I recently decided that I needed to make some more small scale projects, both to do them because they are sort of traditional projects and because it can be easier to sell a $45 serving tray than a $3,000 table or desk. These were also a good way to start getting my wife involved out in the workshop on things that aren’t as critical to get exactly right every time. So, I designed and we made several of these serving trays, cheese trays, or charcuterie platters, whatever you prefer to call them.
We started with a trip out to the sawmill to pick through their candy store to select some wood for this project. Again, since my wife was involved I let her pick the wood that we used without much input from me. She slected this gorgeous piece of walnut ti use as the primary accent stripe, then some large pieces of black gumwood for it’s white color, and finally a piece of very green colored poplar.
Next we started planing, cutting, gluing, sanding and generally making a mess of things to create these serving trays. Once the glue up and sanding were complete we started the longer process of finishing the trays. Several coats of food grade mineral oil and a heavy coat of butcher block conditioner later, we have these beautiful trays ready for final assembly.
We decided to use inexpensive drawer pulls for handles and then made a small cutout on each side of the tray to create a comfortable finger space for picking up the tray. I littel final polish and we are done.
We are hoping to sell a few of these trays, and certainly plan to give some away. My main goal though is to sell these at a wholesale price to real estate agents and similar people that are looking for great house warming presents for the clients that purchase a new home with them. We will also be selling these on our site, and possibly Etsy. So follow me on Instagram or Facebook for the announcement of when they will start being available.
And if you would like to have me create something just for you, please hit the contact form here on the site and I will be happy to work with you to create what you are looking for.
