The basic idea behind this guy was actually the brain child of my brother, Ed. "I just want something real simple like a box with four legs that store inside but can be used to elevate the lid for a table top," he told me. I thought well that's easy enough, so I made him something with some corner blocks inside that would receive some PVC legs. Of course, he wanted it big enough to hold 'all' his camp kitchen gear. You know, stove, propane, dutch ovens, cast iron frying pans, dish pans, place settings etc.. The first one I made was out of 1/2" wafer board as I recall. The box itself was ungodly heavy and when we got everything in it you almost needed a fork lift to move it. Yeeesh...

It didn't take a total genius to figure out this was, quite simply, not going to work. Still, in using the prototype monster we discovered the basic concept wasn't really a bad idea. Additionally, the design really lent itself to our, soon to be discovered, 'skin and bones' construction technique which produces very light weight yet strong devices.

My brother Ed isn't with us anymore and I'm a little sad he didn't get to see the refined versions we currently have. I like to think he would be somewhat proud of his basic idea, though. I certainly am!

Chuck box evolution required.

To make a long story short, this camp table type box has undergone many a refinement to get to its present very compact and very light weight state. The main things are that the all the legs and the knots for the rope handles have been situated on the outside of the box. ( It was no small feat to accomplish that.) These leaves all the room on the inside for contents and shelves. Also the legs are now wood allowing for cup hooks and dowel rods for a roll holder.

It stands alone for bulky item storage and adds a table top.

As you can see it will hold those big bulky and awkward size items. It's possible to build just a basic Work-Top box or an extended Work-Top box which adds a couple shelves to the mix. (You can actually make it with shelves on both ends!) The shelves also store inside the box in a manner that splits the inside storage area into upper and lower compartments. The upper compartment can be adjusted to store a standard camp stove.

I originally used my refined chuckbox design in compliment with either the Grubby One or Grubby Two but it also stands well alone. Anytime you need compact generic storage and portable table space this is the box to have.

Plans included in the Blue Sky Kitchen Plans book!