How to Build a Wooden Shipping Crate
Wooden shipping crates are difficult to find but beautify the garden shed with a rustic feeling of natural wood. These boxes are used to place planters into so they blend with the surrounding decor. Use this box for carrying a few garden tools or use the box for its original purpose: to carry the harvest. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Coping saw Construction stapler Construction staples No. 4 wood screws Screwdriver Drill No. 4 drill bit, Board with 1-inch-square cross-section Half-sheet 1/4-inch pine veneer Sandpaper Soldering iron
Instructions
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Cut the slats from 1/4-inch pine veneer board. Slats are thin pieces of wood. Cut the board with a coping saw at 2 feet, going 30 inches across the grain of the wood. Carefully split the veneer parallel to the grain at intervals of 5 inches to yield six pieces. Save the veneer for later use.
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2
Cut ten 10.5-inch pieces of pine from boards with a cross-section of 1 square inch. Cut four more boards that are 11 inches long. Cut two more that are 22 inches long. Even though these boards have a cross-section of 1 inch square, they will be referred to as boards from here on out.
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3
Make the bottom of the crate. Staple two veneer pieces to one of the 10.5-inch boards. Do this so the side of the board is 1 inch shy of being flush with the end of the veneer slat. Turn the slat around and do this on the other end with another 10.5-inch piece. Add the 22-inch slats to the adjacent to the other two slats going the long way down the box at the outermost edges (forming a frame with the other two boards). These two one slats will face the inside of the box and will be at the outer corners where the sides can be stapled and the ends can be screwed.
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4
Make the sides of the crate. Repeat this procedure twice more with the remaining veneer slats and the 11-inch boards but modify the procedure. One of the slats should be attached with a corner overlapping the corner of the board while the other slat is only 1/4 inch above the other slat. This allows the 11-inch boards to stick out the top and create authenticity.
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5
Make the ends of the crate. Cut the remaining 10 1/2-inch boards at a corner with a 45 degree angle. Do this at the other end of each board so that the longest face from the first cut is also the longest face at the second cut. In other words, cut the ends so that the cuts at each end both slope toward each other. When the boards are cut, four of them should be able to match up all of the cut ends and make a frame. Staple this frame together using four pieces of the angularly cut wood. Make the rest of the angular wood into another frame for the other end. Cut four pieces of 10 1/2-inch (across the grain) by 10-inch (with the grain) veneer and split them down the middle. Tape these in pairs to the frames.
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6
Staple the wood generously but do not split it by weakening it with too many staples. Staple the two upright sides to the frame so that they are both flush on the bottom and form a bottomless box. Staple the bottom of the box onto the crate at the frames. Reinforce the bottom/sides by screwing each board into another board at each end of the box. the side panels with their end boards will be screwed to the long boards on the bottom panel. The long boards will be screwed into the end panels at an angle so that the screw has bit into the cross grain fibers of both boards and not the end where it is more likely to tear out.
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7
Use sandpaper to bevel the edges of the boards and a strong cloth full of screws and metal chunks to add a rustic look to the board by hitting it without breaking it. Leave the crate out in the weather a few days. Use a soldering iron to burn phrases like "Fragile" and "This End Up" into the wood.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not use pressure-treated wood unless the intent is to leave the basket out all day. Pressure-treated wood is toxic to burn or grow things near. Plants can concentrate certain toxins and should be grown only with untreated wood. Untreated wood also happens to be less expensive. If desired, a hole can be cut for a handle in the veneers at the ends just below the handles. Do this by drilling 1-inch holes at the ends of the handles flush with the upper board used in the frame and using the coping saw to do the rest. Leave the crate natural (without a finish) if it is to be used as a planter or to carry in vegetables.
This crate is not for heavier loads but for decorative purposes. Look for signs of give and fatigue in the basket before use. Before carrying an object in the box, test it to make sure that the load is not putting undue strain on the wood or the staples/screws. Make sure that screws and staples do not poke through the box since they can be sharp. These boxes can get weaker with age and use, so test it every time.
