Allison Creates A Crate | ENGI 210: Prototyping and Fabrication

Overview

I was very excited about this assignment because I had always wondered if I would enjoy woodworking. The last time I had the opportunity to take a wood shop class was in seventh grade, and back then I was very intimidated by the machinery, so I was excited to try again now that I’m older.

Preparing and Cutting

To build my 16″x16″x12″ crate, I cut with 12- 15.25″ 1x4s, 4- 11.25″ 2x2s, and 1- 16×16″ piece of plywood. I cut the 1x4s and 2x2s using the miter saw. Then, I ran them through the planer. Lastly, I used the router on all four edges of the 1x4s and one edge of each 2×2 to give everything a more finished look.

Building the Box

To begin building my box, I started by attaching two slats at the bottom of one of my vertical supports. I repeated this with a second corner. Once I had two L-shaped pieces, I joined them together with the remaining two vertical supports, making a square. I attached each slat to the vertical supports with two 1-5/8″ screws. Then, I measured where on the vertical supports I could safely drive screws through the bottom without hitting my other screws and measured these locations on the four corners of my plywood base. I clamped the plywood base to my partially assembled crate and screwed it on where I had marked, and fortunately did not have any collisions with my horizontal screws.

Next, I added my second row of slats, using one of my slat boards as a spacer. I attached them in the same indeterminate box pattern as the first row.

Then, I added my third row!

Post-Processing

To finish up my crate, I first used the orbital sander the smooth out the slats and slightly round the corners of the crate. Then, I lightly hand sanded the edges of the slats, the four vertical supports, and the inside of the crate. Next, I took the crate outside to stain. I used a cherry stain and wiped it off very quickly because I did not want my crate to be too dark. After letting it dry overnight, I came back and sprayed it with a matte clear coat. Below is my finished crate:

Reflection

Overall, I’m very proud of my crate. I walked into this project very intimidated by all of the tools and ultimately became pretty comfortable in the woodshed using the miter saw, planer, and router. The process of building this crate was definitely more physically demanding than I expected, especially the many hours spent drilling and sanding. One thing I could have improved upon is how my slats fit together. Somewhere along the line, a slat or two was attached slightly crooked, creating a domino effect where things just didn’t quite line up.