My friend Joanne makes garden sculptures from reclaimed stuff. Over the years I have collected old things for her: railway spikes, sash weights from windows and almost all the antiquated plumbing I've pulled out of my house. When I was thinking about making a modern serving tray, I thought of Joanne right away-she always finds a good balance between blending new material (usually wood) with old beat-up metal. While rummaging through the pile of stuff I was saving for her I found a piece of copper pipe-this would make great tray handles I thought-and so my design began. I chose cherry for the wooden pieces of the tray, to complement the colour of the copper.
The construction technique is a result of a design requirement: I wanted the grain of the centre panel to run perpendicular to the grain on the side pieces.
This meant it could not be glued over the entire length because of the potential for cracking with seasonal movement. I explored a number of joints to make the connection, including pegging the tenon of the tray through the bottom of the sides-tricky given how short the tenons are.
Then I recalled a technique which uses a wedge inside the mortise which spreads and locks the tenon in place as the joint is pushed together. Called a fox-wedged tenon in the trade, I tested the joint on a piece of scrap and it worked beautifully.
To make this joint, start by making the mortise and tenon as usual, then make three cuts in the ends of the tenon with a dovetail saw. Use a chisel to widen the mortise to allow the wedged tenon to spread. Make the wedges out of some scrap hardwood, the same length as the depth of the mortise. Insert the wedges into the mortise to gauge if they are the right size. Once you are happy with the way everything fits, spread a little glue on the middle third of the tenon before assembly. Once the glue has dried, apply two coats of tung oil followed a few days later by two coats of satin polyurethane.
0 Comment