This project was an excellent introduction to woodworking and post-processing. I had the pleasure of working with Alex McLennan and together we made a lovely crate!

We began this project by selecting pre-cut wood for a quicker assembly. This saved us so much time and we were so grateful, but by not cutting out our own wood we were not able to select our favorite planks without knots or splinters. We started assembling the box and were mindful of any imperfections in the wood, which we oriented towards the center of the box where they would be less noticeable. We made 3 rectangular frames by aligning a 14.5” piece of wood against the 12” piece of wood in the corner clamp. We used a ⅛” drill bit for the pre-drilled holes to prevent splitting the wood then we added countersinks using the ⅜” drill bit. We then brought our frames to the woodshop and used the router to smooth the edges and corners. This part was sometimes a little tricky since we had already added screws and the router was not made to process metal. We pushed the screws in a bit deeper with a handheld screwdriver to prevent sparks on the router from grinding metal.  

After our pieces were all routed we added the three bottom blanks at the base frame of the crate. We clamped these and added screws to opposing sides to secure the bottom. Next we assembled and added the vertical support pieces. We used a spare piece of wood for a perfectly dimensioned gap between each frame but as we went to secure the final frame at the top of the crate, we decided to make it flush with the top of the vertical piece rather than focusing on a perfect gap. We both preferred this look and it was easy to achieve with multiple clamps holding each piece flush as we worked. 

Now that our box was fully assembled and sturdy, we began the post-processing portion of the assignment. We used the orbital sander on each side of the crate, slowly increasing grit from 120 to 180 to 220 to 300. After the orbital sanding on the entire crate, we hand sanded any additional trouble areas. We vacuumed our space clean then headed to pick a stain.

After testing a few colors, we settled on an all-in-one stain and seal combo that worked in one coat, no wiping or reapplying necessary! We both applied stain using brushes to get into all the nooks and crannies of the box. We then let this coat dry shortly and flipped the box to paint the bottom and address any missed spots. We left the crate outside on the rack to dry and came back the next day to find it looking great! 

After our crate was completed, we were suggested to sand the entire surface with a high grit sandpaper for a smoother look (Thanks Dr. Wettergreen!). We used 400 grit sandpaper to hand sand each side of the crate. Sure enough, this made the finish smooth, soft and uniform without taking off any large spots of paint!

All in all this was an awesome project and I really enjoyed getting more comfortable processing wood and I look forward to creating even more woodworking projects in the future!

Clean Workspace:

Cost Breakdown:

Cost Type	Cost	Price	Source	Quantity	Total
Materials	1×4 Board (14.5”)	$2.98/8ft length	Lowes.com	2 pieces	5.96
	1×4 Board (12”)	$2.98/8ft length	Lowes.com	1 piece	2.98
	2x2x10 Board	$4.98/8ft length	Lowes.com	1 piece	4.98
	Screws	$4.97/100ct	Walmart.com	1 box	4.97
	Sand Paper	$5.49/pack (18 pc)	Walmart.com	1 pack	5.49
	Stain	$20.98	Lowes.com	1Gal can	20.98
Labor	Woodworking Operator	$20.82/hr	ZipRecruiter.com	1 hr	20.82
	Prototyping Engineer	$15/hr	Personal Wage	2 hrs	30.00
Overhead	Facility Cost (Machine Time)	$25/hr	NCWoodworker.net	1 hr	25.00
	Quality Control	$18.10/hr	ZipRecruiter.com	1 hr	18.10
Total Cost					$139.28