Curly maple serving tray

[lou sansone]

hi guys... well here are a couple junky photos of one of 3 trays I just made. One is for our home and the other two are gifts. The hearts serve as hand holds as well as decorative elements. the tray is about 14" x 22".
enjoy lou

[Keith Burns]

Pretty cool. Nice fit on the compound angles. Great wood too.

[Jim Becker]

Nice action in that maple, Lou! The hearts are also an interesting design element; both functional and decorative. Did you cut them with a fret saw or scroll them on a machine?

[Corey Hallagan]

VEry nice lou, great look piece and the wood is fabulous!

Corey

[Rob Russell]

Nice work Lou!

[lou sansone]

Nice action in that maple, Lou! The hearts are also an interesting design element; both functional and decorative. Did you cut them with a fret saw or scroll them on a machine?

hey the hearts, what can I say! I needed some way to have handles on the tray and this seemed the most "country" way to do them. The reason for making the series of trays was for a house warming gift. Those folks had a "country flavor" to their home, so I needed to put them in the tray. I then thought to put them all around the tray to balance it out. It's ok, but a little corny for me. maybe I should have left the side harts off and just put the end ones on. I did use a scroll and then smoothed and blended them. The pictures sort of make them look real stark with sharp edges, but they really are pretty well blended.

lou

[lou sansone]

Pretty cool. Nice fit on the compound angles. Great wood too.

I got a system down on the compound angles. if you guys want them let me know.

lou

[Dennis Peacock]

Really nice work there Lou. I like all the curl in that maple and you did really well on the miters!!! Very nice and good work. :D

[Richard Wolf]

Nice job Lou. I'm not a heart type guy, but the softness of there design does work on this piece.

Richard

[Greg Tatum]

I got a system down on the compound angles. if you guys want them let me know.

lou


Very nice work....I do want to know.

Greg

[Keith Starosta]

I got a system down on the compound angles. if you guys want them let me know.

lou

Lou, bring that information loud and proud!!

Keith

[Steve Clardy]

Really nice!!!!

[Martin Shupe]

Beautiful, Lou!!!

Please tell us more about the finish. Did you use aniline dye? What did you use for the top coat? It looks spectacular!

Thanks for posting the pics.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Very nice, Lou. I'll bet that maple really jumps up and slaps you in the face when you see it in person. I also like the little lip on the bottom of the tray. It seems to anchor the shape nicely. I'm kind of like Richard when it comes to heart motifs, but you didn't make it for me, and it sounds like the recipient will like the hearts bigtime.

- Vaughn

[chris toomey]

nice lou...how is the bottom attached?

[john whittaker]

Very nice work Lou. Joints look tight and that is impressive to me. I am making a few trays out of birds eye for gifts as well, and would like to know your "system for compound miters". I was just going to cut the sides like crown molding but know how frustrating this can be (for me at least) and am always on the lookout for a better way.

I second the comment about the lip on the bottom piece. Haven't seen it done this way and like it. I assume you made the bottom a little oversized and attached to the side pieces in some manner? Can you tell us how the bottom is attached? Dado/glue or glue only? How thick are the final pieces? Thanks for sharing.

[Charles Bruno]

Nice work Lou, what a good house warming gift!

[lou sansone]

hi guys


thanks for the comments. I will take some closeup photos tonight and post for added detail. John and others who have tried to make these small sloped sided trays and boxes know that they look simple, buy they are actually pretty difficult to do and have nice tight joints. There are actually 3 angles involved with each side piece, which I will share with you all as well. I will also share one of my little tricks that I have found helpfull to hold the whole mess together when assembling it all. Again, because of the shape it does not lend itself to clamping.

As far as the finish, I am an aniline dye guy. I have posted very long detailed procedures on SMC before and if you search on my name you should be able to find my recipe for the finish. I do remember getting some feedback from a creeker who said that they have followed my recipe with very good results. These trays are also hard to finish without getting all gloppy and crusted up in the corners. I have found that the best way to finish these is using a spray method and a lazy susan. If you want more info on that let me know and I can also provide that as well.

regards
lou

lou

[John Renzetti]

Nice job Lou, I have the same question about attaching the base.
take care,
John

[lou sansone]

hi guys

ok here are the details and such

1. sides need to be first ripped with 24 degree bevel on both sides before the compound miter chop. This allows it to sit flush on the bottom panel
2. compound miter chop is 22.5 degrees with respect to the back fence ( normally for a straight cut you would be at 0 degrees and for a true miter you would be at 45 degrees. for this cut you have to be at 22.5 degrees) and about 11 degrees with respect to the base (in other words lay the blade over about 11 degrees from plumb.
3. The whole piece is nailed and glued together on both the sides and the bottom using little "cut nails". This is how all the original 18th century trays were made as well.

4. you must predrill all holes and double check your self with the bottom. I set up a drilling jig for the bottom because it is very deceving on how the nail exits the bottom into the side.



5. all stock is about 3/8 for this size of a tray, and for the little ones about 5/16 sides and 3/16 bottom

here are a couple more pics.