This project was an interesting one. It was simple, but also required a strong attention to detail. Definitely a long project that ended up being very rewarding in the end.

I started off by getting all of my materials ready. This included measuring and cutting the pieces of wood using the mitre saw. The pieces did not come out so pretty, and had lots of chips and rugged edges all over. Because of this, I decided to do a rough sanding of each pieces before starting to screw the wood together. I even tried to use a filer, but that wasn’t very effective. Ended up using the orbital sander with a 60 grit to get the job done.

Once all the pieces were looking cleaner, I started with the power drill. Using the power drill was pretty fun, and I got more and more used to it as the project went along. One issue that I encountered was during the countersinking. Whenever I used the larger drill bit, I ended up chipping the edge of the wood a bit like below.

I realized I was putting too much pressure on the edge of the wood and decided to adjust my strategy. The later screws ended up looking a lot cleaner.

Eventually, I ended up completing the initial 3 sets of the crate.

Next, I spent some time sanding the entire set and rounding off the edges to make the appearance more clean. I realized that sanding later would be more difficult, so I really took my time in this process. Next, it was time to put the crate together. I picked one of the 3 sets of wood, and began developing the frame by screwing in the bottom section and also the vertical 2×2 pieces.

I wanted the box sturdy, so I fastened the 2×2 pieces on each plank using 2 screws. Spacing out the screws was a bit weird at first, but it started to come along together. Then, it was just a matter of assembling.

Once the box was fully assembled, I began post-processing. I sanded the entire crate using the orbital sander with 220 grit, focusing on especially rough sections. I then repeated this process using 400 grit until the entire crate was smooth. I decided to stain my wood to give it a darker color. Before doing so, I wiped the crate down clean of sawdust, than began applying the stain with a brush. Here is the end product!

 

Cost Breakdown:

$11.40 for 20 feet of 1×4 pine wood

$7.60 for 4 feet of 2×2 pine wood

$9 for a box of 1.5 inch screws

$7.28 for Cherry Classic Wood Interior Stain

$210 for 14 hours of labor at $15/hr

Total Cost: ~$245