After sewing an apron, our next task was to create a 16”x12”x12” wooden crate box. In this project, I teamed up with Vanessa and we spent the next one week designing, shaping, and putting together our crate. What seemed to be a simple task of just cutting and screwing lumbar pieces together actually turned out to be more work than expected. From overcoming my fear of using the daunting machines in the wood shop to becoming comfortable with using power drills to learning how to perform post-processing and fabrication properly, it was quite satisfying seeing the crate come to life knowing that every effort and second that we put into the project was worth it at the end. (Also, huge shoutout to the wonderful lab assistants for their patience and support as they helped us with the machines in the woodshop 😊)

Now follow along on our journey!

Shaping Wood Pieces via Router

We started with precut wood and headed straight to the wood shop to create a nice decorative surface cuts on our lumbar pieces. After spending some time looking at the variety of router bits, we proceeded with one that would create a gentle smooth curve along the edges of our crate. The next step, which took way longer than expected, was placing the router bit at a height that would help us achieve our surface cut. Upon finally getting the bit placed in properly, Vanessa and I took turns sliding each lumbar pieces along the router machine. Once all the lumbar, not including the 4 2”x2”x11.25” pieces, had their pattern, we quickly assembled the pieces only to realize that we shouldn’t have made curve edges along the short edges of the 1”x4”x12” lumbar pieces as they ended up creating a V-shaped edge rather than a smooth orthogonal angle. Being a little disappointed at our lack of planning, we consulted with Dr. Wettergreen for some advice and agreed that the small mishap would actually add a unique feature to our crate.

Moreover, as we were putting the pieces together, we also realized that one of the three long lumbar pieces that would join to form our bottom part of the crate needed to be sliced in order to fit. To do this, we used a table saw instead of a miter saw to make this minor adjustment.

Finally, our time in the wood shop was done and next up was sanding all the pieces to obtain a smooth texture.

Sanding Wood

The sanding area was located downstairs where all the other power drill machines and equipments were. Initially, I had decided to manually sand each piece but realized that using the random orbital sander would be more efficient. We first started with 60 grit sandpaper and worked out way up to 200. We believed that sanding at this phase would be easier before we put all the pieces together.

Next up was putting everything together: the part I was looking forward to but also the one that gave us such a hard time haha.

Joining the Wooden Pieces Together

Our strategy of putting the crate together was by assembling each layer individually and then putting them together by attaching them to the four 11.25” X 2” X 2” piece lumbar.

We first used 1.50-inch screws to attach the 14.75” X 4” X 1” pieces to the 12” X 4” X 1” to create a rectangle. We also used the same size screws to attach the additional three 14.75” X 4” X 1” pieces to create the bottom platform. At this point, there was a need to trim the the wood to allow it to fit together so we used a disc sander to do this. After using the disc sander for quite a bit of time, the wood pieces fit together nicely; however, the disc sander did not trim the wood evenly causing a small gap to appear between the three pieces of wood.

Now came the hardest part: putting the crate layers together and attaching them to the four 11.25” X 2” X 2” piece lumbar. Since we wanted to minimize the number of screws on the outside, we decided to insert screws from the inside of the box so that the finishing would look more cleaner and nicer.

Since the screws were going to be inserted first into the 11.25” X 2” X 2” and then into the other lumbar pieces, we used three 2-inch screws. These screws did not screw into the wood as nicely as the 1.5-inch screws did so it took quite a bit of force to get the screws in. Many times we also had to take the screws out and re-insert them back in to get it into the wood properly. This part caused a lot of frustration and stress as the force it required us to push the screw into the wood caused unreasonable amount of pressure on other sides of the crate.

At the end, we sanded the crate one more time with a 240 grit sander to smooth the exterior surface. Alas we were finally ready to add color to our crate!

