Catch All Tray: Beginning Tools for Novice Woodworkers

By Ashley Pieper | Shallow Creek Woodcraft

Almost everything with woodworking starts with a humble box. This project has similar skills without fitting a lid. A catch all tray provides practice with sawing along your line, marking your layout, keeping parts square, and keeps material costs low so not to break your heart if you need to start over. Learning these basic skills while starting a foundation of having the right tools is a great step forward to feeling empowered in the craft and comfortable with your tools.

Materials Required:

Ryoba Saw or similar hand saw
Flush Cut Saw (depending on choice on Step 9)
Marking Gauge
Shoulder Plane
Frame Clamps
Hand Drill or drill of choice (depending on Step 9)
Try Squares or combination square
Block Plane
Chisels
Pencil
Wood Glue
Tape Measure
⅛” Dowel (depending on Step 9)
Mallet

Lumber (if you do not have availability to milled hardwoods, home store lumber will work fine)
¼” thick plywood for the bottom of the tray Your favorite decorative paper for the bottom of the tray, paint, stains,or finish (lots of room for creative interpretation!)

Time to complete: 3 hours

STEP 1: Prepare Materials

Prepare your material by rip cutting to the desired width four pieces from a ¾” thick board. The rip width chosen will be the height of your tray. Thethickness of material is an aesthetic decision but ¾” thickness or less works well. For example, if you use home store lumber a 1x3 is an actual thickness of ¾”.

STEP 2: Marking for Tray Parts

Use the combination square to mark 90 degreelines at the lengths you desire for the sides and ends of the tray. If you want a rectangular shape,ensure the ends are shorter than the sides. Keep in mind it is important to have opposing sides be identical to keep the tray in square, which means that the corners of the tray are all 90 degrees.

STEP 3: Sawing Tray Parts

Remember to let the saw do the work, do not press too hard and follow along the pencil lines.

STEP 4: Marking for Rabbet Joinery

Bottom rabbets: Marking height for the rabbets for all four tray parts; Be careful to considerany finish choice that will make your tray bottom slightly thicker than the plywood before cutting the rabbets for the bottom in the tray parts. Set the marking gauge to the thickness needed and mark along the inside bottom face of all four tray parts. Adjust your marking gauge to half the thickness of your tray parts and mark along the bottom edge of all four. This line will help you cut to the correct depth. Mark the waste portion with a pencil to help yourself in the Step 5.

Side rabbets: Marking the two side tray parts; With your marking gauge still set, mark the outer edges of where your side rabbets will be. This will be the depth of cut and should be half the thickness of the material like the bottoms. Next, mark along the inside face on the ends of only two of the tray parts. The rabbets marked here will be the joinery for the tray and need to be the width of your material so the ends of the mating piece will nestle into the rabbet neatly.

STEP 5: Cutting The Rabbets

Use another piece that is a known straight edge to help start your rabbet and keep the shoulder plane riding against the marked line. Start by taking light passes to make it easier to follow your marked lines. Try to keep your hand pressure even and take shavings the width of your rabbet. Keep an eye on the pencil marks to see when you are getting close to the marked-outline so as not to plane too deep. A sharp blade helps make the work much cleaner. Chisels are great for fine tuning edges or spots as needed.

STEP 6: Fitting The Tray Bottom

Fit the tray together and clamp. Using a measuring tape measure from edge to edge of the rabbets for both length and width. Mark these dimensions on the plywood piece and saw out.

STEP 7: Finishing Your Tray Bottom

Now that the tray bottom is fit it is best to finish before assembly and glue up of the tray. This keeps your finish neatly tucked into the rabbets you worked so hard to cut! If you choose a paper as your decorative finish a small amount of glue goes a long way. Gently smooth the paper to ensure an even finish and that the edges are held down nicely. Making the paper oversized and then trimming after the glue is dry gives the best fit. This is also a good time to prefinish the inside faces of your tray to make the finishing process easier later and protect the finish of the tray bottom.

STEP 8: Assembly Time!

Start with a dry run fitting the parts and clamping before moving on to clamping with glue. Unclamp and repeat the process adding glue. Check for square with the combo square in the corners of the tray to ensure clamping pressure is not skewing the tray out of square. Wipe away excess glue with a damp cloth. The box bottom does not need to be glued and can be held in place with small nails or pins.

STEP 9: Placing Dowels

This step can be omitted if you feel confident in your glue joints and would prefer the look without the details of the dowel. However, the dowel does offer extra glue surface inside the joint making it stronger! Mark where you would like the pilot hole in proportion to the dimensions chosen for your tray to be drilled to accept the dowel with your combination square. Now that your combination square is set you can mark the other three corners of the tray to match the first. Carefully drill the pilot holes roughly an inch deep with a bit slightly undersized from the width of your dowel while trying to keep the bitas straight as possible. Put a small amount of glue in the pilot hole and a small amount brushed on to the dowel. Gently tap the dowel into the pilot hole with your mallet. Cut the excess of the dowel off with a flush cut saw to be flush with your tray side.

STEP 10: Finishing Touches

More than likely sanding willbe needed depending on the finished look you are going for. If sanding is not for you, many hand tool enthusiasts choose a smoothing plane like a No. 4 to finish instead. A block plane is also great for flushing any surfaces. Next you can add stain, paint,or any other finishes for your desired look.

STEP 11: Enjoy

Whether the plan is to use or give the catch all tray as a gift, enjoy your finished project! Applaud yourself! You have just completed your catch all tray! Explore creative options in lumber choices, hand holds, shapes, sizes,and finishes. As you continue woodworking you will use these basic skills and starting tool set to create more complex projects.