Stylish Serving Trays

摘要

As is often the case with clean, simple designs, there is more to this set of serving trays than meets the eye. Relying on solid-wood construction, these trays pack a surprising number of techniques into a small package: breadboard construction, exposed joinery, tapered stock, pinned joints, and cord lashing. I designed the trays with batch production in mind, and arranged things so that although the two trays nest inside each other, once the components are cut to length and width, the joiner}' for both sizes can be cut with the same machine settings. Trays make excellent gifts and have the potential to be used daily. In my home, the small tray gets constant use carrying condiments to the dinner table or placed on the sofa as an extension of the end table. The large tray is handy for carrying a meal to the dining table, or as a document organizer in the home office. Both are handsome enough that we do not stash them away: We leave them on the table during meals, and then store them vertically on the kitchen counter. In this article I'll lay out the steps needed to create a single tray, and you can use the provided dimensions to build either size, or a full set.