Decorative Hexagonal Wood Serving Tray

This is a hexagonal decorative wood tray made from (2) cedar fence pickets with parts cut to 30 degree miters & bevels. It can be used as a decoration or a functional serving tray indoors or outdoors.

Fusion 360

Cedar fence pickets

Brad nails

Wood glue

Miter saw

Table saw

Ruler

Safety goggles

The tray is 8" from the center to the outside making it 16" x 16" in width and 3" height.

I started out by designing the tray in Fusion 360. I used the Inscribed Polygon feature to draw on the X Y plane.

From the center I specified 8" and 6 sides. This gave me a polygon shape that I wanted. Next, I used the Offset tool to make the frame parts. The cedar picket is 1/2" so I used -.5 to draw the inside part of the frame.

I extruded the frame to 3" to create the outside frame. Since I will be cutting all of the parts to a 30 degree miter I skipped drawing them as separate parts. They will all measure 9.238". Keep in mind the kerf of the blade that you will be cutting with. The standard blade kerf is .125" or 1/8". This will bring the final size to approximately 9.25"

Next I I drew out the back support parts first that will hold the "bottom" of the tray in place when assembled. All miters are cut to 30 degrees. There are 3 support parts on the top, middle and bottom. I drew these out and then extruded them to .5" as new bodies.

Next, I drew out the geometric slats that will sit on top of the support parts attached to the frame. You can make the shape any way you want. I made mine a mix of 2" and 2.5" in width. The length will vary depending on how wide your frame is. All of these were then extruded to .5" as separate bodies.

The next step is to create a drawing from your Fusion 360 design. This is a great feature built into Fusion 360 and makes it easy to get your measurements. I created 3 base views of the top, bottom, the slats only and an isometric shaded view. We'll use this for our cut list on the miter saw.

Next we'll assemble a cut list. I use the free version of optiCutterr to get my cut list.

https://www.opticutter.com/cut-list-optimizer/result#form

According to the drawing that was created by Fusion 360 our cut list will look like this:

Outer frame A

(6) 9.25" x 3" (the ends are cut to a 30 degree BEVEL vertically)

All of the following parts are cut 30 degree MITER horizontally:

Back supports B & C

(2) 11.25" x 2.5" B

(2) 17.25" x 2.5" C

Slats D****These need to be cut on a reverse miter on each end

(4) 8.5" x 2"

*Can be trimmed as needed since there is space between the slats

Right slats E, F, G

(1) 16.825" x 2.5" E

(1) 14" x 2.5" F

(1) 11" x 2.5" G

Upper slats H,I

(1) 7.75" x 2.5"

(1) 5.325" x 2.5"

Triangle keystone J

(1) 3.5" x 3.5" x 3.5" triangle

These are just suggested sizes. You can increase or decrease the sizes to create your own unique pattern.

Next we'll go to our table saw to rip our parts for assembly. We'll need to rip both boards at 3" to get the frame parts. Because of the size of the stock material and the parts, it's hard to reduce the number of cuts. This is the best that I could get.

First, use the miter saw to make a straight cut on the first board at 42". This will allow you to rip the board at 3" to get B, C, E, F & G parts and leave the end for a frame part, D, H & I.

Cut the 2nd board at 46.25". This will allow you to rip the rest of the frame parts and the cut off end for the rest.

Set your table saw fence at 3" and rip the two boards. You might have to trim off the edges to make them 2.5" if they are not. Some cedar pickets vary in size so you may not have to do this.

Cut the BEVELS

Set your miter saw to a 30 angle to cut the outside frame parts on a 30 BEVEL cut from the ripped board 1.

Cut (6) of the frame parts on both ends with a 30 degree bevel

Do the same with board 2.

CUT THE MITERS

Now take the cut off ends of both boards and use miter saw or table saw to make 30 DEGREE MITER cuts for the rest of the parts.

Set the miter saw to cut a 30 degree miter on the ends of the rest of the parts. Follow the cut list and cut your boards to cut on the longest measurement at 30 degrees.

You will end up with (6) outer frame parts with 30 bevels, (3) back support parts with 30 degree miters, (10) decorative slats cut with 30 degree miters

Start with the support parts B & C and attach them to the outer frame A with glue and brad nails. Use caution when putting these parts together. Holding the angles in place with your hand makes it tricky when trying to nail them together. When you finish you'll end up with a hexagon with the backing support slats.

Now start with the slat parts D, E , F, G, H, I and the final keystone triangle! Lay the parts out to make up the geometric pattern. Attach them to the bottom support slats with glue and 1 1/4" brad nails.