To begin, I was quite excited to work in the wood shop and build a crate. I had briefly used some woodworking tools, such as the miter and band saw, in my beginning sculpture course, but I was still quite the novice to carpentry. Consequently, my friend, Summer, and I decided to build a crate together so that we could work and learn collectively to produce a higher level product. Below, I have outlined the steps my friend and I took to build our crate including our failures and an approximate cost analysis.

Cutting & Preparing the Wood

Per the beginner level instructions for this assignment, Summer and I began by selecting, measuring, and cutting all the pieces for our crate. However during this process, we learned that the 1″ x 3″ lumber needed for our box was unavailable. In addition, we were permitted to use a single plank of plywood for the base of box instead of assembling one using 1″ x 4″s. Consequently, we made some necessary alterations to the box making instructions. Specifically, using the miter saw we cut:

• 12 pieces of 15.25″ long 1″ x 4″s,
• 4 pieces of 11.25″ long 2″ x 2″s,
• and we found 1 piece of 16″ x 16″ plywood

Generally when using this saw, we marked the measurements for our wood with a +1/8″ margin to align the teeth of the saw onto. This way, we were able to account for the saw eating away some of the material on its right and left when it cut the wood ensuring we were left with pieces that were our actual desired length.

Once the individual pieces of the crate had been cut, they needed to each be fed through the planar to ensure they were all consistent in thickness. So, I placed the 1″ x 4″ pieces into the planar at the 3/4″ thickness setting and the 2″ x 2″ pieces at a 1 3/8″ thickness. The planar was exceptionally simple to use, and it made a significant difference on the texture and evenness of the wood. In the beginning sculpture class I took where I was first introduced to wood working tools, we did not have access to a planar. So we instead utilized orbital sanders to smooth out the lumber. Though the sander is an effective tool, it was now clear to me how much more quick and consistent the planar was at evening out the wood.

The next step in preparing the wood for assembly was adding routed sides. Per the assignment’s constraints, I routed the 12 pieces of 1″ x 4″ wood by simply using the round over router bit already in the machine. This ensures that the box can have a more comfortable place for people to grip onto.

Lastly, the component pieces of the crate were sanded down using the orbital sander and 120 grit sandpaper. Summer and I utilized two sanders simultaneously to complete the task efficiently and tried to maintain consistent strokes going with the grain of the wood. The purpose of the sanding was to prepare the wood for future spray painting and smooth out any remaining unevenness.

Assembling the Crate

Now, with the component pieces measured, cut, and sanded, we began to build our frame for the crate. We arranged the 1″ x 4″s in the style of the indeterminate size box we built earlier in class and attached the 2″ x 2″s to the 16″ x 16″ plywood using a power drill. To ensure the screws were counter sunk at each attachment point, we began drilling the surface of the wood with a 3/8″ drill bit, then used a 1/8″ drill bit to make a hole for the screw, before lastly inserting the 2″ long screws. Overall, I had a bit of a difficult time pressing down on the power drill when trying to drill holes in the wood and attach screws. Specifically, there were many times where I struggled to keep the Phillips head drill bit pressed into the screw causing the machine to skip and eat away at the screw a few times. Eventually with enough iterations, I found a hand placement and trigger pressure that provided me with the right amount of force, control, and speed to easily make holes and drill in the screws.

From left to right, drill bits we used to drill the screws into the wood

Post Processing: Spray Paint & Gloss

With the assembled crate frame and 3 rings of wall pieces, Summer and I began exploring spray paint and gloss as a post processing technique we wanted to add to our box. We tested some of the spray paint and gloss options before settling on a light blue, dark blue, white, and satin gloss combo. Using long even strokes, we spray painted the wood with 1 to 2 coats, depending on if the piece needed it. Then we waited for the colored paint to dry to the touch, about 5 to 7 minutes, and added 2 coats of the satin gloss spray paint. After the satin gloss coats had dried, we assembled our box by stacking the rings onto the crate frame one at a time and adding two screws to each corner. The same technique used to drill the crate fence and rings was implemented here to ensure the screws were counter sunk and to avoid having the wood split.

Overall, I love the way the color dried on the wood however I do feel that there are some spots on the crate that could use another coat of paint. In addition, because we did not wait the recommended 1 hour before handling the pieces that were spray painted, some of the different colors transferred onto other components leading our final project to not look as clean and finished as I would have liked. For future reference, I would also recommend putting on gloves and eye protection when applying spray paint considering how stubborn the paint was to come off of our hands.

Cost Analysis

Supplies (costs are approximated using prices from Home Depot)

• 12 pieces of 15.25″ long 1″ x 4″s = 16 feet of 1″ x 4″s in total = $7.92
• 4 pieces of 11.25″ long 2″ x 2″s = 4 feet of 2″ x 2″s in total = $1.98
• 1 piece of 16″ x 16″ plywood = $50
• 48 2″ screws = $8.97
• 4 cans of spray paint (white, light blue, dark blue, and satin gloss) * $4.58/can from Home Depot = $18.32
• (I assumed the cost to access woodshop tools is negligible for the builder, so I excluded it from the cost analysis )

Labor

• 2 people * 6 hours of labor * $15/hr/person = $180

TOTAL : $267.19