Introduction: Stylish Coffee Cup Trays

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About: So many things to learn and make, so little time! I like things that are cool, useful, efficient, well crafted.

Make some small stylish trays, to serve coffee (or tee).

I use Plexiglas (remaining from a former project). You could use real glass too, but it would require more skills and tools. Plexiglas is very easy to cut, but will get scratches, eventually.

Step 1: Needed Stuff

Materials:
  • 2 mm thick Plexiglas (acrylic glass)
  • Hard wood strips (I used beech) of rectangular profiles
  • Hard wood strip of round profile
Tools:
  • Cutting mat, metal ruler, cutter
  • Wood, paper, and epoxy glues
  • Wood primer
  • Masking tape
  • Clamps (optional)
  • Jigsaw
  • Sanding machine (or just sand paper)
  • Drill (at best: drill press)

Step 2: Sketch Some Designs


Attachments

Step 3: Make the Long Sides

  1. Cut the paper sides,
  2. glue them on the wood,
  3. saw them carefully,
  4. drill (beware: not through) [*]
  5. with a short piece of rounded profile, put the sides together (without gluing them),
  6. sand them for perfect alignment,
  7. soak them very shortly in water, to remove the paper.
[*] precision is important here: it will insure that the Plexiglas will fit well and not slide away.

Step 4: Make the Board

With the cutter, strongly mark (two firm passes should suffice) the Plexiglas on both sides.

Hold the Plexiglas between two boards (or in a large vise) and snap it firmly, to break it along the mark.

Repeat to obtain desired size.

Sand the edges. Check that long edges are very parallel.

Check size against wooden sides.

Step 5: Assemble

Cut rounded some rounded profile to length (board width plus some extra millimeters).

Glue them to the sides (dip the ends into some wood glue).

Let the glue dry.

Step 6: Make the Short Sides

Cut the short sides to length. They must be approx 0.1 mm longer than the Plexiglas width, so that the Plexiglas can slightly slide.

Glue them with epoxy, use masking tape to keep the right position.

Let the epoxy cure.

Advice: from now on, always remember which Plexiglas board belongs to which frame.

Step 7: Sand

Remove the Plexiglas.

Sand the wooden frame (optionally, with a power sander).

Step 8: Prime Time

Apply wood primer, and let dry.

Slightly sand to get a smooth surface again.

Step 9: Clean and Place the Board

Remove the protective sheet of the Plexiglas boards.

Clean the Plexiglas with water.

Place each Plexiglas into the frame it belongs to.

Step 10: Finished Products

Enjoy your trays.

Serve coffee, espresso or tee.

In addition to the cup, there is room for a spoon, a sieve, a biscuit or praline or sugar cube, etc.

To clean the trays, use a damp cloth.


Update: My Mom got three trays for Christmas, and had the idea of using two of them upside-down.

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