A drinks tray made from Tasmanian Oak timber with leather straps used for handles.
The project
This is my drinks tray with leather handles. I had seen a similar drinks tray with leather handles, and this was a challenge for me to make one similar. However, I couldn't find the leather handles shown on the original tray. The tray I saw was priced over $3,600 but maybe this was a print error.
The tray I made was made from Tasmanian Oak. For the handle, I went to a local op shop and bought some leather belts. My tray cost approximately $40 for timber, paint and belts. A lot of labour and design went into making my style of tray. First of all, I had to make a box cutting jig for my table saw. I needed the depth of the saw blade for the joints. I then made a router jig to hold the base of the timber. The Tasmanian Oak panel which was 18mm thick was reduced to 9mm thick, leaving the side at the original height to allow for more gluing area on the side of the tray.
Here is the box joint jig.
The base of the tray after being router planed.
Glue up and clamping. I used Titebond III waterproof glue.
Slots were routered to fit the leather handles.
Holes were drilled on the underside of the slots to hide the leather handles securely. I punched a hole on each side at the end of the leather and inserted an electrical tie to prevent the handles from pulling through.
The electrical tie.
After lots and lots of sanding, it's finished. Finally done. Well worth the effort for me.
