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A good friend asked Carol (aka, SWMBO) if I would consider making a serving tray for her son's pending wedding as both he and his fiancé had admired a cutting board I made for her when they moved house. Well, with a build up like that one can only say yes and so the tale begins.
I offered an example of one I previously made, they liked the design and came back with a critical piece of information, the dimensions. The tray had to have an ID of at least 18" to hold the glassware for the beverage being served at the reception. With that in hand I searched local suppliers offering a broad selection of woods that might work for the base. I was particularly interested in what I refer to as craft boards, typically 3/8" x 4" x 2', in order to avoid planing down larger pieces. The local Woodcraft store had a sufficiently broad selection and Carol (a quilter) came along to make the selection based on color and grain. With suitable stock in hand Carol then worried over the varying combinations of width/grain/color to design the base. Once she was happy I proceeded with the required combination of cutting, glueing, sanding, etc. i.e. the dirty part of the task to complete the tray. I must confess however that Carol did lend a hand in prepping and juggling the final glue up as well as touching up a couple of small spots.
The base of the tray was glued in 2 sections and hen joined as shown in the first two photos and the finished tray in the last one.
The wood choices for the base, working from the center out are: Curly Makore, Brazilian Cherry, Basswood, Sapele Ribbon, Leopard, Cherry and Brazilian Cherry. The rails are Mahogany and the handles Cherry.
The groom's parent are pleased but the wedding party has yet to see the finished tray. The wedding is in early November so the jury is still out. That is except for comments from one and all on the forum which are always welcome.
I offered an example of one I previously made, they liked the design and came back with a critical piece of information, the dimensions. The tray had to have an ID of at least 18" to hold the glassware for the beverage being served at the reception. With that in hand I searched local suppliers offering a broad selection of woods that might work for the base. I was particularly interested in what I refer to as craft boards, typically 3/8" x 4" x 2', in order to avoid planing down larger pieces. The local Woodcraft store had a sufficiently broad selection and Carol (a quilter) came along to make the selection based on color and grain. With suitable stock in hand Carol then worried over the varying combinations of width/grain/color to design the base. Once she was happy I proceeded with the required combination of cutting, glueing, sanding, etc. i.e. the dirty part of the task to complete the tray. I must confess however that Carol did lend a hand in prepping and juggling the final glue up as well as touching up a couple of small spots.
The base of the tray was glued in 2 sections and hen joined as shown in the first two photos and the finished tray in the last one.
The wood choices for the base, working from the center out are: Curly Makore, Brazilian Cherry, Basswood, Sapele Ribbon, Leopard, Cherry and Brazilian Cherry. The rails are Mahogany and the handles Cherry.
The groom's parent are pleased but the wedding party has yet to see the finished tray. The wedding is in early November so the jury is still out. That is except for comments from one and all on the forum which are always welcome.
