# Chip Tray



## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Over the Holiday I got a "bowl and tray kit" from Peachtree as a gift. 
Bowl & Tray Kit / Templates plus the two piece football kit. 
As fate would have it, wifey asked that I make a last minute gift for a good friend of hers. So I figured I'd give this tray thing a go. Her friend happens to be a HUGE Washington Redskins fan. So I thought I'd do the football tray in Padauk and Tiger maple. (Red and white, Redskins colors) then have Redskins logo done up by someone with a CNC to cover the dip holes. Well, the CNC thing fell thru and I went ahead with just the tray. 
A quick couple thoughts on the kit. For what it was, not to shabby. Just 1/2" MDF cut-outs comprise the templates. Very well cut, seemingly sturdy enough for their intended purposes. With the kit you get I think, 10 different styles of trays. Mostly variations on a theme kinda thing. The kit also comes with a bowl bit w/bearing and a router bit extension (1/2" shank). Both bit and extension seemed so/so out of the box, but in the end, both performed surprisingly well. I ran the bit somewhere around 17K rpm and there was NO vibration with the extension and the bit done a good job. Price tag at 100 bucks is a little on the high side for whatcha get, but I guess the sell is that you don't have to bother making your own templates. Which btw, wouldn't be hard to do at all. By itself the bit sells for 35 bucks and the collet extender 1/2" to 1/2" goes for about 22. 
The football kit comes with two pieces for 22 bucks. The blank you'd start out with is 12" x 19". Depth of trays is recommended to be somewhere around 2-2 1/4"s. 
Getting started, I milled up 3 pieces of Paduak at 1 1/2" and 2 pieces of tiger maple at 3/4". Did the glue up to the desired size 12 x 19. Never gave a thought to take any pictures during the process so maybe we'll do a How-to some other time..
One thing they don't tell ya and you should know is that Man, do you waste alot of wood with these things. Easily 1/2 of what you start out with ends up on the floor or is cut off. So keep that in mind when choosing your wood(s). 
The only problem I ran into was that after having hulked out the majority of the wood I got to sanding. I decided to put a top shelf sanding job on this thing. No biggie just time. When the time came for putting on the food safe finish the trouble began. I wiped down the piece, then blew it off thoroughly. Or so I thought. As I began to wipe of the oil, the Paduak began be wipe into (for lack of a better way of putting it) the maple. Giving me red splotches in some spots of soft tiger stripes. Having spoke with Stick about this, I now believe that the problem could have been prevented had I "wiped" the piece down with acetone prior to applying the finish. Simply put, I just didn't clean it down well enough. Ahhhh well, lesson learned  Interestingly enough, I've done several chess boards with the same combination of wood without issue....
So, anyhooooooooooo. Great weekend project for the new guys/gals or just for something a little different. Lots of options with wood choices. Router work is relatively easy, just take your time and drop the router 1/8-3/16ths a clip. Use a food safe finish. Nice item for craft shows etc..


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## patlaw (Jan 4, 2010)

That's an heirloom.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

I'd say that's the nicest tray I've ever seen


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

patlaw said:


> That's an heirloom.


Thank you Pat... she's not without her warts. The red hugh is the bleed over from the paduak into the maple.. We'll get her cleaned up before she's handed over..


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

TheCableGuy said:


> I'd say that's the nicest tray I've ever seen


Gheesh, thanks Rick.. very kind of ya....amazing what a couple of nice pieces of wood can look like..


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

very nice job Great wood combination,I have build a couple of this they come out really nice, but like you said there is a lot waste, hard to see all good looking wood on the floor
I build my own pattern but i think by the time you buy the bit and extension it is really not a bad deal.
with a great imagination patterns for these bowls could be endless


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

I like that very much.


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## Arcola60 (Jul 4, 2009)

Wow! Bill that came out amazing. Great work. I have thought about getting one of those kits.
Thanks for the great write up. Happy New Year!

Ellery Becnel


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Bill, you sure selected a couple of dandy pieces of wood. Couldn't have come out nicer,and the color contrast is terrific. I have done some in the past and did the ole forstner bit on the drill press way of removing most of the bulk material inside. Didn't cut down on the waste but was a little faster., and the shavings somewhat larger to clean up, the ones that got away from the DC.

Whom ever got that tray will be very happy,I guarantee. 

I understand the inside template with the 3 holes in it. But the other two templates? Is the middle one to stick to the bottom and use a pattern bit to route the outside shape? if so what is the left hand one for, just a marking template? 
Good job, Bill, nice shop too,
Herb


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

.

.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Bill - nice looking tray
Can I ask what you used for a "food safe finish"?

