Making a Rectangular Serving Tray

P. Michael Henderson

I sanded the inside of the sides.  No pictures - what can you show about sanding?  When sanding, sand the inside of the handles well, and on both sides.

Once the sides are well sanded, to P220 grit, put tape on the miter joints.  I also usually put a piece of MDF in the grooves to keep the lacquer out.

I then shoot a coat of dewaxed shellac, and when dry, I shoot the lacquer.  I'll do about three coats of lacquer.  I use dewaxed shellac under lacquer most of the time and recommend you do, also.  You can put it on with a rag if you don't want to shoot it.  When using water based lacquer, you'll get a much better final look if you use dewaxed shellac as a base coat.

Note the slight whitish cast to the sides with the wet lacquer on them.  Water based lacquer is opaque white in the can but dries clear.

When the sides have a sufficient number of coats, and are quite dry, we're ready to assemble the sides to the tray bottom.  Check the numbers you put on the sides to make sure everything is in the right place.  Note the biscuits with one end cut off.  If a groove is too tight for the tray bottom, that Stanley 79 plane (in the upper right corner of the picture) is a great tool for widening the groove just a small amount.  I like it better than the Stanley 98 and 99 planes.  It's less expensive, also.

Apply glue to the corners, squeezing some into the slots for the biscuits and assemble the sides to the tray bottom.  I use a strap clamp to clamp everything together.

The last step is to finish the outside of the tray sides.

After the glue is good and set, I sand the outside of the tray sides to P220 grit.  I spent a lot of time getting the tray bottom to a glass-like finish so I don't want the overspray marking it all up - so I mask off the tray bottom.

Once I tape around the sides, I usually put a piece of thick cardboard over what's left and tape it down.  But here, I just used the blue tape to cover it all.

Since I'm shooting the sides, I use a "lazy Susan" to sit the tray on so that I can rotate the tray and shoot each side.

The first thing I do is shoot dewaxed shellac.

Then I shoot the lacquer, about three coats.  When I'm satisfied with the results, I remove the blue tape.

I usually put felt feet on the bottom. [Update - I now put small felt feet on the corners instead of these large feet.]

And here's the finished tray.

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