Wooden Tea Box and Tray

Role: Solo project, concept through design and fabrication

Skills: Fine woodworking, wood layout, dado joints, stopped housing joints, mitered corner joints, cut rabbit edges, grain matching

The box, an exploration into crafting with wood and techniques to highlight the material, is made of a single piece of walnut cut so that the grain pattern wraps each of the corners. The top and bottom are made of planned cherry wood, polished to bring out the grain and held in place with dado joints. The walnut inserts that divide the compartments of the box make use of stopped housing joints for clean connections. 

The box is designed to hold everything need to share a pot of tea except the hot water itself. Cups, a pot, a server and a canister of tea nestle in the compartments and the lid turns into a tray for serving.