Vince


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Really nice tray. The choice of wood really makes it pop. Add a thumb to Stick's post.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The wood really makes it special. Good choices.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Semipro said:


> very nice job Great wood combination,I have build a couple of this they come out really nice, but like you said there is a lot waste, hard to see all good looking wood on the floor
> I build my own pattern but i think by the time you buy the bit and extension it is really not a bad deal.
> with a great imagination patterns for these bowls could be endless


Thanks John... I agree on the wood combination, its what makes it what it is. I don't have much time for these kind of projects any more but I must say, this was kinda fun and certainly something that should be on anyones' bucket list. You're right about the endless possibilities. I wish I could have gotten the Redskins logo for the dip trays...that would have been the icing on the cake on this one..


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

old55 said:


> I like that very much.


thank you Ross....


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Arcola60 said:


> Wow! Bill that came out amazing. Great work. I have thought about getting one of those kits.
> Thanks for the great write up. Happy New Year!
> 
> Ellery Becnel


Thank you Ellery!!!! The kit is the way to go. Plenty of options right out of the box. I will try to remember to cobble together a "How to" on the next one for everyone, just so you can see what all is involved. Which honestly isn't too bad. 

Bill


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Herb Stoops said:


> Bill, you sure selected a couple of dandy pieces of wood. Couldn't have come out nicer,and the color contrast is terrific. I have done some in the past and did the ole forstner bit on the drill press way of removing most of the bulk material inside. Didn't cut down on the waste but was a little faster., and the shavings somewhat larger to clean up, the ones that got away from the DC.
> 
> Whom ever got that tray will be very happy,I guarantee.
> 
> ...


Kind words indeed, thank you Herb!!! 

Yep, used the forstner bit as well. Certainly a time saver! I just could not get over how much of the blank ended up on the floor. *L*
It sure looked pretty though, All those red and white shavings 

The kit came with two templates. The one with the three holes and then the one with the singular hole which is little more than an exterior edge outline. It is suggested that you cut out the bowl on the bandsaw then use a belt sander to round it off. What I did was take and make a 3rd template (the middle oval) used 2 sided duct tape to adhere it to the bottom of the bowl and then use a 2" pattern bit with guide bearing on the router table. The bit came up a 1/4" short so I just filed away what had to be filed and sanded. 

I'm still cleaning up the shop from this one....*L*..

Bill


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

vchiarelli said:


> Bill - nice looking tray
> Can I ask what you used for a "food safe finish"?
> 
> Vince



thank you Vince.... lots of choices for the food safe finish, I went with the Behlem product


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Richard/Charles....

thanks guys...I agree, this was all about the wood chosen...and it turned out nicely...


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## DonkeyHody (Jan 22, 2015)

patlaw said:


> That's an heirloom.


Well said . . . an heirloom, and an inspiration for the rest of us. I'll put that on on my to-do list. Thanks for sharing.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

DonkeyHody said:


> Well said . . . an heirloom, and an inspiration for the rest of us. I'll put that on on my to-do list. Thanks for sharing.


Thanks Andy... Give it a go!!! Honestly, this wasn't something I would have gotten for myself..but as it turned out...the trays can be quite attractive/decorative and functional to boot. Everybody wins..:wink:


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

What Stick said.....


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

jw2170 said:


> What Stick said.....


a 2fer...

thank ya James & Stick


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## BrianS (Nov 7, 2004)

Very nice Bill.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you Brian!!!


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Really nice work. Unique!


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## Murtu01 (Mar 9, 2014)

TheCableGuy said:


> I'd say that's the nicest tray I've ever seen


I'll second that


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

DesertRatTom said:


> Really nice work. Unique!


Thanks Tom... Unique? perhaps the choice of woods but the pattern is stock.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank ya Rudi....


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Came across this video in YouTube by "Infinity Tools" on how to do one of these trays....

Gives you a pretty good idea of what all is involved:


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

vchiarelli said:


> Bill - nice looking tray
> Can I ask what you used for a "food safe finish"?
> 
> Vince


May I ask the same?


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Sweet...! ! ! The colors are phenomenal...


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

papasombre said:


> May I ask the same?


Happy New Year to you Alexis!!

the product used was/is by Behlem. cost US$ is around 22.00. good stuff, easy to apply and actually builds up. leaves behind a nice soft satin sheen...


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Nickp said:


> Sweet...! ! ! The colors are phenomenal...


Thanks Nick... yep, the colors certainly popped. Just got done putting the 2nd coat of salad bowl finish on it and now the Tiger Maple is starting to pop....gonna be nice I think!


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