I decided to go about this project by myself. I wanted to see how well I could operate by myself since I have had prior experience. Not only that, but I wanted to see how well I could come back from mistakes that I would inevitably make.

To start off, I decided to make the box using the basic requirements that were shown in the documents. This was also agreed upon by a Lab Tech who helped me garner access into the wood shop. I knew I had to make my crate 16x12x12. So then I cut 9 pieces of the 4×1 planks to 14.5 inches and I cut 6 pieces to 12 inches in length. I also obtained some thinner (~2in) planks which I cut to about 11 inches long. These would be used for the internal support of my crate. After I had all of my pieces cut I was ready to then do some legwork with the making sure they looked good.

I took all of my pieces of word through the planar to remove any defects pre manufacturing.

I then wanted to route the pieces of wood that would go on the top and bottom layer of the crate, however the router was broken at the time of me making the crate. If the router had not been broken, I would have used one of the more intense and ornate routes such as the Roman Ogee (IT WOULD’VE LOOKED SO CLEAN) or one of the Chamfered edges.

HOWEVER, I still had to sand all of my wood. I used good practice in sanding my wood in going from a low to a higher grit (going from a rough to a smoother finish). I didn’t just do the planar faces also, but I also sanded down the smaller sides. While sanding those sides, I also decided that in place of the router, I wanted chamfer my edges by using the orbital sander, the results are shown below

 

Below shows How I was initially clamping down the wood in order to sand it, but I then switched to a stance where I was holding the plank with one hand and with the other sanding it down. In order to sand down the small sides of the planks, I used the huge clamp next to the wood table downstairs and clamped 5/6 pieces of wood down at a time in order to sand down the edges.

 

I then started to assemble my crate. I started first with the three layers. In making these layers I decided to follow the script and make the longer sides inside of the two shorter sides. I used a corner clamp to get the correct right angle. In doing this also, I came at a crossroads to either use the countersinking method or a kreg jig. I didn’t like how the holes on the inside looked and didn’t know how to use the wood shavings to fill up the holes, so I decided to use the counter sinking method. I got a drill bit that was the same size as the head of the screw, which if I remember was a 1/8 of an inch.

 

 

I had to mess around with the torque of the power drill due to some chipping away of the wood being evident on my crate. Below shows the worst of some of my fiddling around with the settings.  This happened during the creating of the crate walls.

 

In creating the sides, I used 2 by 4’s to create spacers while I added the other 2 walls into the crate. I used the 2 by 2’s to help reinforce the inside of the crate as well.

 

 

After doing that, The crate was finally complete. It felt really smooth, but I wanted to remove more defects of manufacturing by adding giving it all one more sanding finish. This helped take away what happened with the screwing in.

 

 

After the crate was sanded, I did an extra finish on the edges so that I can get the effect that would have been shown if I was able to use the router. I again went from a low to a high grit to achieve this finish.

 

After working with leather in my last project, I decided that I really wanted to integrate the use of leather in somehow someway in my project. I decided that I didn’t like the idea of having the bottom of my crate being just wood, especially if I was going to place items that I have made in here. So I decided to measure the insides of the crate to create a bottom leather flooring. I attached it after the coating process and will get more into it below.

 

I sanded out the crate again, got a piece of duct tape and used it similar to a lint roller to get all of the shavings off. I put on the first coat of a stain called leaky oak, or something along those lines. I put on the first coat, waited 15 minutes, then wiped it down and applied the second coat. Below shows how the coats look on the first and second time.

 

After my coats were done, I then sanded the bottom of the crate to add a rough surface that also increases the surface area so that I could apply the adhesive (I used wood glue), and then I put a weight on top of the leather to firmly place the covering down overnight.

 

 

I learned a lot from this project. I learned how to further hone my craft in wood working. I learned how to apply pre and post process techniques to reduce the defects of manufacturing. I learned more how to essentially use solidworks in real life by using a miter saw, planar, router, and other methods of fasteners. If I could do this project again, I wished I used the kreg jig due to the fact that the screw heads adds up over the course of the entire project. Not only that, I wished I could use the router to get better edges on my crate, and I wished that I could use another stain. I did like the natural finish, but I would also want to see something a bit more crazy for lack of a better word.

In terms of the cost I created a BOM below to see how much it would cost to make this.

A 2x4x8 cost $2.85 at home depot, and to create this I would have needed 5, but I would get 6 just to be safe. That would bring our total to $17.10.

I would then have needed screws so at home depot, I would have shelled out for the nice box of screws (Grip-Rite) and pay $50.

I would then need a yard of leather which from Michaels cost $5.00.

Then I would need a Power Drill which costs $60.00 at Home Depot.

Then I would need the Orbital Sander with sandpaper which costs $30.00.

Last but not least, I needed the stain, which costs $25.00 dollars at Home Depot.

Including my Cost of Labor (7.25 an hour) and this project taking me 9 hours to accomplish, it brings that cost to $65.25.

Thus the total cost to get the necessary materials and tools to make this crate costs, 185.25 dollars. Minus the power tools though, it brings the cost to $95.25.