Adding some Color

From the beginning, Vanessa and I wanted to stain our crate. After looking at the different paint options, we decided to go ahead with a dark walnut brown stain, and we used a foam brush to paint. At first, I didn’t quite understand the concept of staining and the need to use less paint. But the more we stained, the more we realized that applying a thin layer of stain allowed the color to absorb into the wood. As the wood absorbed the color, it also relayed the wood pattern making the crate look so much aesthetic. After applying the stain, we waited for about 2-3 minutes before wiping the excess stain off. Lastly, we let our crate dry on the rack.

Voila! Our Wooden Crate is complete!

Never Underestimate the Power of Proper Planning

Creating this wood crate was certainly not an easy task, but a little bit better planning could have made the process go more smoothly and efficiently. This would also help to cut down on the labor cost. Working with wood made me realize how fragile it can be. A small careless can make it hard to recover the wood lost. I think projects like these definitely require practice that help us to realize our mistakes and shortcomings from which we can then apply the knowledge gained to attain better results in the future. In this way, making our wooden crate was a huge learning process for me and I definitely got a lot out of it. Now that I am more comfortable with working with wood and wood machines, if I were to make box again in the future, I would definitely consider adding a handle or grooves to make it easier to handle the crate.

Wooden Crate Cost Analysis

Below, I have provided a breakdown of the cost estimate for our wooden crate.

Material Cost:

(4) Wood Pieces (11.25” X 2” X 2”) [1]: $3.55/lumbar X 4 = $14.2

(9) Wood Pieces (14.75” X 4” X 1”) [2]: $3.55/lumbar X 9 = $31.95

(6) Wood Pieces (12” X 4” X 1”) [2]: $3.55/lumbar X 6 = $21.3

(36) 1.5-inch screws used [3]: $0.1345/screw X 36 = $4.842

(12) 2-inch screws [4]: $0.0696/screw X 12 = $0.835

(1) 100 grit, 150 grit, 220 grit [5]: $2.55/package X 1 = $2.55

(1) 1/8 drill bit [6]: $6.27/2 drill buts X 1 = $3.135

(1) Dark Walnut Wood Stain [7]: $11.78

It is assumed that the machines used (Router, Wood Table Saw, Wood Planar, Disc Sander, Random Orbital Sander, corner and table clamps, etc.) can all be rented at facilities like the MakerBarn [8]: $40/730 hours X 48 hours = $2.63 (assuming machines are rented for 2 days)

Overall Material Cost: $93.202

Labor Time

1.5 hours Tuesday

3.5 hours Wednesday

7 hours Thursday

4.5 hours Friday

Total hours: 16.5 hours

Overall Labor Cost [9]: $7.25/hr X 16.5 hours = $119.625

 

Total Wooden Crate Cost: $212.827

[1] https://www.homedepot.com/p/2-in-x-2-in-x-8-ft-Furring-Strip-Board-Lumber-75800593/304600525

[2] https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-in-x-4-in-x-8-ft-Premium-Kiln-Dried-Square-Edge-Whitewood-Common-Board-914681/100023465

[3] https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Find-Fastener-1-5-Inch-100-Piece/dp/B00BBCY9BW?th=1

[4] https://www.lowes.com/pd/Grip-Rite-PrimeGuard-Ten-7-x-2-in-Polymer-Deck-Screws-1-lb/3353692?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-ggl-_-LIA_HDW_126_Fastening-_-3353692-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjvaYBhDlARIsAO8PkE2t3HJQ-G74VffjDCELBOv_uUgDSmnPbCgNpxW1PEMqUxFH58ztl20aAr5IEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[5] https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-9-in-x-11-in-100-150-220-Grit-Medium-Fine-and-Very-Fine-Aluminum-Oxide-Sand-Paper-5-Sheets-Pack-9005NA/203783586

[6] https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-SHOCKWAVE-1-8-in-Titanium-Twist-Drill-Bit-2-Pack-48-89-4605/205879000

[7] https://www.amazon.com/Varathane-262025-Premium-Stain-Walnut/dp/B011VTB4X0?th=1

[8] https://www.themakerbarn.org/memberships/

[9] https://www.minimum-wage.org/texas#:~:text=The%20Texas%20minimum%20wage%20was,Federal%20Minimum%20Wage%20by%20reference