• Goal: Fruits & vegetable wooden crate
• User: Jasmine & Tracy
• Time: 9/6 ~ 9/11 (15 hours)

Clarify design requirements (40mins)

• Need assessment
• Observations
• Market research
• Sketches

The first thing I did was work with my partner Tracy to clarify our needs and expectations for the wooden crate. 

After having user needs in mind, we observed peers’ work in the lab & past works and gathered design insights through interacting with different crates. At the same time, we also did some market research to find inspiring samples that match our need for a functional fruit crate.

After the above research, Tracy and I especially like the idea of handles and adding wedges to keep the crate from directly touching the ground. As a result, I synthesized all the information and ideas into a sketched design to guide future creation.

Build a Crate! (abt 14 hours)

1. Creation process
   • Materials
   • Sanding, Cutting & Assembling
   • Tung Oil Finish
   • Challenges
2. Final product & Cost
3. Reflection: Things I learned / What will I do differently

Creation Process

• Materials

Tracy and I used pre-cut wood, which comes with 9 x 14.5” long pieces of 1×4 lumber, 6 x 12” long pieces of 1×4 lumber, 4 x 10-11” long pieces of 2×2 lumber

• Sanding, Cutting & Assembling

Since we aimed for a smooth surface, we started with sanding lumbers (started with 40 finishes with 800 grit). We were concerned that round corners might create gaps when assembling, thus we excluded edges and only focused on the lumber surface.

• • • We also used a router to trim and round the limber surface so it’s smooth and round.

After sanding, we started assembling lumbers. We first built three frames out of 1×4.

Tools we used: corner clamp, table clamp, drill, ⅛” drill bit (for pilot hole), Philips head driver, Screws (1.5” long wood screws), Bandsaw, Sander & sandpaper (80, 100, 800)

Once that was done, Tracy and I start to attach the 3 bottom pieces to the frames and finish assembling the crate body. We don’t want the fruit crate to touch the ground, so we created 2 long pieces of 2×2 lumber using scrap wood and attached them to the crate bottom to level up the crate body.    

We finished the assembling process by giving the crate final sand using 800 grits

Tung Oil Finish

To help protect the wood from moisture, I coated the crate with Tung Oil. It helps keeps the crate’s natural wood color, and is also a safe, nontoxic oil that is resistant to acids and alcohol (research). I applied 2 coats and waited 40 mins in between and after for the coat to dry.   

Challenge

• Split wood.

One of the pieces has a deep split and we were not sure whether to use it or not.

Solution: cut a new one using the power circular saw

• Corners were hard to sand and make it round

Solution: I stuck the sandpaper in between the wood to smoothen the edges and used 80 grit sandpaper for a more obvious effect then used 800 grit as the final touches.

• The bottom three pieces don’t fit & can’t leave space between

Solution: bandsaw cut off 0.5 inches on each piece and create space for air

 

 

 

 

 

Final Product

Reflection

One thing not satisfied with the crate: the crate bottom was not as flat as we expect. It’s a little wobbly : (

Cost analysis:

Woods:

1×4 (14.5″x9+12″x6= 244.68 ft.): 245 * $3.55 for 8 ft. = $108.7

2×2 (10″x4= 48.3 ft.): 49 * $3.55 for 8 ft. = $21.7

Screws:  48 * $12.51 for 110 screws  = $5.46

Formby’s clear tung oil:  0.1 * $10.98 for 0.47 liter = $2.34

Labor:  15 hours * $15 (Rice minimum wage per hour) = $225

TOTAL COST:  $108.7 + $21.7 + $5.46 + $2.34 + $225 = $363.2

So proud of the final result! Did not expect sanding will be the hardest and the most tedious part haha, but definitely felt more muscles on my arm now. It was really fun seeing ideas turn into reality, the final product is exactly what I hope. Huge shout out to my teammate Tracy! We did it!