Build a Bath Tray

1. Introduction: Hello, and welcome to another beginning Woodworking class. Today, we've got a quick and easy project you can complete in just a few hours with minimal tools and materials. I'm SoCal Woodgal, and I'm a creator in Sonny Los Angeles. I've been building and crafting wooden objects large and small for over a decade, and I am obsessed with passing on my love of carpentry through accessible, fun, and engaging classes that will help you tackle whatever project you dream of. I've been featured in Family Handyman for my O woman kitchen remodel, and I've been teaching on Skillshare since 2019. I hope you'll join me on a journey of empowerment and skill building as we create what we've imagined project by project. In this basics of woodworking class, we'll create a bathtub tray from start to finish. We'll cover an overview, design, materials and supplies needed, making our cuts, assembly, finishing, and final thoughts. This class is aimed at students with the beginning understanding of woodworking. Access and experience using tools is always helpful, but not required. Some basic tools are necessary. Eye, ear and lung protection, sander, or sandpaper, gloves, paintbrush, or sponge brush, cloth or shop towel, mitr, circular, jig, or handsaw, drill, drill bits, nailer, or hammer and nail, and glue. For our wood, we're using maple because it's available at the big box store, and is one of the cheaper hardwoods and is moisture resistant. So, without further ado, let's get started. 2. Overview: Flex warning. Yeah. I recently finished a complete gut job remodel of our guest bathroom, and the star of the room is most definitely the soaker tub I put in. I replaced an old baby blue cast iron tub that I hated, and now the sweet siren call of long luxurious soaks calls to me. One problem. I like to read in the bath. And as anyone who is never far from their current story, like me, can tell you, attempting to hold your book out of the water is a futile move. I've seen these bath trays at different home stores, but it got me thinking. I could probably make that and make it better. H. There are a lot of options you have with bath trays. You can do a single plank of wood and keep it super simple, or treat it like a serving tray and place handles up top. You could route out holders for your mug or wine glass. You could paint it, stain it, or just keep it natural with only a protective coat. This is why woodworking is one of the best creative hobbies. You get to make it how you want it. Up next, we'll design this tray to fit the space. 3. Design: Abated for a while how I wanted this tray to look. But of utmost importance, was a place to lean my book or e reader against. I've seen some store bought trays that have a wire frame, but in my opinion, that's ugly. So I needed to figure out a way to integrate a book rest into the build. I also wanted to be able to fold it out of the way so that it's easier to store when bathtme is over. A hinge is the answer. Before I went further, I made a prototype out of scrapwood to test the folding mechanism which showed me where I would need to place the hinge. I always suggest doing this when you're not sure how a method is going to work. Work the kinks out now, not on your nice hardwood later. Next, I measured my bathtub width. I come in at about 28 and three quarter inches. I also took note of the fact that I have a very tiny ledge on the left side, around five eighths. This means I'm going to design the legs of the tray, which is what will rest against the ledges with something that will stop up against the inside of the right ledge. This will ensure my left side doesn't slide off the ledge. Think I'd like to cut out a curve, but you could also just place the sides to butt up right against the insides of the tub. I measured the inside width of the bathtub, which was 24 and a quarter inches. I also placed a book in the area and a cup to figure out how deep I might want the tray. 8 " seems to me to be a good fit for my space. On by twos are common boards, so I'm going to make my legs and sides from one by twos, which, if you'll remember, is actually three quarter inch thick by 1.5 " wide. For ease of building, I'm going to do slats at the bottom that attach to the legs rather than setting them to the inside. This means we'll make the slat 7.25 " long and around 1.5 " wide. I'd like the book rest to fold into the inside of the tray. So I'm going to take the width of the tray at 8 " and subtract the width of each leg at three quarter inches each, which totals 1.5 ". Eight -1.5 is 6.5 ". We'll make the book rest a bit less than that for hinge clearance and have it be 6 " wide by 6.25 long. Let's go over our final measurements. Two legs at one by two by 28 and three quarter inches, two size at one by two by 6.5 ", which is the depth of the tray minus the thickness of the two legs. Next, we have a book rest at six by 6.25. Finally, we have slats at 7.25 " long by 1.5 " wide. For the slats, I don't want the full thickness of a one by two, so I'm going to do one of the following. Do whatever you have available to you. To keep the whole construction in maple. My store doesn't carry quarter inch thick, so I can get a one by eight and cut off quarter inch slivers. This means that the en grain will be face up and that can be problematic