I wanted to make something that would feature a nice pen or pencil on a desk, I settled on a tray with a nice concave dish to it.

After processing some scrap walnut to 48mm x 28mm  or 1 7/8″ x 1 1/8″ keeping in mind that the router bit needs to fit within the width plus a little extra. So adjust as needed.

I used the edge of my bench and some box tubing as a guide spaced exactly as wide as my router, I then found the center and attached the work piece to the middle of the a scrap base. 

Attache the base to the work surface so that it’s not going to move when we start routing.

NOTE: Make sure that when you are attaching the work piece to the base that your screws are no where near when the router bit will be!

My router was loaded up with a 1-3/4-Inch bowl bit that I bought off of Amazon. 

Mark the length of the pencil or pen + a little extra. I wanted about an inch past the length of my pencil  to where the radius of the bit would begin. For me that was or 21cm or 8 1/4″.

I then began to make some light passes stopping at my lines and making sure to take my time. I went about as the full cutting depth of my bit.

After removing the work piece from the base I cut it to length matching the edge thickness as best as I could to the ends.

Now you could stop here but I felt like I was on a roll with the roundness of this thing. So I headed over to the old rusty and dusty belt sander to match the radius on the ends.

And now it’s time to sand! I worked my way up from 100 to 400 grit hand sanding the inside.

For a finish I used my trusty Tung Oil.

I hope you enjoyed this project, I know it was fun to make. I think this would look amazing if you had some very figured woods.

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Author

My name is Adam Patterson and I am located in Canada. By day, I am a full-time web developer, but in my spare time, I love to make stuff. In my videos, you will find a variety of woodworking projects that I have created out of recycled and found materials. As a father and mountain biker, I enjoy spending time outdoors and capturing my adventures through photography.

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