Spline Tray

I thought it was about time I tried something a little more difficult than a G&S joint, so I designed this tray around the requirement that it be joined with sliding dovetail splines (I guess that’s what you’d call them). Cutting the actual pieces was the most difficult – exactly the right widths and indentations – it took me 5 attempts to get it this right – not quite perfect, but I’m actually pretty pleased with it. I learnt a lot along the way on this one – notably that you can throw a piece away and start again, and that if you need to find the big mallet it isn’t close enough.
I’m not sure about the plywood for the splines – it made life very difficult dealing with the very thin veneer remaining on the dovetail and, unless you look closely, you don’t really see that it’s layers of wood. Still, having got something that did actually fit I decided to go with it.

Pine and plywood – finished with thinned Oil & Varnish.

-- "Do not speak – unless it improves on silence."