I haven't posted any projects lately because I have been working on a snack tray cabinet.  It's from the December 2008 issue of Woodsmith Magazine.  First appearance of the project looks like a small cabinet that would go by the end of a sofa, for example.  It looks like it has five drawers, but it actually only has 1 drawer 4 fold up smack trays that inhabit the other four "drawer" slots.  In the magazine, it was made from cherry, but I made it from red oak.  I used red oak because that is what my wife wanted.  I never got started on it before she passed, but I decided to honor her wishes anyway.  I used two different stains on it, Minwax Golden Pecan, and Minwax Honey Maple gel stain.  I wanted to experiment with the gel stain to see if I liked it.  The jury is still out.  I also tried some gel polyurethane, with the same resulting opinion.  The colors of the two stains were almost identical.  I didn't want a heavy stain, just light tint to match the coffee table I made from red oak several years ago.

 

 

This is the cabinet as it will normally look.

 

This is showing the one drawer pulled out.

 

 

And this shows one of the snack trays opened up, with the other three partially extended from the cabinet.

 

 

Love it.  Cool project.

That is an awesome table with a table inside.  Thanks for showing that.  Great job.  And, a great honor to her. 

Great job! I am sure she is smiling down giving it a thumbs up.

I like that a lot, such a piece would be useful for us. I don't remember seeing it in Woodsmith, I'll have to go look again. You really did a nice job on it. The color turned out really well also (IMHO).

That's a great idea and, very well executed! 

Really great Tom

Ya done good Tom. A great way to honor your wife's wishes and I'm sure she's pleased. They look far sturdier then most that I've seen. Unique project and 1st time I've seen this. Which issue was this if it isn't a problem?

Really like the snack tray cabinet!!

Great job!!

30 minutes ago, sreilly24590 said:

Which issue was this if it isn't a problem?

It was from the December 2008 issue.  The plan number is WS18020.

Now, my next project is to clean up from this one.  Hopefully, it won't take quite as long.

Most excellent Tom. Very well done sir...very well done! Thanks for sharing the project and even more so the personal story behind the build.

That's a great idea and, very well executed! 

What an ingenious idea! I'm certain your wife is smiling.

Great build and thanks for the back story. Always good to remember promises.

Thanks to all for the kind words and encouragement.  I consider many of you much more advanced in the craft, and to get your approval is really heartening.  Thanks again.

Nice work, looks very professional!

This is a great idea, well executed and the reason behind it makes it one of the best things I have seen in a long time.

Thank you for sharing this!!

How the heck did I miss this! What a wonderful project and what great way to honor your wife Tom. I am amazed at the amount of work that went into this, each tray in itself was a project!