For this assignment, we were tasked with creating a box out of wood that may be used to store physical products from different assignments this semester. While there are no constraints on the size of the box, I tried to stick to the 16″ x 16″ x 12″ guideline to see how close I can get to desired dimensions.

planning

To achieve the desired 16″ x 16″ x 12″ dimensions, I sketched out the dimensions of each side. Because I used three sheets of 24″ x 24″ x 3/4″ plywood panels to cut out all 5 sides of the box, I had to take into account the thickness of the wood.

assembly & processing

I used the table saw to cut four 15.25″ x 11.25″ sides and one 16″ x 16″ base. I decided to sand down the five pieces before assembling as it is easier to access all sides and edges when they are loose. I used an orbital sander (60 grit sandpaper) as a first pass, then 320 grit sandpaper as a second pass to make sure I can run my finger through all surfaces without a fear of getting splinters.

Once all pieces were sanded smooth, I assembled the box using 2.5″ woodscrews prepared at the OEDK. To make sure all sides were aligned well, I spent a lot of time fixing the sides using corner clamps. I made sure to drill 1/8″ pilot holes to minimize damage from woodscrews. I noticed after the assembly that two screws connecting the base to the sides caused slight bulges on the side, which I believe is because I failed to drill the pilot holes straight.

Due to some inaccuracies involved in the sawing and assembly processes, the box dimensions deviated slightly from the desired; it turned out to be 15.875″ x 15.75″ x 12.125″, approximately.

post-processing & Finishing

After assembling the box, there was some more processing that needed to be done to make it clean. First and foremost, I felt the need to re-sand the edges because the woodscrews caused a little bit of damage. I removed some big pieces that can cause injuries first, then sanded them down to prevent splinters. I made sure to get rid of as much wood dust as possible before painting it.

For painting purposes, I took my box outside the OEDK and placed it across two beams as shown. Then, I applied two coats of white spray paint to the exterior of the box. I was hoping to apply one or two more coats to make it a very very clean white surface, but I ran out of white paint and couldn’t find any more. I initially wanted to pain the interior of the box black as well, but instead I decided to paint the interior black!

Painting the interior of the box was much more difficult than the exterior. Firstly, I had to be very careful not to get any of the black paint on the exterior that was already painted white. I attempted painting with a paintbrush rather than spray paint, but quickly realized it wasn’t going to work out very cleanly. I put masking tape to protect the sides and attempted to spray paint over it, but didn’t realize that spray paint sprays much wider than I thought. This caused a little bit of black to spray onto the sides below the masking tape, as shown in the picture below. In addition, even after I applied masking tape to the side and painted the top with a paintbrush, the edges were painted rather unevenly, also as shown in the picture below.

Secondly, I also struggled to apply paint evenly onto the inner surfaces because my hand and the spray paint can interfered with the box walls.

Despite some imperfections during the manufacturing process and the finishing process, I am quite happy with the way the box turned out!

cost analysis

Material Cost (approximated by prices at Lowe’s)

• Wood: $45 ($14.98/24″x24″ plywood)
• Wood Screws: $3 ($3.48/20 pieces)
• Spray paint: $5 ($4.49/can)

Labor Cost

• 4.5 hrs -> $67.5

This assignment was by far the most expensive assignment both in terms of material and labor. It cost about $53 in material, and $67.50 in labor using a rate of $15/hr.

In total, it cost about $120 to produce this box.