Everyday Bushcraft : Cedar Plank Stand

By Mike Lummio, Bushcraft Northwest

www.bushcraftnorthwest.com

A traditional way of food preparation in the Pacific Northwest of North America is to cook meat (especially fish) and vegetables on a small cedar or alder wood plank. It’s just as easy to do in the woods as it is on the grill at home. If you’ve never cooked food this way before, you have to try it to appreciate it.

For those of you who have, you know there’s never a good place to set down a smoldering hot slab of wood in the kitchen or the dinner table. Here’s one solution, bushcraft style, which utilizes more extensive wood carving and some very useful techniques such as creating nocks. It’s one thing to make the occasional pot hook or feather stick, but nothing brings about the comfort and familiarity of working with your knife than taking on projects which require a few hours of steady carving. In making this plank stand, I purposely did not take out every bend and mark in the wood. This creates a rustic look which I think is fitting for this type of food service. You can make yours as you see fit, or take this idea and modify it to fit a completely different application.

(Stand with cedar plank on top…maybe as an intro picture..?)	Begin by gathering your supplies. You’ll need enough straight branches for four vertical legs, four horizontal pieces (two long, two short), and some cordage.

For the vertical legs, remove the outer bark and slice in cuts to create a nock. This skill is detailed in many books if you’re unfamiliar with the process.	Snap off the excess with a side to side motion and clean out to complete the nock.

Square the horizontals with your knife, and notch both ends of the long pieces so that they fit snugly into the nocks of the vertical legs. The shorter pieces which will join the two sides together will simply be laid across and held in place with the cordage.	To tie it all together, start a whipping around the upright. Don’t finish the whipping now, but continue by lashing around the short horizontal. To finish, pass the working end through the loop of the whipping (see arrow) and pull it through to secure. Repeat three more times.

The finished stand ready for the hot plank.