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This is a quick project to install a removable prep bowl into the surface of a kitchen cart. If the cart has drawers (as in IKEA's Forhoja, which is the cart used here), when the bowl is removed, you can scrape the leftover scraps into the drawer for easy transport to the trash. This can improve workflow in the kitchen and ease transport of large quantities of veggies from the cutting board to the stove or scraps to the trash.
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Signing UpStep 1Preparation and planning
What you'll need:
- A Kitchen cart (ideally solid wood)
- A bowl
- A router - this can be rented from most hardware stores, if you don't have one. You may also need a piece of wood to attach to your router to serve as the pivot point.
- Two bits for your router: one regular bit that's long enough to cut through the depth of your cutting surface, and a rabbeting bit the size of your bowl's lip.
- Some scrap wood at least half the size of your kitchen cart's top.
- 4 screws long enough to attach your cutting board to the scrap board.
- Measuring tape
The first step, clearly, is to get a kitchen cart. It's good to find one whose surface is not too thick, as a really thick cutting surface will require a larger routing bit, or more creative routing. The Forhoja cart's surface is solid wood that's about an inch and a quarter thick.
The next step should be to get a bowl (or bowls). It will be important in the next step to know the bowl's diameter as well as the width of its lip. I found two bowls that have the same width lip and the same diameter, but different depths, so I can change the bowl depending on the purpose or amount of food I'm cutting. It is also convenient to get a bowl with a flat lip, so that finely chopped food will not get hung up on the curve of the lip.
Finally, you want to think about the way you chop vegetables; this will determine into which side you want to embed the bowl. For instance, I tend to cut right to left, making it more comfortable to place the bowl on the right, so it's easy to sweep the produce into the bowl when I'm done chopping.
- A Kitchen cart (ideally solid wood)
- A bowl
- A router - this can be rented from most hardware stores, if you don't have one. You may also need a piece of wood to attach to your router to serve as the pivot point.
- Two bits for your router: one regular bit that's long enough to cut through the depth of your cutting surface, and a rabbeting bit the size of your bowl's lip.
- Some scrap wood at least half the size of your kitchen cart's top.
- 4 screws long enough to attach your cutting board to the scrap board.
- Measuring tape
The first step, clearly, is to get a kitchen cart. It's good to find one whose surface is not too thick, as a really thick cutting surface will require a larger routing bit, or more creative routing. The Forhoja cart's surface is solid wood that's about an inch and a quarter thick.
The next step should be to get a bowl (or bowls). It will be important in the next step to know the bowl's diameter as well as the width of its lip. I found two bowls that have the same width lip and the same diameter, but different depths, so I can change the bowl depending on the purpose or amount of food I'm cutting. It is also convenient to get a bowl with a flat lip, so that finely chopped food will not get hung up on the curve of the lip.
Finally, you want to think about the way you chop vegetables; this will determine into which side you want to embed the bowl. For instance, I tend to cut right to left, making it more comfortable to place the bowl on the right, so it's easy to sweep the produce into the bowl when I'm done chopping.
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Apr 3, 2012. 6:47 AM
spike3579
says:
spike3579
says:
I love the router compass. So simple, yet super pro results. Very nice!
Reply
Aug 14, 2010. 8:08 PMWizardofwesley
says:
Nice Job.. Good Project...!
Reply
Oct 24, 2008. 6:19 PMma_pignon
says:
awesome!
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13
Oct 24, 2008. 4:41 PMJellyWoo
says:
cool, short and sweet.
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149
Oct 24, 2008. 3:41 PMfungus amungus
says:
fungus amungus
says:
Nice! I like it.
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