In collaboration with my partner Raksha, I spent the last week making a wooden crate using techniques we learned in class.

To start, we took the pieces of wood and used the clamps that can hold two planks at a 90-degree angle to drill the side pieces together. In this step, we marked out the places we were going to place the screws and used multiple different drill bits to make sure that everything was placed neatly. We did this for all 12 of the wood planks, with each level using two of the shorter planks and two long planks to make 3 rectangular pieces. After we had all three levels of the crate, we moved on to routing the pieces.

In routing the pieces, we clamped the pieces to the ledge of the table. As for the routing machine setup, we lined up the router tip that makes the edges round. We made sure to level that piece with the flat edge of the routing machine to make sure there were no discrepancies that would be indented onto the final product. We routed all the edges of the layers of the crate and the bottom pieces, so our crate is, overall, very round. To route, we started the machine, and once it got up to maximum speed, we brought it to the edge while leveling and shaving off the edges of the machine.

After routing all the edges of the components of the crate, we realized that we oriented the edges of the planks wrong (the long edge was drilled in instead of the short edge), so we had to take apart what we made, screw everything together, and reroute everything. In addition, some of our planks from the first round had split from the screws, so I decided to replace those planks. After these processes, we used two sandpapers–one rough one and one fine grain one (Rough one first) and sanded the piece until it was silky smooth.

After redrilling the three tiers of the crate, we started staining the piece. My partner and I wanted a deep brown stain on this piece. Knowing this, we picked a deep mahogany color and stained the piece 4 times, waiting 5 minutes in between and wiping it off after the initial drying. We used a sponge brush and brushed with the grain to ensure the crate had the most consistent color. Then, after we had stained the crate, we put it on the rack to dry for 24 hours. After waiting for the stain to dry for a few hours, we clamped together the bottom and the support beams of the crate, putting the final product together before the final step, placing the crate together.

We used the Danish finishing oil to seal off our final work. With this, I put the oil on a scrap piece of fabric and rubbed it into it. After I waited 15 minutes for it to briefly dry, as required by the instructions, I placed it on another layer. After this final layer, I put the crate on the drying rack for the final drying before turning it in, putting on my laser cut nametag, and cleaning up.

Clean workstation:

Final Product:

Overall, I am pleased with the final product. However, we did hit a roadblock upon realizing that the orientation of our piece was wrong. Thankfully, however, we were able to figure it out relatively fast and continue our project on schedule. Aside from the extra drill holes, the final product is very polished, but we did our best to sand it well and cover it up as much as possible. Since we sanded the final product so much, our crate is relatively smooth, which is good for the overall cohesiveness of the piece. In addition, I am glad we routed the bottom (even if you cannot see it) because that is an extra detail that makes the piece look polished.

Cost Breakdown

Wood Planks – 12in x 3.5in x 0.656 in x 6 short planks + 16in x 3.5in x 0.656 in  x  9 planks = about $5.96  Lowe’s

Wood support – one long beam used to cut the smaller supports = $1.98 Lowe’s

Wood screws = $7.99 Amazon

Rust-Oleum Red Mahogany Stain – $7.89 Home Depot

Rust-Oleum Danish Oil Finish – $24.99 Amazon

Labor – $23.93 per hour (Average for Carpenter in Texas) x 10 hours = $239.30 ZipRecruiter

Total – $288.11