Encoded Serving Tray

In 2018 I made a serving tray as a wedding present for two friends. The sides and handles of the tray are made from poplar and finished with polyurethane. The bottom is made out of birch plywood and the interior inlay is alternating birch and black walnut with a brass core and a poured epoxy resin coating.

  • Personal Project
  • Woodworking
  • Digital Manufacturing
  • Serving Tray
  • Design Challenge
  • The design carries a hidden meaning. Each slice has an integer multiple of a unit width. The dark slices correspond to that multiple of ones and the light slices to zeros. If you convert the binary string into 8-bit ASCII characters, it spells out the names of the couple to whom the gift was given.
  • Project Scope
  • This was a project that I conceived of and executed on fully, including the design ideation, the woodworking, and the presentation.
This was a project imbued with many layers of meaning for me.

It was a gift for people I care about dearly, a chance to exercise and develop my own blend of digital and analog woodworking tools, and it makes for a good portfolio project.

  • Target UserMy dear friends
  • Type of WorkDigital manufacturing, woodworking, puzzle design
  • Tools UsedIllustrator, Laser Cutter, Woodworking Tools
  • LocationProvidence, RI
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