Red Oak Tray, with handles? Oh dear...

 Hi Everyone,

Well I got up late today and after breakfast with the cats I went down to the wood shop to finish hollowing out the tray, which I did. But a problems arose-let's take a look at the photos and I'll explain:

I got the tray hollowed out and took it off the lathe to check the thickness of the bottom and to figure out the placement of the handles:

Then I placed the handles next to the side of the bowl and you can see there is a gap between the side of the tray and the handle:

There's no way to screw this on so it's secure and looks good. So what to do? I could modify two opposite sides of the tray and straighten out the surface so the handles would sit flat and securely but I decided not to do that. I think the tray looks nice in it's present form.

But it needed more detail to make it visually more interesting:

So I hollowed it out more, turned the sides inward and then created a turned rim for it:

I also removed the sharp inside edge so it wouldn't be uncomfortable to pick up. I finished the turn with a good sanding and here it is at the moment:

The wood retained it's pink color and it's wide enough for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Now I'm going to take it back downstairs and polish it with oak shavings then clean out the shop and let the air settle for a couple of days. Tomorrow we're supposed to have blizzard conditions here so on Thursday I'll give it a coat of polyurethane.

I'm going to look online later today to see if I can find some handles that will accommodate the round surface and if I do, I'll add some handles to it. If not then the project will be done.

Ok, see you all soon and if you're in the Midwest, stay warm!

VW