DIY Bathtub Tray

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In a previous post, I showed off some pictures of the basement workshop in my new house. To test out my new set-up, I did the inaugural bit of woodworking last weekend.

The new house has a whirlpool in the main bathroom. We laughed at first at how outdated a jacuzzi is, but the wife likes the fact that it has a high basin, fills deeply with water, and reclines back to the wall. So for a Valentine’s Day gift, I made her a bathtub tray so she can soak in the tub with a glass of wine while watching Downton Abbey on her tablet.

I didn’t think to take pictures of the build because it was so simple. Plus, anyone who builds a tray like this will have to adapt it to the measurements of his/her bathtub.

All I did was buy a 1″ x 12″ x 4′ piece of pine. I measured the width of the bathtub. That gave me the maximum length to cut my board. I subtracted a little so that the edge wouldn’t butt against the wall. Then I measured where to attach the guides so that the board would slide up and down the bathtub rim without rocking or wobbling.

You could just screw the guides onto the board and be done with it, but I wanted to make it a little nicer. I used the lip of a shot glass to round the corners of the tray before cutting them off with a jigsaw. Next, I cut a hole in the center to act as a handle (and to add a little ornamentation). Then I routed a curve on all of the edges. Finally, I glued and screwed the guides onto the bottom, sanded it, and presented it to the wife.

Here’s how it turned out:

I remembered to brand it:

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You can see how smoothly it glides backwards and forwards:

I planned to paint it white to match the tub, but she liked the natural wood color. If I had known that she wanted to go with a natural look, I would have built it out of cedar or teak. Instead, I just put on a few coats of polyurethane (after these pictures) to protect it from moisture.

I tried to get an action shot of her using it while taking a bath, but I was sharply rebuked.

DIY Bathtub Tray
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