About a year ago, a club member mentioned that Michael’s was selling a wooden tray about the same size as a T-TRAK “single” module. We were in the middle of our busy season (both personally, and with the club), so I didn’t have a chance to go searching for one at the time. Earlier this year, I remembered once or twice, but the one I happened to be visiting on any given day was out of stock. That finally changed yesterday!
After getting smart and confirming on their website that they had them in-stock before heading out, I happened upon a pair of the wooden trays and quickly snatched them up.
First impressions are that they are extremely light. The wood isn’t very thick, and I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how durable they’re going to be. I’m still willing to give them a shot, especially at the $7.99 price point, but I won’t be too surprised if they get a bit banged up in the first couple of shows. I think there’s some simple reinforcement I can do, and I’ll try to cover that in more detail as I go.
The first step was laying on a coat of black spray paint just to see how it would adhere. I generally don’t have any issues with unfinished wood surfaces, but took the opportunity to get a quick base coat on. It turned out as I expected, no issues to note.
I then took to my sandpaper, and using 100 grit followed by 220 grit (the two I happened to have laying around), I sanded all the edges. I wasn’t really worried about splinters, but wanted to ensure I had a smooth surface, especially around the bottom edge, as these would be handled quite a bit during setup and teardown.
To be continued..