Hello!! It’s Lindsey coming back to you with another one of her fabulous creations: a wooden crate!! I worked solo to complete this process, as I wanted to push myself to see if I could do it, and I also want to be able to take it home after this class is over! (My apartment desperately needs more storage options…) I chose the beginner level, as I have pretty much never entered a wood shop before, other than one time to complete one part of my ENGI 120 project (shoutout to my DM Anas for helping me out there). However, since I chose to work on my own, cut my own wood, and use two different router bits, I went a little beyond the requirements of the beginner directions.

The first step in my process was to cut the wood from the 1×4 and 2×2 pieces provided. Unfortunately, the first time I attempted to do this, we were all out of 1×4 wood, so I simply cut my 2×2 pieces and thoroughly sanded them, coming back the next morning to do my 1x4s. Cutting and sanding every single piece took me around an hour and a half. I cut 9 x 14.5” long pieces of 1×4 lumber, 6 x 12” long pieces of 1×4 lumber and 4 x 10” long pieces of 2×2 lumber. Since 1×4 lumber costs $6.98 for a 12′ piece, that is $9.81 for the 1x4s, and since 2×2 costs $3.55 for a 8′ piece, that is $1.48 for the 2x2s, giving a total of $11.29 for the lumber, which we can round up to $15 based on acquisition fees and taxes. Valuing my labor at $15 an hour since I’m not very experienced, labor costs for the hour and a half are $22.50, giving a total of $37.50 for the cutting and sanding process.

After all the pieces had been acquired it was time to put them together. Using the corner clamp and wood screws, I created 3 frames out of the 1×4 pieces, leaving 3 14.5” 1×4 pieces remaining for the base. This process only took around a half hour to complete ($7.50 in labor costs). Then I had to route the edges of the frames. At this point I ran into some troubles. Changing the router bit was a total hassle, and even some of the lab assistants working there didn’t know how to do it. However, once that part was over, routing the edges proved to be a pretty simple process, that only took me around a half hour for all three frames, routing them all twice with a different bit for the top and the bottom. ($7.50 in labor costs, again)

Finally, it was time to put it all together. The process of screwing in the three bottom boards, the four 2×2 pieces to hold up the other two frames, and then finally putting all the frames together took me around an hour. ($15 labor costs)

Then it was post processing o’clock! Time for sanding. I put on my driving playlist which is just 80’s rock (it doesn’t get enough use since I don’t have a car at Rice) and sanded away, working my way through the grits to 220. This took me around an hour ($15 labor costs). Then I stained the wood a dark mahogany color. I really wanted the color to be dark so I did 2 coats on the outside, but just one on the inside. This took me around an hour, using a paintbrush to get in the little hard-to-reach crevices. ($15 more)

And then I was done!! And look at this gorgeous crate I have to show for it. This will fit wonderfully in my barren little apartment :). Summing up all the costs I have $97.50 so let’s just say it costs $100. I’m very happy with my little wooden crate.