Tips and Techniques: Coffee Tray
A good friend had been looking for a tray to go under her coffee maker for her beautiful new kitchen. She needed a certain size and was having trouble finding it so she asked me if we could make one similar to a picture she like. We said yes but little did we know how frustrating the handles would be and we vowed never to make handles like that again. It’s too funny but it turned out great. Here’s the how to.
Materials Needed
½ inch x 2 ft by 2ft Oak Hardwood plywood
2 – ½ inch x 3 in by 3ft Pine Board
2 – ½ inch x 4 in by 3ft Pine Board
Brad Nails
Wood Glue
Dark Walnut and Classic Grey stains
White paint
Tools Needed
Miter Saw
Table Saw
Clamps
Jig Saw
Sandpaper
orbital Sander
Dremel with sanding tool
Drill with ¾ spade/paddle drill bit
- The size of the finished tray needed to be 20 inch by 24 inch to fit in space requested with 20 inch being the side with the handles. We cut the plywood down to 19 inch by 23 inches using the table saw.
- Using the miter saw cut the 1 x 3 inch boards to 24 inches. These will be the front of the tray.
- Using the miter saw cut the 1 x 4 inch boards to 19 inches each (these are the two side pieces). These are 1 x 4 because of the shape of the side pieces.
- Take the 1 x4 and draw the curved handle part making sure to curve down so that the ends of the boards fit to the 1 x 3 (See final picture to see shape of handle.) This part of the process was super hard and in the future would probably say that I can only make the handle flat across but wanted to see if we could do it. (See picture at right to take note of shape of handles.)
5. After cutting the 1 x 4 down to size, it was time to make the handle. I used instructions from another “maker” to do this. They can explain so much better but I’m attempting here. Using the ¾ inch spade drill bit cut holes at 4 inches apart from center to center where you want the handle on the board. Don’t cut all the way through the board to avoid having “tear-outs”. Instead flip over using the center point created to drill rest of way.
6. Once two holes are made at desired spot for handle. Draw lines on bottom/top of holes to each hole and then using your jig saw, cut out the rest of shape of the handle for both boards.
7. Using the Dremel with sander tool, sand inside the handle to ensure neat. Also using the orbital sander, sand all boards to make sure they are smooth and ready for stain.
8. My technique for painting the boards is a many step process to achieve the correct color. I first stained everything with Classic Gray and then stained with Dark Walnut. I let this dry and put board together before continuing the staining/distressing.
9. We wood glude and brad nailed all the sides and bottom together. The clamps are handy in this step as well as the jig saw step to hold the boards in place.
10 Once together, it was time for final staining/painting technique. I distressed dry brushed paint over with white in certain places on the tray. Lastly, I again stained with Classic Gray and Dark Walnut over this to create the Distressed look.
11. The Last step in process was to polyurethane the tray. This is to seal it together. We put two coats of poly on this tray.
Melinda
My name is Melinda, and I am a wife, mom of 3 kids – two boys and one girl, grandmother to four little ones and lover of farmhouse style and making things. I’ve been creating handmade, unique items for your home, for gifts, for holidays, and for my family since I was a little girl. My passion for making things and repainting furniture has inspired me to create a business selling these unique products. I have been repainting and repurposing furniture for home use and am now ready to take my unique style and create great furniture for you.
