How a Failed Snack Tray Became One of Our Favorite Ways to Sort Building Blocks

Sometimes the best ideas in our shop aren't really ideas at all — at least not at first.

A few years ago, we designed a wooden tray that we thought might work well for entertaining. The idea was basically a small charcuterie or snack tray with several separate pockets where you could lay out different foods during a BBQ or get-together.

We made a few, tried them out...and quickly realized they weren't all that great for what we designed them to do.

The pockets were easy to fill, especially when you're hosting a group of people, and the whole idea just didn't work quite as well as we'd pictured it in our heads.

So, like plenty of other ideas we've experimented with over the years, the trays went on the shelf.

Turns out, we had just designed them for the wrong thing.

The problem was sitting at our dining room table

Fast forward a little while and our kids were getting to the age where they were really starting to get into building sets.

Like a lot of families, we'd sit down at the dining room table, open up a bag of blocks and dump everything out.

And immediately, pieces would go everywhere.

We have a hardwood dining table, so little plastic pieces would hit the table, bounce, roll around and inevitably end up somewhere they weren't supposed to be. We really just needed something that would contain everything while we built.

Then one day, after doing this yet again, I remembered that abandoned "charcuterie" tray sitting in our inventory.

I grabbed it, brought it over to the table and dumped the blocks into it.

It instantly clicked.

Not only did the tray keep the pieces from bouncing all over the table — we suddenly had six separate pockets.

Instead of one giant pile of pieces, we could actually sort them.

Sorting doesn't have to be complicated

At first, keeping the pieces contained was really the entire goal. But once we started using the different pockets, we realized how useful they were for organizing a build.

You can sort by color. You can separate larger pieces from smaller ones. You can group pieces by function or keep unusual components off to the side.

There's no "correct" way to do it.

Our kids are still young, so I'm not going to pretend they're sitting at the table developing some elaborate parts-classification system. Half the fun now is when we're about to open a new set and one of them asks:

"Should I get the tray?"

That's when we know we're settling in for a build.

Do you need to sort every bag?

Definitely not.

One thing that's made building sets easier these days is that many larger sets divide the pieces into numbered bags or stages. We usually open one bag, dump it into the tray, organize things enough to make the build easier, and finish that stage before opening another bag.

For a smaller or moderate build, four or six sorting areas can be plenty.

Even with a more complicated set, you can use the pockets for the pieces that are hardest to find while leaving the more obvious blocks together.

And when we're done for the day, we usually try to finish whatever bag we're working on before stopping.

Our trays aren't really designed as permanent block storage. There's no lid, so while you can leave a project in one overnight, you'll want to put it somewhere safe.

They're really a workspace for active building.

From one little tray to some very big ones

After realizing how well that original tray worked, I went back into the shop and started playing with the design.

Within the next week, I had made a few different versions and we put them online.

They started gaining traction.

And then something happened that we hadn't really anticipated: people weren't only using them for building blocks.

We started hearing from customers using the different compartments for beads, model building, electronics projects and other hobbies involving lots of small parts.

That was when we realized the basic idea was bigger than our original use for it:

Give people a comfortable workspace with enough separate areas to organize the pieces they're actively using.

We'll probably have to write another post about some of the uses people have found for them, because there have been quite a few.

How big of a sorting tray do you actually need?

Eventually, a customer reached out asking if we could make an entire sorting table.

We loved the idea. Shipping one economically was another story.

But that request got us thinking:

What if we made a much larger version of the tray instead?

That's ultimately what led to our largest sorting trays, and later we added a mid-size XL version to bridge the gap.

We've learned that the right size really depends on how you like to build.

Our smaller four- and six-pocket trays are great for shorter sessions and small-to-moderate builds. Since many sets are already separated into stages, there's still plenty of room to organize the pieces you're currently working with.

The larger trays make more sense when you really want to get into the weeds.

Once a build starts including axle components, specialty printed pieces, fabric, sails or other unusual parts, having more space and more sorting areas becomes useful.

There's also a difference between:

"We're going to build for an hour or two."

and

"Nobody is leaving this table until this thing is finished."

We make trays for both kinds of days.

Sometimes the wrong idea just needs the right problem

It's funny to look back at that original tray now.

As a snack tray?

Not our finest product idea.

It sat on a shelf because we thought the design hadn't worked.

Really, we just hadn't found the problem it was supposed to solve yet.

Today, our sorting trays have become one of the products we're best known for — all because our kids dumped another bag of blocks onto the dining room table and I happened to remember an abandoned woodworking project sitting in the shop.

And around our house, hearing "Should I get the tray?" still makes us smile.