PROJECT
http://www.getwoodworking.comTapas trays
86 The Woodworker & Good Woodworking September 2019ANYONE
FOR NIBBLES?
Denis Whittaker uses pieces of scrap to make
two alternative designs for tapas or ‘nibbles’ traysFig.1 Circular tapas tray dimensionsA
revamp of my daughter’s kitchen
included the fitting of 40mm thick oak
work surfaces, which produced some
pretty useful offcuts that she was
kind enough to offer to me. Like so much donated
timber, the pieces have been in my odds and ends
collection for a few years and a recent clear-out
got me wondering what to do with them. My wife
came to the rescue (again!) by suggesting some
kind of board from which to serve tapas or other
small eats. I have since made seven, in both round
and rectangular shapes, using the freebie oak and
other timber offcuts. Here’s how I went about it.CIRCULAR TAPAS TRAY
The circular version came first but at 40mm
the oak was too thick for purpose. I first cut
a piece 320mm long × 165mm wide and
using my bandsaw, sliced off two 16mm thick
boards, which would finish at 15mm. After
cleaning up and squaring off one edge of each,
these were glued up to form a 320 × 320mm
square. Obviously not everyone will have kitchen
work surface to hand and the board will need
to be made up by jointing whatever timber
is chosen. In any event, following the
undermentioned will result in success!Creating the circle
Clean off any glue residue, check for squareness
and on the underside of the tray, mark a centreline
and centre point. Draw two sets of ‘tramlines’
12mm apart starting 60mm each side of the
centreline. These are where the handle brackets
will fit and are much easier to accurately draw
from a square edge. Next, draw the 310mm
diameter circle before trimming off the waste
and sanding the edges to form a perfect circle.Handle brackets
The handle brackets, which also serve to slightly
raise the tray, come next. Using Fig.1, make a
template using 6mm MDF or similar and drill
small diameter holes at the centre of where the
handles will fit. Check the template against the
circular base and mark the outline and the centres
for the handle holes onto a 25mm thick piece
of timber. Cut to shape and sand to a good finish.
The holes for the handles are best drilled using
a pillar drill since the holes must accurately line
up once the handle brackets are fitted. The hole
size will depend on the diameter of your chosen
handle. For the one shown here I used 15mm
diameter golden plated pipe, but chrome plated
copper pipe works well and is readily available
from plumbers’ merchants. With the holes drilled,
slice to produce a matching pair of 12mm thick
handle brackets. After cleaning up, offer these
up against the tray base using the parallel lines
previously marked, and trim to provide a good
fit. Lightly mark the board on each side of the
handle brackets and round over up to these
marks on both the top and underside to ‘soften’
the edge of the tray. The handle brackets can
now be fitted using screws and glue.310mm
diameter circle
on 15mm
thick board.
‘Tramlines’
aid location
of handle
brackets
during fitting’T’ shaped plug
used to secure
tubular handles