For this project, I worked alone to produce a wooden crate. While I have had some woodworking experience in the past, this was the first project I have worked on with the skill extensively and alone. Overall, I found it to a very rewarding experience being able to apply my woodworking skills individually.

phase 1: Cutting out the wood boards

To begin the project, I had to cut out my own wood boards to create the box. To do so, I had to use the wood shop’s Mitter saw. I measured out the lengths necessary with the wood available in the shop and marked each measurement before cutting. In total, 6 12″ 1×4 pieces, 9 14.5″ 1×4 pieces, and 4 10″ 2×2 pieces were cut.

From there, I sanded each piece piece initially with the circular sander and 60-grit sandpaper.

At the beginning of the project, I though I would have had a much calmer week to do so, but it quickly turned out this was a pretty busy week to be working on a box, so choosing pre-cut wood would have been a much calmer process. Furthermore, it was challenging attempting to find wood remaining in the shop that did not have complex flaws to work with. However, being able to cut my own wood was still a pretty rewarding experience.

Phase 2: Creating the Frames

After cutting out the pieces, it was now the time to create the frames of the crate. To do so, I would have to use a corner clamp, 2 regular clamps, and a power drill with a 1/8″ bit for the screw holes and 5/16″ for the countersinking hole. 1/4″ wood screws were used (I believe? I kinda forgot…)

First, I clamped down the corner clamp, and position the board pieces together. Then I drilled two holes with the 1/8″ bit for the crew, and countersink with a 5/16″ bit. Then I drilled in the screws to create the attachment. This would create one half of a complete frame for the box.

Then, the process was repeated with the other pieces of wood to create three total frames. For each frame, the imperfections were faced outwards, as they were planned to be reduces when the frames would be routed.

In this step, I made some notable mistakes when attaching the frames. For the first frame, I had attached the 14.5″ slab to the side of the 12″ slab rather than the reverse, how it was supposed to be to get the 16″ length, so that had to be corrected. The next issue was the last frame was connected with a slight off-set, but this was not noticed until another phase. To improve on these mistakes, I should have been more careful on how to attach the slabs together to get the desired shape and dimensions.

Phase 3: Routing Edges and Sanding Frames

The next phase of the project was to route the edges of the frames. To do so, the available hand router was used to create rounder edges for one frame, and to create a deeper cut for a different frame for a new pattern and to reduce wood imperfections.

To do so, the frame was clamped down to the table, and the router was run through the top and bottom edges of the frame. This procedure was repeated for another frame, but with a deeper cut to try a new patter and to reduce imperfections on the edges of the frame due to the chosen wood. For the third frame, I was given advice by Callum and Cris that it would better to sand instead of route due to the nature of the imperfections on the edges, and so that was planned for.

Overall, the edges were routed with no issues, and the first frame was very smooth. The second would have to receive some further sanding to smooth out the straight edges and corners, but the pattern was well formed.

The process of sanding the edges of one frame and overall sanding for the frames followed. To to this, the rotating sander was used with 60-grit and 120-grit sandpaper. To sand the edges, clamps were used to attach the piece to the table, and the rotating sander was driven through until the edges were rounded and imperfections on them reduced.

After the edges were sanded with 60-grit sandpaper, a similar set-up was used with the same frames, but now they were sanded with 120-grit sandpaper in order to smooth their edges and overall body out.

After both frames were completed, all pieces were then sanded down with 220-grit sandpaper to smooth out the best as possible before applying the stain in post-processing and finishing.

This phase went smoothly overall with no issues…until an offset assembly for that one frame I mentioned in the prior phase was pointed out by my peer, Callum. With this, I had to redo the assembly and re-sand before staining the parts (thanks Cal).

Phase 4: Staining pieces

The next phase was to stain the pieces before assembly. In this phase, the pieces used for the bottom planks and the pillars would be stained in Behr white wash pickling, and the outer frames would be stained with Behr dark walnut stain. These stains were picked because I believe the combination of the two would create a neat contrast when the box was assembled.

The first set of pieces to be stained were the 10″ 2×2 pieces and the remaining 14.5″ 1×4 pieces. They were stained as planned with the Behr white-picket stain, and 3 minutes were waited (as per the directions of the can) so the stain would soak into the wood. Afterwards, excess stain was wiped with paper towels. Something I struggled with was being able to neatly apply the stain. Staining got a bit messy, and I had to often go to the sink to rinse off the stain. For these pieces specifically, it seemed too that the stain was not the strongest, but I was able to notice it was ok. Next time, I would attempt to apply a second coat.

