This was the first time I had ever worked with wood to build something, so this was a great opportunity to learn.

I opted to have the wood cut to length for me, so I could focus more on the assembly and processing. The first step was to use the planar to ensure the wide surfaces were flat, and to use the orbital sander with 60 grit sandpaper on any rough sections. After the pieces were processed, they were assembled not frames using the corner clamps.

After the frames were assembled, they were sent to the table router so that we could have a rounded profile on all four sides of the top and bottom edges. The table router was used on the entire frame, as it allowed the rounded profile to match between pieces. One downside to this approach was that the four corner edges of the frame could not be used in the table router due to how close the screws were to the edge. The belt sander was necessary to achieve a round edge for the corners, each frame was rotated while sanding to create a rounded edge instead of a straight chamfer.

The bottom planks had not yet been assembled, so each individual piece was sent through the table router to round all the edges without the limitations of the screws.

The columns also used the table router, but only on the one edge that would face the inside of the box, and with a new profile with a “cove” shape, which was roughly the opposite of a round. This profile cut significantly more wood, so it was important to move the piece through the router much slower than before. Something important to note with switching to a different bit was that they need a bearing that is wide enough to end right when the cutting edge of the bit starts, as the workpiece rides along the bearing during the cut. The bearings are interchangeable between bits to help achieve this requirement.

Additionally, some of the columns had a very rough edge that couldn’t be improved through sanding, so I opted to use the table router on the opposite edge so that the rough edge would be “hidden” by the frames of the box.

 

After the routing, the frames, columns, and bottom pieces were sanded by hand with 120 grit sandpaper, and then by the orbital sander with 320 grit sandpaper. I was surprised to find that wood could feel that smooth.

To assemble the bottom of the box, the three bottom planks were placed within the frames to test and see which order, and in which frame they fit the best. Due to the frames not being perfectly straight, as well as the bottom planks not having the exact same length, I was able to find a combination that allowed each plank to have both end surfaces in full contact with the frame. The fixturing for the two side planks was simple, but it took longer to find a way to fixture the middle plank. The result was to clamp the frame to the table, align the middle plank, then use a heavy weight (in this case the boxes of screws were used) to keep the plank in place while a hole was drilled into it.

Next, the columns were assembled into the bottom frame with the fixturing shown, and the next two frames were placed on top with spare wood as spacers to complete the assembly of the box.

One coat of a walnut-colored stain was used on the entire box, with all surfaces except for the bottom done on one day, and the bottom done the next day after the rest had dried sufficiently.

After the box was fully assembled, one of the columns was about ½ inch taller than the rest, so the belt sander was used to bring the height equal to the rest. The sanded surface had the stain coat reapplied at the same time as the bottom surface of the crate.