Quick Project - Paper Tray

[JohnG]

I found myself with a bit of free time last weekend. I’ve been itching to get back in the shop so I threw together a quick impromptu project. 

I grabbed some bits of walnut and maple off the shelf and started cutting. With the pieces I had, I ended up making a 2 level paper tray for my desk. Moving quickly I accidentally swapped the stock I had planned for the top vs bottom shelves, so the better match ended up on the bottom. Stopped dados in the sides to retain the ‘shelves.’ The top one ended up rather thin and flexy, so I glued a couple thin strips to the underside and clamped it bowing up in the middle slightly. We’ll see how that lasts over time, but it stiffened it up significantly. 

 Quick shellac finish is under way. 

[wtnhighlander]

Nice project, John! The walnut is so dark, I can't tell...are the side corner joints dovetails, or fingers?

[JohnG]

Thanks! they are dovetails. 
I think using the cast iron table was a poor choice for iphone photography. I’ll try for a better picture tonight. 

[Mark J]

Looks good, John.  I guess the flex in the top shelf will be an incentive not to let work "pile up" .

[BillyJack]

Turned out very nice. Solid looking..

[Ronn W]

OMG.  The tops shelf is bowed!!  Nice impromptu job.

[JohnG]

It probably would have been better if I made the shelf with the grain rotated 90*, but lesson learned. 

[Tom King]

The "shelves" won't be seen much regardless that it looks great anyway.

[JohnG]

Well my “genius” fix backfired on me. It inverted at some point and is forcing the tray into a downward bow now. I didn’t think it would be able to flip like that, but I was wrong!

[Mark J]

I wonder how much of the bowing might be due to humidity changes rather than just load. 

Just a random thought if you ever wanted to do a 2.0.  Have the long grain of the shelves run left to right rather than front to back.  Then the load would be better supported by the long wood fibers.

[Nicholson]

Great project, which coating did you use?

[JohnG]

On 12/27/2024 at 9:50 AM, Mark J said:

I wonder how much of the bowing might be due to humidity changes rather than just load. 

Just a random thought if you ever wanted to do a 2.0.  Have the long grain of the shelves run left to right rather than front to back.  Then the load would be better supported by the long wood fibers.

Right. As I was building it, it struck me that I should have oriented it the other way, but just finished it up anyway. I have since removed the top shelf.

On 12/28/2024 at 5:35 PM, Nicholson said:

Great project, which coating did you use?

Shellac.