As before, started making a panel but this time I was thinking "tray" before committing it to the future project pile.
Wanted to do more veneer work, so I decided on this pattern which is a mashup of Prairie A&C and some southwest Indian rug design elements and colors.
bottom panel is about 12"x12", tray sides about 4" x 5/8" thick (handles) and rails about 2-1/2" x 3/8" thick. All sides are tilted 15 degrees.
The veneer is various bits of maple I had plus a few others. Aspen for the yellow/white, curly maple for the red, plain for the black and lt. gray, birdseye for the dark grey, and an outer border of some mystery wood that was dark.
I used TransTint dyes and my vacuum pot to get the colors infused as deep as possible so after sanding the colors would still be there.
The outlining is ebony TimberMate (Just for you LBD!)
I used my normal methods of laser cutting the veneers, dying, then assemble/glue to some 1/4" BB ply. Covered with tape and placed back in the laser to etch out the outlines. The tape keeps the TimberMate from getting into the pores and being difficult to sand out.
Tray frame is some so-so walnut, with lap corners pinned with copper rivets. Finish is Osmo Polyx on the frame and poly for the base panel.
Handle holes were done with a router template and round over bit.
Nathan, yeah, sometimes I wish it would keep a solid color after sanding but often there are grains that don't absorb the dye even after a few cycles of vacuum followed by cycles in a pressure pot.
The curly maple does get the enhanced 3D effect for the same reasons and other curly wood (like sycamore) has very tight spacing that is perfect for doing leaves that look more real.
Anyway, the effect is like glass with the variations, I guess if I wanted "solid" I should just use plastic!
Quite and eye catching tray Mr. Splint, and I agree with Mr. Rick on the CU rivets, nice touch. Lazyman is correct in his observation - this does look like stained glass. Nice work.
Petey, I briefly touch on that in the first paragraph of the box for a panel but generally I'll mix up some strong dye concentration (TransTint) in a small plastic bowl with alcohol and put the pre-cut parts into the bowl. The bowl (and a few others with different colors) are put into a two-gallon vacuum pot and held at a vacuum for a few hours. I'll then release the suck and let it sit for a few more, then repeat. I'd like to keep the veneer in sheet form but the pot is too small for that. Some woods can get completely saturated from this, but others like maple need more. So then it is into my pressure pot at 75 PSI over night (as high as the pots gasket lid will allow).
This usually gets the 99% mark.
I'd like to try Shipwrights method of boiling in RIT cloth dye sometime, certainly a lot less expensive than the TransTint!
Thanks Duck, Those are 1/8" shaft solid copper rivets ("round head"). I just drill holes (#30 bit, 0.128") for a slip fit. I'll groove a shallow ring into the ends and use epoxy so they'll lock into the joint and add strength (1" long). I also use 1/4" long for places where they are purely show. Use to be that the round head were all I could find at a low cost, but now I can find flat head (like a box nail) and countersunk like wood screws for a flush fit.
Another one of your artistic designs. It does look like a mixture of some of my favorite designs.
I like your use of black timber mate. I’ve been using the white oak version for years. It would be nice if you could share how you cut the 15* tilt on the sides and how you matched the angles on all the corners.
Wow! All the details once again merge into a gorgeous outcome. The only issue I have is referring to the walnut as "so-so" as it looks quite nice to me! 😉
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