For this project, I was fortunate to be partnered with Rodolfo Garcia, who has some woodworking experience from high school. My own experience was very limited going into this project, so I was glad to have his guidance. We decided to cut our own wood, so we met in the woodshop with a TA to measure out and cut planks of the appropriate dimensions using the miter saw. Later we realized that some of our cuts had been imprecise, and we had to use the belt sander to ensure each plank was the correct length.

We then routed many of the box’s sides to a rounded fillet. We initially planned to use a chamfer, but we were unable to trade out the bit and settled for the fillet. Once all appropriate edges were routed, we began the sanding process. We went through three rounds of sanding, using sandpaper of 60, 120, and 240 grit. We hand-sanded the edges and power-sanded the faces of each plank. Once we completed the initial sanding process, each plank was smooth to the touch.

Now it was time to stain the planks. We liked the natural look of the wood once the sanding was complete, so we opted to apply a single coat of whitewash stain to our planks. This resulted in a subtle color change while mostly preserving the aesthetic of the wood. Once the stain had time to dry, we lightly sanded the faces with 400 grit sandpaper.

Finally, it was time to assemble our crate. We started by fastening two 14.5’’ and two 12’’ 1×4 planks to form the first frame. However, once we tried to place the planks that would form the crate’s bottom, we realized that they no longer fit, they were slightly too long. We didn’t have access to the belt sander, so we used the random orbital sander with 60 grit sandpaper to remove some of the planks’ lengths. After several rounds of sanding, the planks finally fit snugly within the frame to form the base of the crate. Perhaps a little too excited to finally proceed, we made a mistake in installing these planks. Some of the screws used to fasten these planks protrude from the crate’s bottom. We attempted to remedy the error, but ultimately it doesn’t hinder the function or structural integrity of the crate.

Next, we fastened each of the 2×2 planks to the base with screws. For the final two layers of the crate, we first attached the longer 1×4 planks to the 2×2 pieces, then we attached the shorter 1×4 planks to complete the crate assembly. As we continued to fasten boards together, we realized that drilling a pilot hole too close to a filleted edge increased the chance of cracking the wood when attempting to countersink the screw hole. As a result, a few of the fasteners damaged the surrounding wood. However, our technique improved as we worked up the crate. Once the crate was fully assembled, one final round of sanding around the fasteners cleaned up some of the damage resulting from these errors.

I enjoyed working on this project, as it was a great opportunity to learn to use woodworking equipment that I’ve often seen, but never had a reason to use myself. The experience was also valuable as it forced us to creatively solve various problems that arose, especially in the assembly phase. Below you can see our workspace and the final crate in all of its glory.