Photo 13- Fitting splines into the corner joints.

To make splines to fit the grooves in the corners, first rip out thin pieces at the table saw, the thickness of which fits the grooves snugly. Next use a saw and a chisel to cut out small triangles to fit in the joints, as in photo 13. Make the splines such that the grain of the splines runs perpendicular to the line of the miters, not parallel to it.

Photo 13B- Blowup photo of the joint. Custom fit the splines to fit in the grooves.

So that there is as much room for the splines in the corners as possible, cut off the corners of the bottom as in photo 14. With those out of the way, you can make the splines wider for a stronger joint.

Photo 14- You'll need to chop off the corners of the bottom to make way for the splines. Rub a little wax on the corners after they are cut and you have dry fitted the tray, to be sure that the glue will not grab the bottom corners. The bottom needs to be able to move with moisture variations, so can't be glued in place.

Dry fit each of the joints to be sure that the splines are not so large that they prevent the joint from coming together, and trim them as necessary. Glue up the tray as in photo 15. Don't use metal clamps- use thin nylon string. Bar clamps will dent the lower edge of the sides, and you can't place them onto the curve of the sides to close up the joints at the top. By wrapping string around the piece as shown, the tops of the joints will come together. More loops equals more pressure, but you only need enough to make the joints meet.

Photo 15- Nylon string is slightly elastic and so stretches enough to provide some pressure for pulling together parts like this. Several wrappings should be enough to pull the joints together. After the string is on, shift the joints by hand for best alignment, then leave it to dry.

Once out of clamps sand the sides smooth and round the joints a bit. A wipe-on oil finish looks very nice on a small article like this, but doesn't provide much protection against moisture. If you plan to get the tray wet with a lot of bubbly, use a satin polyurethane varnish to protect it well.

Resources For Making A Serving Tray