Small Trays Made From Leftover Scraps

I have A CNC. I have a bottle of wood glue, and several clamps. I also have several small odd shaped wood scraps begging to be used for something useful.   

Small scraps glued up can make larger boards. Here are a few shallow wood dishes/trays all made from glued up scraps.  

This first oval dish was cut from three maple scraps glued together. I used my CNC to cut the top recess and rounded edge.  Then used my router table to bevel the side 11.25 degrees, and follow that up with a small 45 degree transition to the bottom.  

Oval Tray

This second tray was the best shape to make from two glued up corners saved from a hexagon table top cutout. 

Diamond Tray

This walnut version was made from several walnut scraps. Add in patching two screw holes with walnut dowels to increase the potential final size. For this one I used the modelling tool in Aspire to create the center recess. It also has a 45° chamfer on the bottom edge.  A rounded rectangle.

4" x 6"

This 4" x 4" Cherry example required several bit changes, and used the VCarve toolpath to make the crisp inside corners of the dish. It used up the left over corners from a round plant stand cutout. Its shape echoes the shape of the glued up corners. 

V-Carved Cherry Dish

Several bit changes were required.  Bits used (in order) were a 3/16" end mill to clear out the center area of the dish, then a 60 degree V-Bit to slope the sides and create the sharp inside corners. A 1/4" end mill cut a clearance path for the final bit and profile out the final shape.  Last bit used on the CNC was a side cutting V-bit to put a groove around the sides as shown below.

VCarved, V-cut, and beveled. 

As with all of these trays some follow up work was needed.  The waste perimeter was roughly cut off using my bandsaw.  A flush trim bit cleaned up the bottom edge on my trim router table.  Lastly a 45 degree chamfer bit beveled the bottom edge. 

Beveled bottom and side groove.

Lastly, an octagon dish. Made from one scrap board nearly 11" long and 2.6" wide.  It had a rough bark side.  I cut it in half and glued the good sides together to make a roughly 5" x 5" block close to 7/8" thick. The inner and outer sloped sides were 3D toolpaths.  The center of the top was a pocket toolpath to bring it down to the bottom of the inner sloped sides.  Hard maple with tight grain cut nicely on the CNC. 

Octa Dish

These are small examples of the value you can find from small scraps of wood left over from previous projects. Glue thin scraps together to make thicker boards that may be more useful. Any scraps with a straight edge can usually be glued up to make a larger board.  A trip across a jointer may be needed to face the edges for the best glue joint. I have a small benchtop jointer that is perfect for this task. Its small expose blade gap between tables make it safer than larger jointers with a larger expose blade gap to slide over. 

So save those odd scraps.  When boredom or inspiration strikes take a few and glue them up to make a larger board that can become something useful.  

Comment encouraged!

4D

A Walnut and Cherry Wood Plant Stand

Walnut and Cherry

Often a project leaves useful scraps that also could be made into something useful.  That was the case with this simple plant stand. Some walnut salvaged from a previous design was re-configured to become the top. It became an eight inch diameter inverted dome cut from the glued up walnut.   

Walnut Top.  Ready for leg sockets

Lining up with the marked leg socket center

One socket cut.  

Four short sections of 5/8" diameter cherry dowels became legs. Each leg socket is perpendicular to the dome arc. The legs radiate out from the center of the arc. 

Standing up for the first time.

Deciding how simple or complex in detail the legs can be is a worthwhile iterative pursuit.  I've started with a simple cylinder with the bottom cut off to be flush to the surface it stands on. The sockets/mortises have a bump on their perimeter.  The legs ends have a notch to fit around the bump.  The reference orientation is what made it easy to cut the angle on the bottom of the legs as seen in the first photo.  

For detail I could add some plant inspired carving along the length of one or more leg.  I could simply roundover the ends or create more of a bullet shape or pencil tip shape.  I have the dowels connected but not yet glued into the top. It stands up to be observed and inspiring so this decision may be easier. If I do add more detail I'll post an updated photo.  With a plant on top to draw focus this little stand may be happy enough just supporting it rather than competing for attention.  ;)

A version with a cherry top and walnut legs:  Simple Plant Stand

A version with a white ash top and red zebra wood legs: Ash Plant Stand

Comments are welcomed and appreciated. 

4D

Pseudo Tensegrity End Table

Held stable with only tension straps.

