Final stock prep

The tray bottom was a bit too thick, so I trimmed it down on the band saw. Resawing 21cm (8 ¹/₄”) white oak? No problems! Having a big band saw certainly pays off at times!

After planing the saw marks off, I chopped the bottom to length:

The last step is to plane the ends square and tart them up.

And that concluded my stock prep. Time to make parts!

Making parts

I adjusted the fences on my No.78 rebate plane to 5mm (³/₁₆”) depth and 5mm wide cut.

I then scored lines using my marking wheel, and planed a rebate along the edges. The only problem: I was going against the grain on all four sides. No bueno!

The 78 is a right hand only tool (yes, you can use it left handed, but its business end is still on the right side). The solution was to use my Rider 3-in-1 shoulder plane, which I can use on either side. This meant that I could go with the grain, having established the rebate with the No. 78. It did not take long to get to my depth line! By laying the shoulder plane on its side, I could clean up the inner corner of the rebate too, and adjust the width of the rebate.

Initially, I was not sure if that plane was a good purchase or not, but it has been a butt-saver on more than one occasion. Highly recommended tool in your arsenal!

Here’s the tray bottom with the rebate done:

I then turned my focus to the tray sides. First order of business: create a groove for the tray bottom, which I made using my No. 50S combination plane. A great little tool indeed! I scored the edges of the groove using my marking wheel, before I plowed the groove to depth.

Quick tip: take a bite of the groove on the far end using the plane, then set your marking wheel to a gnat’s nadger wider than the actual groove. This gives you clean edges on the groove.

I then cut the pieces to size and shot them dead on equal in length.

Time for some joinery – and a new page.