for staining and is going to vary slightly from the appearance of the rest of the tray, but it is an option. This also means that each slat will only be three quarter inch wide rather than the 1.5 I've designed. Second option is to just buy quarter inch thick poplar or oak, which is available at my store and choose pieces that look the closest to the maple wood. Both poplar and oak are going to be somewhat water resistant as well. Of course, if you have a tablesaw, you can just rip cut a one by 2.5, so that's an option as well. Next up, let's go on a supply run. 4. Materials: Time to gather all our materials and supplies. We'll start with the tools. The best saw for this job is ator saw. You knew I was going to say that. But you can also use a handsaw, jigsaw, or circular saw. Check out my other class if you need some guidance on making cuts with those other saws. I'll also be using a jigsaw to cut out that curve on the legs. Drill and drill bit to match the size of screw your hinge needs, Sander or sandpaper, rafter, or angle square, and optional brad nailer or hammer and nails, and wood glue. For your wood, I recommend maple for its price and water resistance, but you could also use oak, birch, or even popular if you plan on putting a strong protective coat on top. If you have access to mahogany or cherry, that would work as well. Ideally, we'd use bamboo, ortiqu, but that would require a hardwood lumber store, and I'd like to make this project as accessible to you as possible. So we're sourcing what is readily available at the local big box store. Hardwood is generally sold by the linear foot, and we need six feet of one by two. This will take care of the legs and the sides. We'll also either buy 1 ft of one by eight maple, which will take care of the book rest and the slats if we're choosing the ingrain sliver method. Otherwise, get 6 " of one by eight maple for the book rest. For the slats, get eight feet of quarter inch thick by two poplar or oak. Or if you'll be using a tablesaw to rip that one by two for the slats, get another one by two at four feet long. Finally, grab your glue and a small hinge around 1.5 ". Also some adhesive bat felt that will place under the legs to keep the wood from scratching the tub. 5. Cuts: Fore you cut, please follow all safety guidance. Cover your eyes, ears, and mouth and pull back any long hair. Pull out your one by two. First, we're going to cut our legs. We'll cut two of them at 28 and three quarter inches long. Next, we'll cut our sides. Cut two at 6.5 " long. Now we'll cut our book rest. Take your one by eight and cut the length at 6 ". Then rotate the wood width wise and cut it at 6.25 ". Finally, our slats, I'll outline all three methods here. Option one, the tablesaw. Only do this if you're experienced with a tablesaw. You have to remove the blade guard and kickback pales in order to get the sled far enough over, so it's a bit more dangerous. To rip cut a one by two, take your board and mark it at exactly three eighths on the board thickness, not the width. This is bisecting the three quarter inch thickness. Line this up with the tablesaw, with the blade hitting exactly on the line. Make sure the blade is raised high enough to cut through the full width of the wood. Pass it through carefully using a push stick. Take your slightly less than three eights thick one by twos and cut 13 slats at 7.25 " long each. Option two, if you're using quarter inch wood, simply mark 7.25 " lengthwise, make your cut, and repeat it for a total of 13 slats. If you had to buy it in two, four foot lengths instead of the full eight foot, you won't have enough for 13, cut 12 and we'll add some spacing when assembling. Option three. If you're using the en grain of the one by eight, take your one by eight and cut off around 23 slivers at a quarter inch thick each. Finally, cut your curves on the legs. For my left side, I'm going to mark five eighths over. If you'll remember, that's the thin ledge I need the leg to rest on, and I'm just going to gently curve it to the bottom of the leg. I'll start 1 " down from the top and I'll cut this with my jigsaw. Mark this on the parallel leg and cut out. For the right side, I know I need the bottom of the leg to reach 24 and a quarter, which is the interior of the bathtub. I'll measure 24 and a quarter over from the end of my left cut, where the curve ends at the bottom. I'm going to cut a bit to the inside of this so there's some clearance for the tub and error. This mark is where I'll start my curve up to the end of the leg. Again, your cut, 1 " down from the top of the leg. Now, do a quick check at the tub to make sure this will work, then transfer the mark to the other leg and cut it out as before. This piece is already coming together. Next, we get to my favorite part, assembly. 