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Grill Stand Fit for a Woodworker

Kelly Dunton, associate art director

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Fine Woodworking associate editor Anissa Kapsales' article in issue #208 inspires a design for a grill stand.

The sawhorses I built in 2010 started out as a stand for the grill on the back deck. A piece of plywood across the top supports worked well for a while, but I lost the use of my sawhorses in the shop.

Finally, the grill gets its own stand.  I made it completely from a single 6 by 6 of white cedar.  Some resawing, jointing and planning made for some nice lumber for outside on the deck.

It's looking good and ready for some grilling.  How about a burger and beer?  Don't mind if I do.

Fine Woodworking associate editor Anissa Kapsales' article in issue #208 inspires a design for a grill stand.

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When Anissa Kapsales wrote the article on James Krenov's Smart Sawhorses in issue #208 I realized that having a set for myself was in order.

For the issue, Anissa built a new set of sawhorses based on Krenov's design.  With that set of sawhorses lingering around the office for a spell, it was clear that I wanted to build a set for myself. 

So some time ago I took some white oak and basswood scraps that I had been hoarding for some time and made a pair.  I've been using them here and there for some time now.  At first they were my workbench with a scrap sheet of plywood bridging the span. They performed a wide variety of duties, including holding windowpanes at the right height for painting last fall and winter. Of course I had to cover them to keep the paint off.  

Well, this spring I moved again and my nice set of sawhorses ended up becoming the stand for my little gas grill on the deck.  We had company coming for a cookout one weekend and I just couldn't grill on the picnic table anymore.  Again with a piece of plywood spanning the gap between the horses, it was just about right for grilling on my Baby Q Weber.   After about a week of moving the sawhorses in and out of the weather I started on a plan for making a grill stand out of this one piece of white cedar 6 by 6 that I had left over from making the top to my picnic table.  

The design is essentially the same as the sawhorses.  The big difference is that I made one set of feet and mortised both pairs of uprights into them giving me a fixed span. I decided to make the height of the table just an inch or so shorter than the height of the sawhorses for a little easier grilling.  I simply fastened the tabletop with some screws to the two top stretchers.  

I just completed the stand this morning so we'll have to see if all goes well this weekend.  Sounds like grilling time to me.  And the best part is; I now have my set of sawhorses back in position for shop duty.  So where is that piece of plywood again?  I need more work space.  Some things never change.

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UPDATE: Turning Segmented Lamps by Ralph S. Buckland

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Accurate crosscuts on the tablesaw

Comments (2)

swenson writes: Great idea one set of feet for four uprights. When I was looking something up in #208 I saw these and made two. The next day I made two more. You can nest four, for storage, in just a couple of inches more space than one. Use them all the time. Downside: as you say, they are so beautiful you don't want to get paint on 'em. Now you have to worry about spatters from the grill.
Posted: 7:31 am on July 28th

GEide writes: Woah, fancy!
Posted: 3:10 pm on July 25th

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