Need your advice.

[CharlieD]

A while ago I posted about 7 Quart KA I got from work.
Fortunately for me it is an awesome machine. Unfortunatelly I have no place to put it and to keep it.
Fortunately we had a conversation here about cart/tables which gave me an idea to use one for myself to put my KA on it. Unfortunatelly the ones I found were extremely expensive.
Fortunately I found this metal wire-rack (picture below) cart in Sam’s club for only $50 bucks, ok fine $52. Unfortunatelly the wire rack doesn’t seem to be a good table top.
Fortunately I have a table saw and I cut this piece of oak plywood (picture below) to make it into table top. Unfortunately, I do not know if this is good enough as it is.
Few, finally I came to the advice part. What do you think, is this thick enough? I could double or even triple the thickness by cutting more pieces and gluing them together. Also should I finish this with some sort of lacquer or just rub some mineral oil on and be done with it? I don’t think I am going to use the KA on the cart, just not stable enough with the wheels on and there is no outlet nearby anyways. I would just put on the countertop for the time I work with it.

 

[forty_caliber]

A thicker top would be nice. I like the idea of laminating the plywood together. In addition to that, I would secure the top to the cart using some fender washers and wood screws from the bottom. If you have a router make a nice rounded edge too.

.40

 

[salt and pepper]

Looks good to me. So long as your not mixing on it It will be fine. If you do use it to mix on I would block it somehow to keep it from "walking".

 

[pacanis]

I'd rub it down with boiled linseed oil. That puts a real nice finish on oak. You can find it at a hardware store.
And I think one layer is enough considering the stability of the rest of the cart. Any thicker and you might as well put some table legs on it and make it permanent.

 

[CharlieD]

Yes I am going to secure the top whith screws I have the brakets for the undernise to hold inbetween two wires and the screw in the midle. I do have router, but I hate using it. Always gives me trouble. I did send the edges so they are not sharp.

 

[Bigjim68]

If that plywood is 5/8 or greater, and it lays flat on the grid, both of which appear ao be accurate from your photo, you will be fine. Oak plywood absorbs a lot of finish, so I would give it a couple or more coats of whatever. There are several versions of wipe on finishes that claim to be one coat to be found at the local big box.

Whatever you do to the top you should do to the bottom and the edges should be covered.

 

[CharlieD]

It is the 3/4 plywood, of corse it is a bit thiner.

 

[Andy M.]

If all you are using the cart for is to move the mixer around, Stop. You're done. I don't think you even needed the wood top.

Of course, the wood looks better and may make the cart more stable. Since yu have the wood top, you definitely should protect it. Not sure you need more stability just to roll the mixer around. I guess you could roll it to a part of the kitchen where there is an outlet and leave it on the cart while mixing.

 

[CharlieD]

Andy, I have not tried it yet, but I just think it is not going to be very stable. Ok, of i go to store to get some finish product.

 

[justplainbill]

Nice looking plywood. Too bad you did not cap the raw edges with molding; but you could still do that if you added a second (top) layer of plywood. I like to seal with Varathane semi gloss oil based varnish because it adds a little amber glow to the wood.
With respect to fastening, 40 Cal's idea sounds good but I'd use 6 stainless 1/4" carriage or countersunk bolts with fender washers to secure to the carts wire shelf.
You might also want to stiffen up the cart by adding a sheet of plywood on top of the bottom shelf.
I also have an aversion to routers.

 

[Bigjim68]

At 3/4 you can walk on that top. The weak link is the stand, not the top. The edges can be finished with self adhesive veneer. Nice job.

 

[Kitchen Barbarian]

I don't know what size your wire "cart" top is, but for a small wire shelf rack that I put in the kitchen, I found floor tiles that were EXACTLY the right size to drop down into the top. They fit perfectly front to back and there's a couple inches left at the sides. They are very attractive and only cost me two or three dollars for both.

Tiles are all just slightly different in size, I bought these tiles at the same time I bought the rack so I could fit them in until I found two that fit in snuggly, not too loose and not too tight.

Alternatively you could take just the top shelf with you to the hardware store to find the perfect combination of tiles. If I had a tile cutter or nippers, I could easily have found a 1 piece rectangular tile to fit in there, just nipping off the corners to clear the round posts. I plan on doing something similar for my other sets of wire shelves eventually, but I needed this right away so I could use that little shelf to set my blenders on.

Yes I said "blenders". My son's, and mine. His is better for some tasks and mine is better for others so we ended up keeping both.

 

[Claire]

Looks fine to me. I'd buy a bottle of mineral oil and rub it once in awhile so you can also use it as a cutting board.

 

[Addie]

Charlie, do the wheels have locks on them? If they do, I see no reason why you can't use the KA right there on the cart. Just wheel it near your outlet and then lock the wheels.

 

[Kitchen Barbarian]

Charlie, do the wheels have locks on them? If they do, I see no reason why you can't use the KA right there on the cart. Just wheel it near your outlet and then lock the wheels.

I would be concerned about shimmy. I don't think those wire shelves are braced well enough for something that big and powerful. Heck, my much smaller KA classic mixer (last of the Hobart-made models) used to make my dining room table shimmy. Not that it was all that sturdy, but definitely sturdier than a wire cart on wheels ...

 

[Bigjim68]

I don't think that you can use a piece of plywood as a cutting board. The veneer is very thin, thinner than a knife cut.