Kitchen Island Cart : Attach legs & shelves

Once you get all the legs drilled, you can go ahead and bolt the L-Brackets onto them tightly. I didn't think to take any pictures of this step but it is straightforward.

Next, set one of the small shelves upside-down on a work surface. Set the leg on the shelf and mark the center of the holes you'll need to drill. Be sure to choose a drill bit that is smaller than the threads on your wood screws so your sure that there will be particle board left for them to grip when you tighten everything down. Also, set the drill bit deep enough into your drill so that if you drill all the way down, it will have nearly reached the finished surface, but not have damaged it!

As you can see, my brackets needed to be mounted through the edge where the metal top wraps around. To drill these holes accurately, use a hammer and nail to indent the metal where you want to drill. This will help keep the drill bit from sliding around when you are trying to drill through it. When you first break through the metal, you'll think the edge is hollow, but it isn't. The particle board on the inside is just a little deeper.

After you've drilled the pilot holes for the first shelf, set it aside and do the same for the next shelf. You won't want to start connecting the shelves until everything is pre-drilled.

Finally, mount all the legs to the shelves, using washers (as spacers) around the joints that are directly on the plywood portion (not on the metal frame.)