Tea boat

The project production continues (It pays to design in advance to receiving the machine)

This is a Tea Boat, designed to receive water from spills or cleaning in the tea process. I already had one, but it was all wood and started to warp from humidity. So I designed a new one.


Made from 1/8" PG Maple Plywood (1-1/3 sheets), 1/8" PG Clear Acrylic (2/3 Sheet) and PG Walnut Veneer (1/4-1/3 of a sheet).

There is an acrylic box nested inside the wooden one (I could have detailed and cut the wooden box on the sides but decided not for visual reasons)


I decided to have a simple finger joint with the thickness of the material has the teeth height, but I didn’t realized the acrylic wasn’t exactly 1/8" but a bit thinner and so, the nesting is a bit too tight.

I have a Hexagonal design thing and so, I had to include it. Which is why the holes are hexagonal.

The 1/8" cover is a bit light for my cast iron pot, but it holds for now. Also the inlay isn’t graceful/ perfect (I hid a lot of mistakes there) but I would need to better beta test before for the next one)

The only thing missing is a good coat of varnish for protection.

Edit 2019-10-24: Did a varnish coat, but the top layer is creeping due to my cast iron tea pot. Would need a middle support or a thicker material. Also, the inlay works but isn’t the best idea in this.

34 Likes

Beautiful as well as useful. I like the hexagonal grid and veneer. :grinning::+1:

2 Likes

Hexagone are my design fetish, they will come back regularly, you shall see :wink: (have other things designed but not cut yet that include that theme)

2 Likes

I’ll bet the old one wasn’t nearly as pretty as this one! And if it warps with the moisture you’ll be able to fix it easy. Nice job!

2 Likes

Nice. And you can even say it five times fast!

3 Likes

Really nice design!! Is that a double wall Tea Cup? I made a few, many years ago but did not have them that nice.

2 Likes

It is. Bought from David’s tea. I first bought a set but they had pulled it out of collection by the time I wanted more. Then I broke one. I tried to buy some elsewhere but the volume ( which I really like) isn’t standard. Last Fall, they brought it back. Bought 8 (4 + spares) not to be caught searching for them.

1 Like

Without some fixed size tool getting them even similar is a real challenge. Folks always make a joke about glass blowers (just don’t suck in) but that is exactly what is needed that the outside is made with a thick hot part across the top. But unless there is a tool to set the shape the pressure differences try to make a sphere, but a tool leaves a mark so that too is a problem. A search for what is very likely very slight circular variations would tell a lot, even having a very polished tool would likely leave something.

You clearly know more about glass then me. What i meant was that usual double wall glass are either espresso size (half what I have) or coffee mug size (1.5-2 times what I have).

Lovely! Love that you lined it with acrylic.

1 Like

Update based on usage see first post