Korie and I built our crate this past week, and it was way more laborious than I expected but I’m super proud of the results.
The TAs measured and cut our wood for us, so we had a bit of a head start. To start off, we set up a longer and shorter piece of wood using a corner clamp (see pictures below).
Figure 1: Corner clamps securing wood prior to drilling
We drilled the shorter piece of wood into the longer piece of wood. Because we had 3 rectangles to drill together to create each level, we tried to do multiple corners at the same time.
Below is another angle of the corner clamp, secured to the table and ready to be drilled in!
Figure 2: Alternate angle of corner clamps securing wood prior to drilling
We used a counter-sink and a pre-drill bit (⅛’’) prior to drilling in the screw. We began with pre-drilling first, and then using the counter sink, but quickly realized that it would be much easier to drill the countersink and then pre-drill, in order to make sure that the pre-drill was centered in the counter sink hole. Below is an example of a piece of wood with the countersinks drilled in first. We drilled two on each short-end of the smaller pieces of wood, using a pencil to make the spots prior to drilling to ensure they were relatively symmetrically spaced.
A learning lesson that we had very early on was that the screw had to stay straight as it went in the hole, otherwise there would be a very loud noise and the screw would be stripped before you realized it. Korie and I were really intentional about making sure to watch one another, and help each other keep our drill level and the screw straight as it entered the wood.
Figure 3: Counter-sink holes
When drilling in the third and fourth side of the rectangle, we used a scrap piece of wood to prop up the other side of the piece to keep it level. See below for an example of how we did this!
Figure 4: Positioning using scrap wood to keep frame level
Before we knew it, we were done with screwing together all the rectangular frames!
Figure 5: Assembled frames!
We moved on to sanding the rectangular frames and bottom free wood pieces. We used the orbital sander to smooth the surfaces and the corner edges, feeling the wood as we went to determine when to stop.
Figure 6: Using orbital sander to sand frames
We proceeded to route the edges of the rectangular frames using the table router.
We noticed that after 1 pass with the router, the edge wasn’t uniformly routed, so we went over each edge about 3 times to ensure that it was even.
Figure 7: Using table router on edges of rectangular frames
We next used sandpaper over the routed surfaces, to smoothen the newly formed edges (see picture below). Especially because we noticed that routing roughened the wooden edges, so they were no longer smooth to the touch without the additional sanding.
Figure 8: Hand sanding, post routing
After routing and re-sanding all the edges, the wood was visibly smooth, as well as smooth to the touch.
Figure 9: Smooth edges
It was important to be intentional about sanding well, because we planned to stain our wood. The evenness of the wood stain would be determined by stain application, as well as prior sanding.
We chose the ‘Golden Oak’ stain after doing a test application on a scrap piece of wood, and loving the color.
We applied the stain to each side of the wood using a foam applicator in thick, even layers and wiped the stain off each surface using a rag after approximately 5 minutes.
See below for the wooden surfaces with stain applied next to an unstained frame.
Figure 10: Golden oak stain vs no stain
Here are most of our pieces after the stain was applied and wiped off.
Figure 11: Wooden pieces immediately after staining
We then stacked the stained pieces on the drying rack outside, stacking them strategically to maximize the surface area that would be exposed to the air.
Figure 12: Placed on drying rack
It was quite late in the night at this point, and we didn’t realize the humidity was very high (80% and above) the following day, which really impacted the drying time of the stained wood.
After 48 hours out on the drying rack, we realized that the wood was still damp and the stain was transferring a bit when touched.
So we moved it inside to dry for an additional 24 hours. Unfortunately, the stain was still transferring when handled, however, we didn’t have any more time to wait, so we put on gloves to protect our hands from the stain and proceeded to finish drilling the bottom pieces as well as the posts. For the bottom pieces, we placed two screws in each bottom piece, on either side.
Figure 13: Assembling the frames, using scrap pieces of wood to keep consistent spacing
As seen above, we used scrap pieces of wood to keep a consistent gap in between the rectangular frames during drilling.
Figure 14: Completely assembled crate!
With the crate stained and fully assembled, we lightly sanded all the surfaces using 400 grit sandpaper to ensure the stain didn’t leave any unwanted texture.
Shortly after, we had our laser training session and created our nameplate.
Using wood glue, I secured my nameplate to the outside, center level of my crate, marking it officially complete!
Figure 15: Nameplate attached
See below for pictures of my cleaned workspace!
Cost Analysis:
| Material | Amount | Price | Source |
| Wood slats | Common: 21/32 in. x 18 in. x 6 ft.; Actual: 0.656 in. x 17.25 in. x 72 in. Edge-Glued Pine Panel | $34.97 | Home depot |
| Wood supports | 2 in. x 4 in. x 2 ft Piece of lumber | $1.52 | Home depot |
| Wood screws | Star Drive Flat Head Screws | $9.98 | Home depot |
| Wood Stain | Tried & True Golden Oak Wood Stain | $34.99/pint | Amazon |
| Labor time | 12 hours | $24/hr | ZipRecruiter |
| Total | $369.46 |
