,
ayup, she is definitely a keeper. My first Love whom I am truly blessed to have back in my life We were high school sweethearts, who split up, she went off some time in the middle and got married, and eventually divorced...and we've been back together for 10 years now (Married for 3). She doesn't worry about my shop habit, figures that it is cheaper than if I were out carousing in bars.

As for the trimming, all went well. I only had to take off 1/8", so with some help from my son James, and after finding out that I need to put a new cord on my circular saw .:doh:we muscled it up onto my TS sled and very carefully evened up the rougher of the two ends. I've heard that alleys are nailed together, so cutting it down any furthher just isn't going to happen, not that I would want to, it is just the right size as is.

Oh, and the dimensions posted above are just a tad off... it is 20" by 63" by 3" thick. I'm waiting until after 10AM before I go out and fire up the router to put a slight round over on the top, plus work on the legs. I should be putting finish on it by this evening.

So far with the exception of one brain spasm, where I prepped the upper and lower rails, then proceeded to cut one set up to make the 'short' pieces (thereby requiring a trip to the lumber yard for a new 2x10... (nothing I had on hand was long enough, and decided that since i had cut down a 2x10 for the rest of the pieces, I should continue to do so... $13.50 later...) it has all been going smoothly. All of the wood (except for the one board) was left over from my boys' projects (desk and bed) from the past couple of weeks.
 
Let's see...

Today I emptied the trash (found the roll of can liners and after last night's cleanup the bin was overflowing.

Then I broke out the router and put a 1/4" roundover on all of the Rail pieces, and a 1/2" roundover on the top.

Jim, funny you should mention metal in a bowling alley section...
uhoh.jpg
Thankfully that was on the 'good' end where I just needed to flush trim a small portion off. I did nick it wilth my flush trim bit I think , but it is only a 'starter' bit from MLCS so I didn't lose much. (I have a larger replacement already). Hey, sparks? not good.

parts-2.jpg


onehalfround.jpg


rails2.jpg


topsanded2.jpg


I'm just taking a break from sanding everything to 220, then I'm going to go pocket hole the rails together, and then put a coat of finish on everything. Going with Sam Maloof forumula wiping poly for the finish.
 
You finger jointed the apron? Cool!

yup, the apron and the rails, just to make it look a bit better. I'm expecting this thing to be around awhile, and while we like the 'industrial' look, I thought a bit of Greene & Greene would be a nice touch.

joint-2.jpg


and that's not the apron, that's the apron and the bottom rail. half lapped I would call it vs finger joint.
 
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