|
Materials:
- Cherry wood - 8" x 32"
- Copper refrigerator tubing - 3/16" outside dimension (or ¼"
if that's all you can find)
- Heavy gauge copper wire - about 12 gauge
- Oak half round - 6'
- Light oak filler
- Carpenter's glue
- Rare earth magnet
- Sand paper
- Water-based urethane
- Epoxy glue
|
Tools
- Jigsaw
- Router
- Bull-nose router bit
- Drill & drill bits
- Rotary tool (i.e. Dremel)
- Belt sander
- Orbital sander
- Paintbrush
- Eye protection
- Ear protection
- Clamps
- Miter box and handsaw
- Tube cutter
|
Steps:
Choose a flat, clear piece of cherry |
|
|
| Choose a piece of wood that is as flat and as clear of knots
as possible. If the board is terribly twisted, ask the lumberyard
to run it through their thickness planer for you. This will
effectively take the warp out. If you want to prepare it yourself,
use a plane or power planer to take down the high points until
the board lies flat. |
|
Typical plunge router |
Router bit set |
Move around the outside of the board in a counter clockwise
direction |
|
Prep the surface as necessary using a belt sander to take
out deep chips and scratches. Before final sanding, use a
router mounted with a bull nose bit to round over the outside
edge. Following the directions for your router, clamp the
board firmly in place and run the router in a counter-clockwise
direction around the board. Move the router along quickly
so as not to burn the wood. The bit spins so fast that it
will leave burn marks if left in one spot too long. If the
router jumps or dances a bit, which happens especially around
corners, just go over it again.
Sand the surface and edges of the board progressively through
increasingly fine grades of sandpaper, up to 220 grit.
|
|
Cut the half round in a miter box |
|
|
|
Cut the half round to fit. If you have a bathtub that fits
tight to one wall, cut just two pieces to fit around the exposed
outer rim. If you have a freestanding tub that is positioned
away from the wall, cut two sets of rails to run along each
side of the tub. Cut the pieces about half an inch short of
the width of the cherry board.
While you're cutting the oak half round, cut two additional
pieces to act as ridges that catch the bottom of a book and
hold it in place. Use a miter box to cut all of them with
a forty-five degree slope at the ends. This gives you a pleasing
design with no sharp edges anywhere on the tray.
Fill the exposed surface of all of the half round pieces
with a light oak filler, since oak is rather open-grained.
Sand smooth to at least 220 grit. Also, fill any unsightly
pits in the cherry wood with the same filler.
Attach the runners to the bottom with carpenter's glue. The
bottom runners should be placed so that they fit snuggly on
either side of the bathtub edges. If both edges of the tub
are exposed, centre the tray first to locate the position
of the four pieces and glue them in place. Clamp for at least
20 minutes before continuing.
Glue the book rests to the top.
TIP: If you have a tub that is pushed against the
wall, merely measuring the board to find the center and plopping
the book ledge isn't going to work. The book will be off-center,
and this will be annoying. To avoid irritation, place the
tray on the bathtub first, find the centre of the TUB and
transfer that location to the board as it sits with one edge
pressed against thewall. If, on the other hand, your tub is
freestanding, the centre of the actual board will fall over
the centre of the tub.
|
|
Cut a template for the glass holder |
Trace the shape on to the back |
|
|
After all of the half round has been attached, locate the
position for the wine glass holder. The wine glass should
be away from the side that is commonly used to enter the tub
but not so close that the base of the glass bumps the tub
side while in place. Make a template out of paper to fit the
size of the glass and its stem.
Generally, the diameter of the hole where the glass rests
should be about 1 3/4" and the width of the slot leading to
the hole should be about 5/8" wide. The circular hole should
be positioned slightly less than halfway through the width
of the whole tray.
|
|
Cut out the shape with a scrolling blade in a jig saw |
Drill holes as necessary to help start the blade |
|
| After making the template and locating the best position for
the wine glass, turn the board over, mark and cut it from the
back with the jigsaw. Use a 'scrolling' jigsaw blade to cut
out the shape. It'll be necessary especially for the tight circle.
Jigsaw blades cut on the up stroke and can tear out bits of
fiber from the nicely sanded surface, but if the cuts are made
wrong side up, the tear-out will be on the back where it won't
be seen. |
|
The cut will be rough |
Hand sand the rough edges |
A rotary tool with a small sanding drum also works very well
|
| Once the wineglass holder hole has been cut out, sand any
rough spots made by the jigsaw. Hand sand with sand paper on
a stick or use a rotary tool with a sanding drum to smooth the
rough spots. |
|
Use copper tubing to form the book frame |
Cut the copper with a tube cutter |
Bend book holder to shape |
| Make the book support from refrigerator tubing.
Cut off a length about thirty inches long with the tube cutter.
Bend a shape by hand (see picture). The bends help to make the
soft copper more rigid so that it can support a book. The height
will be determined by the sizes of books you may want to read
in the tub. Once bent to shape, cut the ends off so that that
each side has a 10" leg after bending. The distance between
the sides at the top is about 6 1/2". The space at the bottom
is about 3". It helps to have the bottom closer together because
the frame becomes more rigid and will support the book better.
Coil some of the 12 gauge wire around the frame at the height
of the books you read. The wire can be slid up or down as
necessary once the frame is in place. Put loops in the ends
to hold the pages in place.
Locate and drill two holes in the board to fit the tubular
book frame. The base holes should be about 3 1/4" apart, 1
1/2" in from the back edge and 3/16" in diameter (or to fit
the tubing you are using). Be sure not to drill all the way
through the board! About half way should do. If the holes
are tight, the book frame will sit in the holes without glue.
|
|
Attach accessories with epoxy |
Pen holder |
Magnet on the bottom |
| If your tray requires a magnet or if you want a penholder,
glue them in place with epoxy. Be sure to locate the magnet
so that it hits the tub edge accurately. (Your tub has to be
enameled cast iron for the magnet to work.) |
|
Clear coat with 3 coats of water-based urethane to seal thoroughly
|
|
|
| Clear coat all surfaces with at least three coats of a water
based urethane. Follow the directions on the can and sand smooth
between coats with a fine 320 grit sand paper. |
|
Completed tray
|
|
|
| Now add bubble bath, a robust Zinfandel and a stirring novel.
Relaxation is yours. |
|
|
Artisans'
work featured on this episode:
(click pics for Artist info and larger
images)
|
More topics
