Spalted Pecan Tray

I recently made this serving tray to highlight the spalted pecan wood. I got the pecan wood from a family friend a few years ago. He owns a pecan orchard and was cutting up some old trees into lumber so that he could have it milled into flooring for his house. I helped him cut some of the trees up one day so he gave me a few slabs. I didn’t have a place to properly dry the wood so I tossed it on an old wood pile outside and forgot about it for almost a year. Last year, I brought one plank into my shop and let it dry out completely. While jointing and planing it, I noticed that it had attained a spalling fungus. At first, I didn’t like the look of this spalted wood but once I cut it to size, I had a change of heart.

I cut everything,except the sides and handles, into 3/8” X 1 9/16” strips and used tongue and groove to make the bottom. The sides and handles were cut 1/2” X 1 9/16”. I then set the bottom into grooves and added the handles on top of the sides using #10 bisquits. I shaped all of the edges by hand with 100 grit sandpaper. I designed this “on-the-fly” with the limited wood that I had on-hand but it ended up having a very Danish modern look to it. The bottom almost has the look of granite now that I finished it!!!

-- I have metal in my neck but wood in my blood!!