Custom Blank Tray: CNC Laser Cut Plywood
CNCROi.com makes custom trays of all types, including my custom blank tray as we are not just a provider but also our own customer as it allows us to maintain an efficient work environment and shop.
I got my beginning in the custom fabrication world by designing for machines I didn’t know existed at CNCKing.com, much less thought I’d ever run a shop with a bunch of said machines.
The material of choice for all these projects was generally plywood, so that’s how I got comfortable designing and modeling using this widely available material.
So as you see, before I ever got to this point today, I had a long term pre-existing passion to do what I do today anyways, I’m just lucky enough to have my hobby and business being one and the same.
The photos and video of this custom blank tray you see laser cutting was actually done a few years ago, it was shortly after actually getting my laser machine, and since then, up until a few days ago, I never actually had to glue it together!
It might sound counter-intuitive to make a tray that doesn’t need glue but a proper design really doesn’t need glue for light use, the reason why I decided to finally glue this tray is because it was going to be used to hold something with a higher monetary value and it was time to bite the bullet and whip out the glue bottle just to make sure that it never broke apart carrying a heavier load at CNCROi.com.
Most of my designs involve interlocking parts, and as such, this alone holds everything together incredibly well, especially when you consider that no nails or screws are required, just a light application of glue.
Looking at these photos, I’m amazing at how clean my machine looks, I had just started CNCROi.com so there wasn’t many hours on this machine yet, my machine is still relatively clean, it’s just years of stains start to build-up but it’s still a fantastic machine even after cleaning in on a regular maintenance schedule.
The reason for masking this plywood way back when, something I still do to this day at CNCROi.com, is to make sure that no stains appear on the surface of the plywood, unlike hardwood or softwood, plywood has a thin veneer that’s easily sanded off if there are any stains.
If you are wondering just how much is possible using just plywood design wise, literally anything is possible, including my wooden big wheels which I CNC routered out on my smaller ShopBot Desktop over the course of a weekend when I lived in Perth, Australia!
I had to hang it on my exercise equipment because otherwise, it just weighed too much to lift it up while I discussed how I designed it, a few hours later, I left it at the street corner and it dissipated quickly thereafter as I was moving back to North America and had nowhere to put it.
Interlocking is an incredibly strong and durable build method, it’s actually how most houses and temples are made in Asia as they didn’t have traditional nails or modern screws when they were made!
These pictures show how the custom blank tray looked like a few years ago before it was used, nice and clean and in tip top shape!
Below is a picture of what I used before I had designed and built the custom blank tray, it was messy and inefficient, as my blank anodized aluminium business card blanks look today, and it just happens to be a perfect fit.
Regardless, the custom blank tray worked great to separate and hold various samples I use to produce and mail out… I’m probably due to do another mailing out as I haven’t done one for years to larger companies across North America.
After a few years of use, taking this custom blank tray apart was easy, remember, no glue or nails to contend with, but you can see how it wasn’t shiny and new anymore.
So all that was required were a few dabs of glue to give it a new purpose in life and it looks just as perfect utility wise as the first time this custom blank tray was fabricated all those years ago.
Need something custom fabricated? Any material, size or shape, contact CNCROi.com right now!