6. Assembly: All right, you've got your components, the legs, the sides, and the slats. Now to put them all together. Before doing anything, we'll go ahead and sand all of our pieces because once it's assembled, this becomes much more difficult. Sand and graduated grit, starting at around 90, then 120, and finished with 200. Give them a quick wipe down before assembling. First, place your front and back leg parallel to one another, making sure to mirror your curve cutouts. It'll look a bit like a sled. Now, place your sides just to the inside of where your curve terminates at the bottom of each leg. For the left side, it'll be about five eighths over. For the right, it'll be about four and one eighth over from the right end of the leg. Mark where the wood sits on the legs. Now glue each end of a side, as well as where it will sit in between your markings on the legs. Place the sides one at a time. We'll nail one before moving to the next. Clamp the other end with a side in between the legs to keep it stable while you nail the first side. If you're using a hammer a nail, I highly recommend pre drilling a small hole before nailing it in. It really helps get the nail started so you don't move the wood around too much when you hammer. I also recommend thinner nails, especially if you're using hard wood. It's quite difficult to nail in. Drill one near the top and one near the bottom. Drill all the way through the leg and slightly into the side to give the nail the best pathway forward. Nail in finishing nails. If using a brad nailer, just shoot the nails in one by one. I suggest one in a quarter length nails. Now do the same for the other side, gluing, thin nailing. Now is a great time to go test the fit, making sure the sides are far enough to the inside that the tray can rest on the ledges of your tub. Now we're going to place the slats. I've calculated for about a quarter inch gap between each slat, no matter if you're doing the edge grain pieces or the 1.5 width pieces. Having a scrap piece of wood that is a quarter inch thick to place between each slat as you nail will help keep accurate gaps and consistency. Find one in your scrap pile or use one of your quarter inch thick slats as the spacer, if that's what you have on hand. Place your first slat with a quarter spacer in between the slat and the side. Place a bit of glue on top of where it'll land on the leg. Then hammer and nail after pre drilling or brad nail it in. For these, I suggest three quarter inch long nails. If you're using the three quarter with edge grain slats, just place one nail at top and one at bottom. If you're using the 1.5 inch slats, do two up top and two at bottom. Proceed down the line with each slat, placing the spacer between as you go. If you have 13 slats, you'll overlap the last one a bit on the final side when you reach the end. If you have 12, like I do, randomly increase the gap from the original quarter inch to three eighths in four different spots on the line. This will leave you with the same quarter inch gap at the end as what you started with. Clean up your excess glue. Finally, we'll install the book rest. Place your hinge in the center of the back leg with the center pin at the top of the leg. Pre drill your holes, then screw in. Make sure this is on the back leg. Make a mark exactly in the center of the book rest at 3 ". We're using the six inch width side. The 6.25 is the vertical length of the rest. Lay the book rest flat against the leg, making sure the center mark bisects your hinge. If you put a bit of a gap between the book rest and the leg, the rest will lean back a bit rather than stand vertically. Up to you. Pre drill and screw in. Check the movement for binding and make any adjustments as needed. And that's it. This is super easy, right? Next, we'll finish this bad boy. 7. Finishing: If you like, you can fill any holes with wood filler, but be aware that most wood filler will not take stain evenly. Give your tray a final sand anywhere it's needed. Give it a good wipe down with a damp cloth or a tack cloth. Remove the hinge from the tray and book rest. You'll reinstall it later. Clean your workspace well so no particles get into your finish. Now, to finish, you have choices. You can paint it, you can stain it, or you can leave it all natural with just a protective finish. It's up to you. For a thorough overview of finishing, I suggest my finishing class to get into all the gritty details. For mine, I'm going to keep it natural, but I'll be using Shalak for a strong protective finish. If you're painting or staining, be sure to cover it with several coats of polyurethane or salac. You could even draw and paint a little design on your book rest if you like. I had a little bit of fun and did some wood burning on mine. I'm going to give all my wood a good wipe down with mineral spirits first to help with an even absorption of the shalac. Then I'm going to give it three coats with the recommended dry time between each coat. After that's dry, I'll reinstall the book rest. Lastly, you can place felt pads under the legs, so the wood doesn't scratch your tub. S. 8. FinalThoughts: Ooh. Look at you. Now you know exactly how to build your very own bathtub tray. Congratulations. That was super fun, right? I encourage you to keep on building up your woodshop and your skills. The more you do, the more you learn, and the more confident you'll be with each project you take on. Most importantly, post a picture of your finished project here. I love to see what you've made, and how you made it your very own. Lastly, if you enjoyed this class, would you consider leaving a review? Reviews let me know that you like this class, and it also helps new students to find it. Thank you for watching. I love that we get to make projects together, build by build. Now, I think it's time for a long soak. I earned it. O