Make a serving tray from recycled wood
Just in time for Mother’s Day, you can make this serving tray in an afternoon.
Several years ago I designed a few logos, labels, and packaging art for some local vineyards and wineries. I collected a few wine crates that wound up in my shop. I’ve used them for storing car cleaning supplies and electrical/computer cables and wires.
Funny how we often never give a second thought to something disposable like a wine crate. After building my last few pallet projects, I started looking at those old boxes in a new light! Not only free wood, but wood with character!
Wine Pairing
The base of this tray is made from two of the crate’s side panels. I still have the other sides and the bottom saved for another project. I wanted the sides to be half-inch thick, to keep the tray from looking bulky, so I scrounged around in my shop and found a redwood board that was the perfect length. I like the idea of pairing a Northern California tree species with a Northern California wine.
Options to fit your woodworking
This is a flexible project that you can make using any tools and materials you happen to have. A few options:
- This would make a great pallet wood project.
- The base can be made with a scrap of plywood.
- You can cut the curved sides with a jigsaw.
- Cut out the finger holes with a coping saw.
- Use an inexpensive miter box and a hand saw to make the miters, or…
- Don’t bother with the miters: just butt the sides together with glue and nails.
- Instead of making a groove for the bottom, just glue it underneath the sides.
Plans
*****
May 3, 2013 @ 10:39 am
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May 3, 2013 @ 10:41 am
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May 3, 2013 @ 12:15 pm
Hi Steve, always surprise us with these magnificent works, thanks for sharing
May 4, 2013 @ 12:38 am
Cool idea! I really like how it turned out–not too bulky but still sturdy.
What’s that spray you use at the end? I’m sure you’ve named it in a previous video, but I can’t recall what it was. Thanks!
May 4, 2013 @ 1:15 am
Looks great!
No splines this time?
Greetings from Vienna (Austria, Europe)
Guenther
May 4, 2013 @ 9:56 pm
Whenever I take a very long time in the restroom, I always make sure to use a clock wipe motion to clean up when finished.
May 13, 2013 @ 4:38 pm
is the scale on the pdf drawings correct?
May 26, 2013 @ 5:16 pm
You’re funny brother and you got some skills good project thanks for the idea
September 28, 2013 @ 2:07 pm
Where do I find wine boxes?
January 11, 2014 @ 2:46 pm
Hi this is rosewood59; I was wonder if you could do a video on how you do you layout in PDF files for the plans.(like this one) I really like how you do it ((But I have no idea how to do it)and how do you add in the full sale template as well? You make the PDF plans so helpful. Thanks!!! Love your work!!!
March 29, 2015 @ 11:31 am
You can use sketchup make (I think) or another 2d cad program to make and print full size templates.
March 29, 2015 @ 8:45 pm
I don’t have a table saw or a router so I cannot make dados. What should I do to substitute for parts that need dados?
March 30, 2015 @ 11:32 am
You could try to use a chisel, but that would be a lot of work!