Made for sale: a simple tray

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Words and photos: Raf Nathan

Trays can be a good product line to develop providing you can establish a market for them. It is a competitive world out there and small wooden items are often judged solely on price. To separate something you make as special and worth that extra amount the product will need a resolved design, special detail and, if all else fails, wood that has the wow factor.

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Measurements in millimetres, vary as desired

The tray has a frame and panel construction resembling that of a small cabinet door. To hot it up I used contrasting timbers with dark blackwood framing the lighter Huon pine. The Huon inlays on the short rails are there to tie the two timbers together. For a small project like this it is best to machine up extra stock as spares. This will cover you for pieces to run when setting up the router as well as any pieces that don’t machine well and need to be rejected. Don’t worry about losing a few pieces of wood in the name of economy or safety.

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1. Materials

The materials needed are a veneered plywood panel and small section solid timber. The finished size of the veneered plywood is approx 350mm x 190mm. The actual final size will depend on the depth of the routered groove and the size you decide to make the trays. I veneered some Huon pine onto interior grade plywood which ended up being about 5.5mm thick overall. The solid wood I used was 40mm x 12mm for the long rails which are 450mm long, and 70mm x 12mm for the short rails which are 170 mm long. You could use a thin solid wood panel instead of veneering ply. I used the Huon veneer because of the lovely birdseye figure.

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2. 3. Groove the rails

With the solid wood planed and cut to length the next step is to machine in the grooves for the veneered panel. The best way to machine in this groove is to use the router table.

I used a 4mm router cutter and passed the wood over the cutter twice, one pass one side and one pass after flipping the wood. This means the groove will be centred exactly. Use offcuts first to set everything then run the actual components. The router cutter tends to grab at the beginning of the cut. For a better machined groove leave the rails oversize in length, rout them and then cut them to final length.

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4. Groove the rail ends

The rails are joined to each other with a wooden spline that sits in a groove. The groove is the same as that which houses the panel. The long rails have one groove that runs the whole length and houses the panel and the spline. The short rails have grooves in the long grain for the panel and need grooves run in the endgrain for the spline. Use pushsticks to keep fingers clear and push at a steady and even feed rate. I apply wax to the metal surfaces of the router table so the wood slides smoothly.

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5. Insert ‘tongues’

The groove in the endgrain accepts the small wood tongue, which should be a neat press fit.

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6. Add the inlay

To add detail to the tray I applied two Huon pine inlays to the short rails. I cut the grooves in the surface by passing the wood over the tablesaw. I used the sliding table and a supporting piece of wood to act as a cradle for the short rails. (You could also pass the rails over a straight cutter in a router table.) These grooves are only 2mm or so deep and equal in width to the sawblade. A matching width Huon pine strip of wood is glued in the grooves. With all the machining completed the tray is ready to be glued up.

7. Gluing up

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The glue-up itself is quite straightforward. Fine sand the panel beforehand. Ensure that everything fits correctly and that there is no twist in the tray. The meeting surfaces at the joints should be flat; use a straight edge to check this, adjusting clamps if necessary. What is important is that the grain in the components is arranged as best as possible for a pleasing effect. I try and have the long rails with the grain running the same direction and the short rails are both cut from the same piece of wood. The grain on the panel is the main feature. Before you glue it onto the plywood study it; sometimes moving something just 20mm one direction can result in a more balanced look.

8. Bumpers

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Finishing the tray requires fine sanding and polishing. I sanded up to 240 grit and applied an oil finish followed by a furniture wax. Under the tray are fixed small rubber bumpers, made for billiard cues and bought from a billiards supplier.

Raf Nathan @treeman777 is a Brisbane based woodworker and designer and frequent contributor to Australian Wood Review magazine.

 

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