Shoutout to Ricky for being an awesome teammate to work with on this project!

We started out by making all of the L connections for the side walls by using corner clamps and screwing two holes to secure the wood. We were very particular about making these connections as flush as possible.

After we made all of the pieces, we went to sand them at the connection in order to get it as smooth as possible. I tried to sand it enough in this way so that it feels like one continuous piece of wood when running your hand over the two pieces.

Next, we connected the L pieces to make the rectangular frames of the side walls. I mistakenly connected on of the frames in the wrong orientation, leaving ugly holes exposed on the outside. To fix this mistake, we decided to make wood puddy out of wood glue and saw dust (collected from the sanding tools). We made it to have the consistency of cookie dough, put it in the holes flush with the surface, and let it dry. I then sanded down the surface so it was flush like new. Only a slight discoloration remained. I also sanded down the new L+L connections to make them flush.

               

We then secured the bottom three planks to the inside of the first frame by screwing two wood screws into each side of each plank.

Next we secured the 2×2 planks to the base, deciding to secure with one screw to each level (3 screws per 2×2). For the second and third frames, I spaced them evenly using scrap wood of the same thickness. We now had a functional box! Ricky and I decided it would be cool to add some handles to make it more functional. Ricky took the lead on this and did a fantastic job using the jigsaw to cut out rounded square holes in two sides of the top frame. He also finished the wood with Watco Danish Oil.

                         

                                 

Cost analysis 

Materials

• 9 x 14.5” = total length of 130″ or ~ 11′ long piece of 1×4 lumber ($6.34) 
• 6 x 12” = total length of 72″ or 6′ long piece of 1×4 lumber ($3.62) 
• 4 x 10-11” = 44″ or ~4′ long piece of 2×2 lumber ($1.78) 
• 48 x 2 inch wood screws ($3.33)
• Watco Danish Oil ($13.98)

Labor 

• 20 hours labor x $7.50/hour = $150 (split between two people)

Machine use 

Assuming a $5/hour overhead for wood shop access x 11 hours shop time = $55

Total cost estimate = $234.05 / box 

**Expected time spent on each box could be cut in half. Total cost could drop by $102.50 making each box cost closer to $131.55**