This project was built and designed by Billy from Newton Makes. It’s a refined yet approachable woodworking project focused on building a walnut tray reinforced with maple splines—an elegant combination of function and fine joinery.
With its clean shape, soft curves, and contrasting accents, this tray is the kind of piece that’s useful around the home while showing off solid woodworking skills. Whether you’re organizing keys, serving drinks, or displaying décor, this build has both practicality and style.
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Designing the Tray
Billy begins by creating two separate templates—one for the long sides of the tray and one for the short sides. This approach allows for consistency during shaping and gives the tray a well-balanced form.
The design includes a subtle curve at the bottom edges, adding a graceful detail without overcomplicating the build. The templates are printed, glued to quarter-inch MDF, and then cut out on the bandsaw, leaving a small margin for sanding and refinement.
Milling and Prepping the Walnut
Walnut is selected for its rich grain and dark tone, ideal for a project like this where visual appeal matters. The stock is milled down to a thinner profile, giving the tray a sleek, lightweight feel instead of a chunky or overbuilt appearance.
After milling, each piece is cut to length and width based on the final design dimensions. The MDF templates are then attached to the walnut boards with double-sided tape so the shapes can be traced and cut precisely.
Making the Frame and Base
Once the pieces are rough-cut, the tray’s frame is shaped further and joined using miter joints. These joints offer a clean, seamless corner while also being structurally sound—especially when reinforced with splines later.
The base of the tray is cut from a thinner piece of walnut and sized to fit snugly into grooves routed along the tray’s interior sides. This method not only secures the base but keeps the tray lightweight and refined.
Adding Splines for Strength and Style
To strengthen the miter joints, Billy uses splines cut from maple—a contrasting hardwood that complements walnut beautifully. A custom jig is built for the table saw to safely and accurately cut the spline slots at each corner.
After the spline slots are cut, strips of maple are milled to match the groove thickness. These are glued into place and left to dry before being trimmed flush using a disc sander, which gives a clean, smooth finish across all corners.
The result is a visually appealing detail that also reinforces the structure of the tray. The light maple splines stand out against the darker walnut, subtly highlighting the joinery without overpowering the overall look.
Sanding and Surface Prep
Once the structural work is complete, the entire tray is sanded thoroughly. All faces, corners, and joints are softened with progressive grits, ensuring a smooth, tactile surface throughout.
Particular attention is given to rounding over the edges by hand, which gives the tray a finished look and removes any sharp corners. This step also enhances comfort when handling or carrying the tray.
Applying a Durable Finish
For the finish, Billy chooses Osmo Polyx-Oil, known for its protective qualities and ability to bring out wood grain with a low-sheen look. The oil is applied with a pad and buffed into the wood, then wiped back to remove excess and even out the surface.
This finish not only protects the tray from moisture and everyday use but also enhances the color and contrast between the walnut and maple. It brings out the depth of the grain without creating a glossy appearance.
Versatile and Gift-Worthy
The finished tray is a compact, elegant piece that can be used in any room of the house. It’s just the right size for keys, coins, drinks, or even serving snacks, and it looks great on a shelf, coffee table, or countertop.
For woodworkers looking to refine their skills, this project is a great exercise in precision joinery, shape templating, and finishing technique. It’s also a project that can easily be adapted in size or material for custom requests or small batch production.
A Great Project for Skill Building
Billy’s build shows how a small woodworking project can still involve thoughtful design, careful prep, and detailed execution. From shaping custom templates to reinforcing miters with splines, this tray is a compact lesson in making something simple look sharp.
Whether you’re building it for yourself or as a handmade gift, the walnut spline tray is a fun challenge that produces a finished piece worth keeping.
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