This week I made a lovely crate box.  I had never done this before and I really took my time on every step to create a box I am proud of!

I started by sanding my precut wood. I took a lot of time on this step because I wasn’t sure how smooth I needed the wood to be. Also, I started with some funky looking wood which I really wasn’t sure how to fix besides sanding with a machine and then by hand.

Once I fixed sanding my wood to the bets of ability I went to route some of my edges.

When starting I was inspired engraved borders and I wanted by sides to have like rectangular engraved border. Though I wasn’t able to fine a router that exactly did this I got something pretty close. I also liked the curve edge I saw some people do however,  it looked a little to soft for the style I wanted my box to have so I only did the curve edge on the top layer and kept straight corners.

When I was in the Woodshop I learned many things including how to change the router. When I was first there the router was curved and then the lab assistant changed it to be the straight trim. Here I watched hime do it and struggle some and I was able to help hold things in place. However, after routing two pieces the machine decided it was tired. Fernando came to help fix it and he actually suggested that a hand router might to the job. I never ended up using the hand router because the next day it was working but something to keep in mind for next time. But my second time in the woodshop, I was able to fully help the TA change the router to the one I had been using for the trim. I also was able to see the riser lever/ turning nob for adjusting the height of the router and learned the areas that need to be vacuumed.

Then I had to sand the border trim because it has taken off a layer of wood and now was really rough. This sanding progression was actually really noticeable even in the photos I took which maybe you can see the difference from 60 vs 220 as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I started to build my box. However, when I started to look at the pieces I wanted as my base they were unleveled with each other. So I used the Roybi Sanding Machine to sand away the slight thickest of one of the pieces. Honestly this didn’t help that much which now finished I can say that my box on the inside is level and the outside layer I kept the edge pieces longer so even if it is not level when playing the box somewhere you can not feel it. Also, after doing this I had to do my whole original sanding process again because I made it a bit rough again.

 

 

 

 

Next, I started using different clamps to hold my wood together. I drilled holes and then a countersink and then screwed the pieces of the box together. To make my screws as evenly spaced as possible I used the thickness of the the tape for the two edge screws and for the long section of the bottom I measured a 12in long tape and marked every two inches of it.

I added my four vertical supports which created a cute little table. Then I made the next layers of frames which I spaced out a wood piece thick on the vertical supports.  One error I noticed at this phase was the brittleness and unevenness of one of my supports that made a small gap at the top (Seen in the Picture).

I then sanded the crate again removing any rough/screwed areas before staining. I wasn’t sure what stain I wanted to use and I thought it might be cool to use two different stains. So on the bottom side of the crate I tried a whote stain that turned into a brown stain. I didn’t really like this too much and I actually preferred the brown stain. Thankfully it was only on the bottom of my crate so therest of the crate is the full brown stain. I used paper towels when staining majority of the crate and then I used a small brush to get into all the small cracks. 

After waiting 24 hours, I  did a first coat of finish. I choose to use water-based Polycrylic finish because I read that oil-base takes longer to dry and when reading the instructions of the one in the ODEK the oil-base needed at least 3 coats which I did not plan for. But as compromise I used the Polycrylic Clear Satin which is closer to the clear gloss of oil-based finish better than the clear matte of course. I did two coats of the finish and in between I sanded with 220 grit paper.

I think I may have putt too much on my final layer of finish as there is some chunky spots and and an increase of rough spots. I also wish I sanded the edges of the crate a bit more because they are still a bit rough.

Here is my final box!

Cost Estimation

Raw materials (PreCut Wood Size 1 and Size 2, Screws, Sand Paper, Stain, Finish) :

Used 1in x 4in x 9.5 ft sells by 8ft so $3.55 x 2  ~ $7

Used 2in x 2in x 3.34 ft sell by 8ft so $3.55 ~ $3

Used 52 screws sell by lb/pack so ~ $6

Sand Paper used 6 grits sells in 100 pcs so $15.39/10 ~ $1.5

Stain used maybe 1/32 of can so $20 x 1/32 ~ $1

Finish used maybe 1/32 of can so $20 x 1/32 ~ $1

Labor:

Sanding (4 hrs), Routing (1hr), Drilling(2.5 hrs), Staining (1 hr), Finishing (2hrs), Waiting/Travel Time (at least 2hrs)

$15 hr pay x 12.5hrs  ~ $180

Machine time: 

Sanding Machines/Tools, Router, Drill

Based on total prices of machine I did a rent of 10% of such price ~ $140

Total Estimate: ~$340

This cost estimate seems pretty high because I may have over-estimated some costs.