Reply To: Pen Tray
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Using a gouge and a lot of care and skill, as others have said, would seem to be the simplest way of acheiving that exact design.
For the sake of suggesting something different, you could try using a round moulding plane to run nice straight channels in a block of wood, then cap the ends, perhaps with a contrasting wood, and you’d only have to freehand carve the little half hemisphere in these capping blocks. Or you could leave it as a square termination, or maybe just leave the channels open. I guess dowels would be the best way to attach the end caps, and you’d probably want all that dry fitted and planed before cutting the channels.
One detail from your first post that might have been overlooked – 15 channels seems like turning into a rather large tray, I’d guess at least 12″ (30cm). To make this with the ideal grain direction for cutting channels would require a 12″ board or a glue up, and you’d have to accept a high likelihood of wood movement leaving the tray bowed eventually. Plus fifteen straight, freehand-carved channels is a lot of work. Have you considered making the Dovetail Box from the video series on this site instead?
Matt