Hello everyone! Katy and I decided to work together to build the crate. I am so glad we did because the project took much more time and effort than I initially thought.

The Grind

We chose to begin with the precut wood option. I think it really helped make this project quicker. The first Sunday right after we got the assignment, Katy and I spent over 4 hours in OEDK for our crate.

1. We sanded the wood planks and removed splinters sticking out from the edge to make it easier to work with. Katy and I mainly utilized the handheld sander and sandpaper ( grit 80). I also used to tool in the back corner of the woodshop ( I can’t remember the name, I think it’s the belt sander), but it was very efficient. I just had to make sure I was using even and proper pressure.
2. We made our initial markings on the wood to plan the spacing for screws to be drilled and which pieces fit where.
3. We routed the edges of select planks to fit the aesthetic we wanted. We only routed the edges of planks that would be exposed and visible to others. Also, because of the type of wood we had, the routing was difficult on some pieces because it wasn’t a flat, even surface. Another difficulty was that there was a small selection of router bits.

4. Afterward, we got the clamps and 4 drills to begin connecting the planks. I think starting early was a great benefit because we were able to utilize 4 drills at a time! We started with the initial hole with the 1/8-inch drill bit. Then I believe 1/4 inch countersink to lead up to a bigger 5/8 inch countersink and then finally drilling in the screw. We hoped this would stop the edge of the plank from splitting. It did, for the most part 🙁 We did make a mistake connecting them, doing two sides of the square and then trying to join them together but they were actually on the wrong side. So we ended up having to unscrew and flip the planks so our routed edges would show.

5. We methodically assembled the wood into top middle and bottom pieces. It actually was difficult to put the pieces into one because of the tolerance issue but we made it work. Also, the bottom planks were difficult to get just right. I had to keep sanding to get them to fit together. If I were to do this again. more accurate box dimensions would probably help avoid this issue.

Finishing and Post Processing

After the crate was complete, we mainly sanded to our smooth likeness, sanding up to grit 220. Then we chose Danish oil to stain our wood. I =t wasn’t too bad of a process and I am glad the stain didn’t affect the touch and feel of our crate too much.

Altogether, I really enjoyed this project. These skills will really help me with my future aspirations to DIY my own furniture and refurbish old pieces to create something new and unique.

Cost Analysis

Wood

• 9 x 14.5” long pieces of 1×4 lumber : $8.50/piece = $76.50
• 6 x 12” long pieces of 1×4 lumber  : $6.99/piece = $41.94
• 4 x 10-11” long pieces of 2×2 lumber : $7.50/piece = $30

Danish Oil – $13.98/pint : ~$3.50

Screws:

$1.98/box of 4 ; for 32 screws – $15.84

Labor and Machining – $7.25/hr x 8 hours x 2 people = $116

TOTAL – $283.82