Ashtray and Matchbox Holder

This will make a fine present for the house and the illustration shows its usefulness. Although you have probably a number of ashtrays in your home, one that you have made yourself will be very welcome.

You will need a piece of hard wood, cut to 5 in. square, and this should be about I in. deep. There will also be two further pieces, one for the matchbox and another for the centre piece of the ashtray. First, cut out the 5 in. square and bevel the edges and corners, as shown, using a fret-saw. Then scribe a 3 ½ in. diameter circle with a pencil compass in the centre of the wooden square. Now carefully cut round this circle, using a very sharp penknife and gouge out to the maximum depth of ½ in. See that the sides are bevelled as shown in the diagram and get the surface as smooth as possible. Make three ½ in. recesses, one at each other of the square, ¼ in. in depth, and a half circle. These recesses can be made with a penknife and should be well sandpapered so that the edges are rounded and smooth.

We will now make the stand for the matchbox. This is a piece of wood measuring I 3/8 in. wide, 9/16 in. deep and I in. in length. Sandpaper this wood until smooth and gum the bottom of it and place at the corner of the ashtray, as shown in the diagram. It is ready to receive the box of the matches placed on top, as illustrated.

There now remains one other part to complete the construction of the ashtray, and that is the useful rounded shape in the centre of the sunken circle, for knocking out pipes. This is made from a golf ball cut in two and gummed to the centre. If a golf ball is not procurable, cut an ordinary wooden in half and fix this in place.

Give the ashtray a good sandpapering so that it is very smooth and paint this a suitable colour, using household paints. When your paint is quite dry, varnish all over so that the finished effect will be glossy and bright. This will make a very attractive and practical ornament for the table and will give many years of use.