For the frames, the Behr dark walnut stain was used. Dark walnut was one of my favorite stains when we were given the previews, so I was looking forward to using it during my project. The process of applying the coat was less messy than the ones for the other pieces, but there was still a lot of rinsing for my hands. Once again, the instruction of the can was followed, so after 3 minutes of waiting, I wiped the excess stain with paper towels.

After applying the stain, the parts were set to dry on the drying rack outside for about one hour before assembly.

Overall, this phase went ok, though some overall improvements could be made for the process. The stain could be apply more neatly, and instead of paper towels, I could used have used a dedicated cloth for wiping excess stain as it would be neater.

Phase 5: Box assembly and Completion

The final building phase of the box was its assembly. The tools used for this phase was, once again, a power drill with a 1/8″ bit for the screw holes and 5/16″ for the countersinking hole paired with 1/4″ wood screws.

To begin the first step, clamps were used to clamp down a frame in order to attach the 12″ 1×4 pieces to use as floor boards. The 1/8″ bit was used to drill though the frame into the each board, with each side of the board getting 2 holes for attaching of screws. Each hole was countersunk with the 5/16″ before the screws were drilled in. The middle board was spaced by hand.

Something I noticed that to get a neater countersink drill, using the slower “1” setting for speed on the drill worked much better, as the countersink was slower to drill.

The next step was attaching the pillars to the box structure. The box frame was clamped, and the pillar was held flush to the corners of the frame. Once again, the 1/8″ bit was used for the holes and the 5/16″ for countersinking.

An issue I quickly ran into was screw placements. A lot of the holes I drilled that would have given a symmetrical screw pattern ended up colliding with screws placed on the frame, so screw placement for the pillars were done at places were the would not. This led to an inconsistent placement of screws across the box. To improve for next time, being more precise with placements would allow for a much neater screw presentation.

The final step to completing the box assembly was the attachment of the final frames. The 1/8″ bit was used for the holes and the 5/16″ for countersinking.

To begin, spare 1×4 pieces were used as spacers to create evenly-spaced slats between each frame. Then, the frame was placed over the pillars. It was quickly noticed that the fit of each frame was very tight to place, so I hand-hammered the frame into position before drilling and screwing to each pillar.

The final step of the box assembly was to sand the final assembly. To do so, 220-grit was used by hand to complete the sanding.

Fertig! The assembly of the box is complete.

As a final step before submitting, I made sure to check the dimensions of the box, with were about 16x12x11.5. There appeared to have been an issue with the height being slightly under the height of the specified dimensions, and I attempted to find a reason for the shortage, but I was left stumped. Overall though, the dimensions were overall accurate.

PHASE 6: REFLECTION and COST ESTIMATE

My overall experience with the box project was a tedious and provided some challenge, but was an overall rewarding experience working alone with this craft. While I had done wood working in the past, it was not at this sort of scale, but I feel as if I managed well to construct the box. While there are aspects of woodworking and of the process I followed can be massively improved, I feel that I am able to say that I can improve much more given the time and energy with the future woodworking endeavors I take.

If I were to repeat this project, I would certainly plan aspects better, such as time spent on labor, the neatness of assembly and staining, and to be more accurate with design. With the time I had left, many steps I once again felt a bit rushed to complete the project, so with more time, I would have been able to design a much neater box, such as reaching my desired stain coats and screw placements being neater. Sanding could have also been done do a higher lever to leave an even smoother surface. If I were to repeat the project, I would be more accurate with my measurements, and to be much more organized in regards to the placements of my screws. Perhaps I could use rulers and a pencil to keep screw placements level on the faces. I would also look into being more creative with the box, such as adding decals via painting or features such as a rope or metal handle.

The following is an estimated cost of the box/crate:

• 1″ x 4″ x 8ft Lumber (Home Depot) $8.45 x 3 = $25.35
• 2″ x 2″ x 8ft Lumber (Home Depot) $3.35
• Wood Scrap Estimate: $3
• 1″ 1/4 Wood Screws (Amazon): $0.05 x 44 = $2.20
• Behr Wood Stain: White Wash Pickling 8 oz. (Home Depot) = $9.28
• Behr Wood Stain: Dark Walnut 8 oz. (Home Depot) = $9.28
• Labor: $18/hr (national average for a woodworker) x 10 hours = $180

 

The estimated cost of my box/crate is $232.46. To lower the cost of the box, more efficient use of time would reduce labor costs, and to possibly reduce the scrap of wood and be more efficient in cutting wood.