Most tensegrity projects have a rigidly connected post up from the base and another that projects down from the top.  They are connected by a simple tension cable. An unstable connection.  To stabilize this usually 4 more cables run from top to bottom at the outer corners. The end result is barely stable.  An unexpected side push will usually collapse such a table. 

My project starts with a rigid post that is not attached structurally to either the top or the bottom.  An unstable assembly. Both ends are rounded over and sit in a slippery socket at the top and bottom centers. The center post is threaded.  Right hand threads on one end and left hand threads on the other.   

Bottom and top of the center post rounded over.

Screw holes patched with walnut plugs.

Holes repaired

The ball ends of the post rest in sockets cut in HDPE that inset into the bottom of the table top and top of the base. 

Socket test.

A good fit.  Post spins easily in the slippery socket.

Hub nuts screw onto the post. They have slots around their edge. Webbing straps will slip into the slots and be pinned in place with a 5mm pin though a grommet in their end. 

With both RH and LH threaded hub nuts, a twist of the post will tighten or loosen the straps. I cut the threads using the threading toolpath available in Vectric.com's Aspire software and a side cutting V bit. I hook the straps to the underside of the top and the hubs in a slot with a pin dropped in a hole or slot.  The pin passes through a grommet in the ends of the straps.  The straps end in a slot perpendicular to the pin. 5mm x 5/8" steel pins.

Strap connection to hub nut.

Shelf pins pin the strap end in place.  I made a friction fit hole for the shelf pins so they fit snuggly and will not drop out easily.  It took some test holes to find the best size of drill bit to use.  A #9 drill bit provided the closest fit. 

The top has 4 perimeter slots for straps, and an inset HDPE section with a ball socket cut in the middle.  Socket test seen above.   

Underside of the table top.

The key to this project is how the straps are connected to make the project work. 

The non-threaded section of the post is where you grasp the post to twist it.  It might be easier to grasp and twist if it's shape was a hexagon or octagon cross section.  

For detail continuity the base is a scaled down version of the top. The contoured surface is on its top rather than its bottom. 

Base

I made both top and bottom inserts from some 1" thick HDPE I have, re-sawn to just under 3/4" thick, then milled down to 5/8" thick on my CNC. 

Socket inserts for the top and base.

A  test assembly.  Straps were installed with the nut lower on the post.  Once attached the post was twisted to lift the hub nut higher to tension the straps. 

Repeated for the top.

Repeat the straps and hub on the other end to hold the table top securely horizontal.

Making straps for the design I've realize matching strap sets is a hit or miss problem. It is easy to make two or more the same length.  As those in the long axis aren't the same length as those in the short direction, and all have to be a precise length to tighten up at the same time. Finding the length of a set to go with the other set is the challenge.  Making and installing the set for the long direction would be easier if they could be adjusted in length after installing.  Change them from being a fixed length with a grommet in both ends to an adjustable length with a grommet in one end. The other end wrapping around something to come back and attach to itself.  The attachment point should be adjustable to change the total length of the strap.  Something I'll look into should I use straps in future projects. 

The wood parts of this table need some final sanding and a finish applied.  I like tung oil on walnut.  This table does provide an interesting glance down at the base while in use.  More interesting than any typical table. It was an enjoyable exercise to design and build. 

Straps in tension make a stable assembly.

4D

 

Just a Prototype

Often I sit with a sketchbook iterating little drawings of table designs.  A table after all is just a horizontal plane held above the floor with a structure. The structure's only purpose is to support the top and whatever it might be used for securely and reliably. Something to span the gap between floor and top and resist gravity. This can range anywhere from a solid block to a spindly center post with spindly feet. 

Iterate.

Occasionally I come to a design that appeals to me more than usual. If it looks even better a day later  I'll do a digital drawing of it. If the digital design is still appealing I often make a prototype. 

This little table is one outcome from such a process. The prototype leg shape is CNC cut from 3/4" thick MDF.  

MDF

The top is solid walnut.  The leg design I envisioned to be made from walnut pieces joined together.  No need in a prototype to use expensive material and labor though.   

Walnut Wood

I painted the MDF legs with red primer with the intent to then paint them with a final color.  The primer color looks good with the walnut top.  This is just an aesthetic prototype and once walnut legs are made the MDF versions will be discarded. Good enough it is. 

Underside

Overside

The legs dovetail into a triangular center post. Screws through the top hold tight to the post and legs.  Screws are counterbored  and covered with walnut plugs.

Comments welcomed.

4D