Laminated Serving Tray project

 Hello All,

I've got a new project for you-I'm going to make a large wooden serving tray out of laminated scrap wood. 

I just finished a smaller tray last week and here are some photos of that:

You can see the various kinds of wood that were randomly glued together and then shaped on the lathe into a round tray.

This project is going to be made the same way. The cabinetmakers I purchase wood from often have bundles of cabinet wood trimmings. These are just long strips of various hardwoods that are about 2" wide and 4' to 5' long. It's a great way to get a selection of hardwood that can be cut and glued into blocks for turning or made into cutting boards. I often purchase color woods like mahogany, black walnut, or purple heart to add color and interest in the blocks that I make out of the trimmings. And this is a great way to use up scrap wood.

Ok, so I'm going to make a tray, apply a food safe finish, and keep it in my living room. 

Here we go:

Here are two photos of the block I'm assembling:

The first photo shows the face of the block-it's about 16" square and the second shows the end grain. The block is made primarily out of white and red oak, with cypress, mahogany, black walnut, purple heart, furniture grade plywood, and a little bit of pine. And I'm going to attach the extension on the lathe that will allow me to turn a very wide block of wood. I think the mix of species and colors will make the edges look really cool.

The only question going forward is should I make it round in shape or cut the block into one large hexagon and turn that? It would be really interesting and would produce a different shape into my repertoire. I'll think about it.

Ok, here we go again.

Stay tuned,
VW