For this project, I worked with Tori Payne and we had a great time together. Neither of us had any woodworking experience, but we worked so well together and learned at every step!

Since we were inexperienced, we requested some pre-cut wood and started our project.

On 9/2, both Tori and I were getting used to the feeling and steps of drilling that we made some mistakes. I attached two pieces of wood wrong because they came out “un-flush” with each other. That same day, Tori accidentally drilled the pilot hole with a 5/16 drill bit. We both certainly learned from these mistakes and we were glad they happened early on. The only issue was having to cut more wood ourselves later on in our process.

On 9/6, we had work time in class and were definitely feeling more comfortable with the process. I assembled layers 1 and 2 after Tori sanded each piece of wood. She sanded from 60 grit up to 320 grit for  a smoother feel. I also did a countersink for each hole for a smoother look and flush screws. Because of our previous mistakes, we needed 2 more pieces of 14.5” and 1 more piece of 12” so Tori cut 3 pieces of 14.5’’ and 2 pieces of 12’’ just in case.

On 9/8, we finished assembly of the 3rd and final layer. This layer was made with 2 pieces of the newly-cut wood which were different that the original pre-cut wood we received. This caused some imbalance in the look of this layer. 

As you can see in this photo, the new wood was a bit rounded on the edges. To fix this and also add some routed features to our crate, I went into the wood shop to route the top and bottom of all 3 layers. After this, we were ready for the final assembly. Between every step, we sanded through the following grits:  60, 120, 240, 320, 400. 

I measured the bottom pieces for the crate floor so that the three of them could fit side by side. Tori then sanded each piece down to what I measured; this step was a bit tedious for her since it was a lot of sanding and checking and repeating. 

Next, we began attaching the pillars and building upwards. to ensure that the pillars are flush with the inner corners of the box, we clamped them with the smaller clamps. 

Our original pillars were somewhat rotten and not usable, so Tori cut more of those as well. For the space between layers, we used an extra piece of wood to ensure that the space is uniform.

We continued upwards until we finished assembly!

Afterwards, we applied Linseed Oil as our liquid finish and we were officially done!

Some things we would have done differently:

• Sand the faces of the wood precisely and evenly before nailing them together so that it’s flush with the other piece (we had a problem with there being gaps due to uneven wood and/or sanding)
• Practice each step (drilling, routing, staining) on a piece of scrap wood to better familiarize ourselves with the actions

What we learned:

• Wood working in general
• How to use all the tools
• How to make a box!
  • An awesome one! So smooth
• How technical and deliberate each step has to be
  • Those measurements have to be pretty precise (more than I expected)

How much did it cost:

Time calculations first:

• 9/2: 1.5 hr
• 9/6: 1.5 hr
• 9/9: 2:00pm – 8:00pm – 6 hr
• Total hours: 9 hours

Material Calculations:

• 12 x 14.5” long pieces of 1×4 lumber (174”)
• 8 x 12” long pieces of 1×4 lumber (96”)
• (270” total = 22.5 –> 24 feet of 1×4)

• 7 x 10-11” long pieces of 2×2 lumber
• (70” = 5.8 ft –> 6ft of 2×2)

• Equipment rental: 9hrs @ $30/hr = $270
• Labor: 9 @ $15/hr = $135
• materials
  • wood screws
    • $5.98
  • 1×4 wood
    • 3 of these = $10.65
  • 2×2 wood
    • 1 of these = $3.55
  • Linseed Oil
    • $10.29

Total Cost: $435.47