who need pens tray for shows?

I should post this some time ago and some friends reminder me to do, so every one can profit of this and make good use of it, I don't have a well equipped work shop so I do most by hand, tray are cheap to do I collect most of my off cut wood from a cabinet maker, nice square cut, I use my Makita router fitted with a 19m/m (3/4")bull nose bit





I do plunge cutting and free hand, din't have the time to do a jig, a safe way to is to use a router table if you got one, depth of the cut is 8.7 m/m or .343" you can do a little be deep but I find for me is easy to pick up the pen. An Emperor fit well



The piece of scrap wood I got for this example is a small laminated shelve, I draw the lines at 22m/m ( 7/8" I think) then draw the cutting line at 16m/m like that when the cut is done you will have a space between cuts of 3m/m.





note that the board is screw on to a waste plywood board, now to have a good edge when cutting I add some scrap wood length on the side and the edges will have a neat cut


Sorry if I din't take a shot of the full board when cuts are done, but here's 2 tray for boxes ( note is only 7 slots )


I cut the edge of the box and glue them up attention don't glue the tray yetglue only the edge of the frame for peace of mind I add some tape at the coners of the tray like that it will not stick to the frame





next I remove the tray from the frame and glue the felt with PVA, I brush the glue then apply the felt and give the shape with a wooden dowel


here's the finished frame and glass lid





Here's another tray for display 12 slots ( run short of felt [xx(]



hope this help

Serge,

Thanks for taking the time to show this.
It is a nice alternative to the expensive boxes on the market.

We have been thinking of making our own trays was'nt sure yet how to go about it thanks for sharing this has been a big help[]

Shane

Thanks a bunch Serge!!!

Serge,
I've made a recommendation that this should be included in the forthcoming mini-tutorials on the forum.
It's a real good, useful write-up.
Thanks for sharing.
Gary

Very nice tutorial, thanks for taking the time.

Great job. Nice use of the scraps. Thanks for sharing.
Shawn

Fantastic idea! There should be a prize or sumthin for that one. Gotta make some of those!

Thank you for your comments, glad to help

I like the use of felt. You did a very nice job on this!!! I may make one up also.

Serge, great idea! I've been wanting to do something like that, and you made it look easy. Thanks!

Top Job Serge!looks great mate thats just what l have been looking for a core box bit l was not sure about the size too use now this will save me some cash not having too test different core box bits thanks for that mate!now l know what to order. []

FYI, If it was me, I would make a matching bullnose molding that would fit into the groove and glue it to the bottom of some hardboard that you can attach to your router as a new plate. This way your hand held is self-indexing. Keep the plate larger and square so you have some extra "meat" in the cove when you get to the end, say an extra 25% on each end to start and end the cut. Make the first cove without the plate and a fence to keep it square and straight, then attach your index plate and adjust the depth to the cove you just cut.

Even with a router table you still have to index it somehow or you will be resetting the fence every time. I must have half a dozen router plates for odd ball uses and I don't use the router much!

This is a great idea, i really think it will help me for my first show in Sept. Have an idea for an arc or fan shape