Personal Tea Tray

For a last-minute gift, I gathered some wood leftovers, and got inspiration from two nice little door handles.

The result is a small, long and modern-styled personal tea tray.

Step 1: Needed Stuff

Materials:
- mini door handles,
- wood bard,
- 3mm thick plywood.
- wood glue, linseed oil.


Tools:
- router,
- drill press,
- saw, sander.

Step 2: Make Grooves

Make the grooves with the router. Or buy wood bars with a groove already made.

Use a bit for 4 mm wide and 10 mm deep grooves.

WARNING! a router is an extremely dangerous tool. It rotates much faster than a drill, and can cause nasty wounds.
- Wear protection glasses and work gloves
- Tighten wooden parts in a very stable vise
- Hold router with both hands
- Exercise on some scrap wood

Step 3: Cut Wood to Length

The plywood can be cut with a knife.
Cut the bars to length with a saw.

Step 4: Glue

Add glue into the grooves, and where the side bars touch each other.

When dry, rectify with a sander. Optionally fill the holes with some wood filler or putty.

Step 5: Make Holes

Mark the holes positions, drill them.
Drill a blind hole on the bottom side for the screw heads.

Step 6: Oil

Apply linseed oil, wait, remove excess with a cloth.

Step 7: Final Assembly

Screw the handles. The screw may need to be cut to length.

Step 8: Finished Product

That's it.

Wrap it in a nice present paper, together with some tea blends, and make someone happy!

Comments

[medusaorange]

I love the tray!! My husband drinks hot tea all the time and this would be perfect for him!

For the glass, I guess you can just insert the glass on top of plywood! it gives your plywood a protection, but also can see the plywood through it. :)

[cnc-amateur]

no no no this is a very good project, i personally like it a lot since my tray is already useless i am going to do the same. @Laxap sorry to say i prefer it like you did with plywood (i mean) to avoid scratches and heat from any cracks. thank you very much once again.

[agis68]

simple and cute

[Jayefuu]

Very nice! I enjoy dabbling in woodwork but think I depend far too much on a fancy table saw!

[hawgnutz]

Jay, with the right blades and jigs you can do almost all of your woodworking using a good table saw!

[hawgnutz]

Very nice. I think I will make one, but use a stopped groove on the long piece to hide it when you glue up the pieces. Or, make it a mitered corner and it would be hidden, too.

[sunshiine]

This is beautiful! I can see one of these sitting on my counter! I will have a place to go and find a pattern if and when I do this. Wonderful advantages of Instructables. One stop place for all your needs and it does not require any storage! Thanks for sharing!
Sunshiine

[ChrysN]

Gorgeous!

[laxap]

Thank you.

[mikeasaurus]

simple, clean design and the oil coat really brings out the grain (much better than polyurethane)!

[laxap]

Thank you. This is really really simple, but I the handles (drawer handles) and wood combination define the style.

I am very fond of linseed oil, for wooden objects, used indoor. It protects well enough against liquids, and gives a silky aspect.

[Kaptain Kool]

Great job!

[laxap]

Thank you.

[susanrm]

Very nice, especially for someone who is elderly or ill.

[laxap]

Thank you. I initially planned to use glass instead of plywood, so the final aspect is quite different than expected.