Weekend project - serving tray

Hi,
I started out the weekend at a local seller (he sells reclaimed wood and parts, live edge wood, and pretty much a household flea market) for inspiration. I found a couple of pieces to play with. A cutting board was my idea for the smaller piece hidden under the giant slab.


The piece I wanted to use was a bit too narrow so I thought I would insert (spline in) a strip walnut to make it wider but the walnut was 1/16" thinner than the main piece so… Wait I bought some exotic 1/16" veneer that @evansd2 recommended from Kim Oberlin and I always liked the cube pattern made with 60-120deg diamonds.
I picked three exotics that look nice together and made a bunch of 60-120deg diamonds on the Glowforge. So an inlay was added to the project

Wenge, Padauk, and Bloodwood.



gluing on some end cap so I don’t have to make the splined end grain look pretty.

I didn’t use the Glowforge for everything in the project but it was instrumental in making the inlay diamonds, my signature, and one thing that I will most likely try to use in other projects. I don’t have photos but I used the GF to pinpoint the handles. It was pretty simple to draw 2mm disks separated by the distance from center to center of the screw holes for the handles. I put the piece in the Glowforge, positioned the holes where I wanted the handles, and engraved deeply in to the wood to make a starter pilot hole for my drill. They were positioned perfectly.


And the finished piece. The inlay would never hold up for a cutting board so in the end it is a serving tray / art piece. I finished it with a few coats of Wipe-on Poly. I’m very happy with the way it turned out.
Thank You for your time reading.

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very well executed … a priceless item! :glowforge::sunglasses:

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This is absolutely gorgeous! Love the work you did on the inlay!

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Thank you! The GF made it pretty easy to cut a bunch, plus I feel like I cheated because the diamonds will fit together without having to worry about kerf. :slight_smile:

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that is really awesome. What a great job you did on the inlay…

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Wow, that is beautiful!!!:heart_eyes:

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Beautiful. Now I can’t wait for the project involving the giant slab. I am again suffering wood envy.

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Oh my goodness! That is an art piece! It’s got so much going on with the inlay and the natural bark edges. Great job! :grinning:

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Thank You. Hopefully the slab will have a few projects in it. It has a lot of personality. There is even some classic spalting in one section.

sometimes a project deserves an actual wow, simple inlay but with a huge impact, that is gorgeous!

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Gorgeous piece! :heart_eyes:
But I worry about the beautiful Walnut that was covered up :confused: Wondering if the Inlay could have been the decoration when hanging up and the Walnut used for the actual cutting. :upside_down_face:

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Thank You. Yep, My original intention was to have the inlay on one side and the walnut strip showing on the “working side” for a cutting board. Then I decided to put handles on it so that kind of screwed up that Idea. The back is finished too. I will have to take a photo and share it tonight.

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That turned out very nice. Well done.

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That is gorgeous. I really miss my wood shop. It’s all in storage, I am relegated to what I can come up with in my tiny apartment. LOL

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Wow, you’re turning out really cool stuff without a shop. With your tools you’d be downright dangerous. :slight_smile:

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LOL. Where there’s a will…there’s a GF! :wink:

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Here is the back. I thought I could hide the handle screw heads with plugs made of padauk.:slight_smile:

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Yes a very nice cutting board :heart_eyes: and with Feet!:smirk:

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OUTSTANDING! Amazing detail.

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The back is beautiful - love the walnut and padauk accents.

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