| Project by psolver1 | posted 501 days ago | 1061 views | 1 time favorited | 17 comments | ![]() |
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My goal with this tray was to do dovetails the Hans way, which is to “Just cut, no need to measure”. So I cranked out this tray in a Saturday morning out of scrap mahogony that was a brace from a boat we had just finished. So I marked the depth of the cuts, cut the pins, scribed the cuts on the tails side by holding them together, and “vioala” the tray sides were done. Well actually I cut the first set of tails backwards, which shortened my box by an inch and a quarter, but the second set came out nicely. Not having enough scrap plywood around for a one piece bottom, I cut a dovetail in the bottom of the rabbet grove and made a center stringer. There is a rabbet grove for the handle in both end pieces of the box, so there are no fasteners or glue in the whole tray. I did however pin the dovetails with a dowel to keep any tools from inadvertently spreading the dovetails and causing a catastrophic failure of tooltray. I then finished it with boat sauce for longevity and it is ready for use.
-- "No need to measure, just cut" Hans
































17 comments so far
lew
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4474 posts in 647 days
posted 501 days ago
Sweet!!
Lew
SwedishIron
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79 posts in 533 days
posted 501 days ago
Great piece and I really like the simple design, especially the handle. Excellent use of scrap mahogany. :)
-- Scott, Colorado
scopemonkey
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128 posts in 1056 days
posted 501 days ago
Simple, Elegant, and well done. Semper Fi!
-- GSY from N. Idaho
Dusty56
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3456 posts in 580 days
posted 501 days ago
very nice design
-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .
Napaman
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3482 posts in 969 days
posted 501 days ago
HEY…welcom to LJ’s…as a newer member you may not know there is a contest on RIGHT NOW…called the Summer Awards” (link top right of screen)...one of the contest is for a serving tray…and what better to serve in the summer than tools!!!
great project…
-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...
thetimberkid
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1944 posts in 595 days
posted 501 days ago
Nice idea!
Thanks for the post
Callum
-- For wood working podcasts with a twist check out http://thetimberkid.com/
Sac
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236 posts in 525 days
posted 500 days ago
Nice idea. Good work. I’ve never heard of boat sauce before. I’ll have to look into that.
-- Jerry, Set in the foothills of the Smokey's
sharad
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704 posts in 696 days
posted 500 days ago
Very elegant tray for holding a few tools. Joinery is very unique.
Sharad
-- patanjali
Garyb6
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262 posts in 522 days
posted 500 days ago
Another reason not to throw away scraps of wood! Good job!!
-- Garyb6, “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler” - Albert Einstein
BobR
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137 posts in 876 days
posted 500 days ago
Nice tray – well done. Your scraps are better than my scraps.
-- Bob
Scotach
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71 posts in 511 days
posted 500 days ago
That is a fantastic tool tray…you beat me to the freebies again!
-- Brian S. --- "If you’ve worked on the building of a boat, it belongs to you the rest of your life." -Bob Prothero
RChadwick
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2 posts in 500 days
posted 500 days ago
Looks great, now you just need a matching tool box :)
Chip
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1058 posts in 984 days
posted 500 days ago
I love pieces like this. Great job.
-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.
beaudex
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43 posts in 530 days
posted 499 days ago
Excellent work, Love the pins.
-- Derek Tay, Venerate the Tree Design
Bradford
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787 posts in 715 days
posted 499 days ago
I like the design and the sheer honesty you employed here. Not many of us will go to this extent to share a wood journey. Thanks.
-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford.
Chris
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1462 posts in 883 days
posted 499 days ago
Nice work… What is it made of?
-- Chris
Grumpy
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14914 posts in 743 days
posted 474 days ago
Great job. Good luck in the contest.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python