CASSEROLE RACK

Nothin’ says lovin’ like something hot from the oven. This rack keeps those hot dishes from burning your fingers or ruining your table.

- CRAIG RUEGSEGGER

This project, like a casserole, presents a great way to combine leftovers into something tasty, so we raided the scrap bin to build ours. We sized the 9"-wide interior to fit our 9×13" dish. Measure yours and add any necessary width to the length of the handles (A) and feet (C).

LAP UP THE FRAMEWORK

1 From ¾× 1 ½" walnut, cut the handles (A) and rails (B) to finished length [Parts List, Exploded View]. Cut two pieces of ¾×1 ½" scrap at least 6" long to help with tablesaw setup in the next step.

2 Install a ¾" dado stack in your tablesaw to cut half-lap joints in the handles and rails. Dial in the blade height using your test pieces [Photo A]. Then set the rip fence 1 ½" from the outermost point of the dado blade as a stop. Rabbet each end of the rails and handles.

3 Dry-fit the handles (A) and rails (B). Use a combination square to help mark the interior widths of the pieces—1" for the handles and ¾" for the rails—on both faces [Drawing 1]. Then lay out the radius at each inside corner [Photo B]. Bandsaw the handles and rails to rough shape, staying 1/16" to the waste side of the layout lines.