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wood box/crate - PEP BB dimensional.sand.box

BB dimensional lumber woodworking - sand badge
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This is a badge bit (BB) that is part of the PEP curriculum.  Completing this BB is part of getting the sand badge in Dimensional Lumber Woodworking.

Sometimes things need to be put in their place.  Let's make a place for them.  Let's call it a box or crate.  







To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- at least one cubic foot
- have a bottom (no lid required)
- sides are at least 50% wood so things don't fall out
- made from untreated wood free of glues
- no paint, stains or oils

Provide pics or video (less than two minutes long):
- the wood you're starting with
- the construction partially underway
- the finished crate/box
- description of why you made the crate/box the size you did and what it's for

COMMENTS:
 
steward
Posts: 6440
Location: United States
3017
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This is the wood I started with. I used the wood in the first picture to make the siding and the posts. I used the wood in the second picture to make the base to keep things from falling out of the bottom of the crate.






This is a progress picture.



This is my completed crate.



This is my completed crate fulfilling its intended function. I made this crate 14 inches cubed, because I wanted to use it for storing a bunch of wooden mallets. There were wooden mallets in the Shop lying around, which kind of bugged me, so, I made a crate to store them in. I did not need the crate to be huge, just large enough for the mallets that were cluttering the work space.
'
Staff note (Mike Haasl) :

I certify this BB complete!

 
gardener
Posts: 1234
Location: Denver, 6a / BSk, rental house dweller, going back to Wheaton Labs soon
823
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hugelkultur kids forest garden trees books wofati cooking bike rocket stoves
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These tiny clothes are not so tiny anymore, and they're out of control!

Time for a box.

I have a ton of these modular ikea shelves, and the cube inside dimension is nominally 13"w x 13"h x 15"d. My hope is to make more than a few of these, and improve the design each time.

Since this is storing clothes, I'm using cedar, some cedar 1x2 for the frame, and some 1x6 tonge & groove for the sides.

In the detail, you can see I deliberately made the rail proud of the post's foot a tiny bit. It's a tiny skiddable structure!
IMG_20200822_104551_1.jpg
Out of conclothes!
Out of conclothes!
IMG_20200821_145946_1.jpg
Heh, heh, starting wood
Heh, heh, starting wood
IMG_20200822_094106_1.jpg
Under construction
Under construction
IMG_20200822_104807_1.jpg
It works!
It works!
IMG_20200822_095721.jpg
Detail: it's a tiny skiddable structure!
Detail: it is a tiny skiddable structure
IMG_20200822_103304.jpg
15" deep
15
IMG_20200822_103323_1.jpg
by 13"
by 13
IMG_20200822_103314_1.jpg
by 13"
by 13
IMG_20200822_104025_1.jpg
Current diagram
Current diagram
Staff note (Mike Barkley) :

I certify this BB is complete.

 
pollinator
Posts: 344
Location: Zone 7a
226
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kids rabbit chicken food preservation fiber arts
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I needed a nesting box, so I made one.
Staff note (Ash Jackson) :

I certify this BB Complete! Enjoy your new Air Badge in Dimensional Woodworking!

 
gardener
Posts: 814
Location: Durham, NC
331
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I made a crate.  There is a very specific purpose for it.  I am testing a concept I've designed for an affordable, double-paned earthbag window.  To do this properly I need to situate one side of the window exposed to the outdoors and one side exposed to the indoors as if it were in a real earthbag home.  The only way I can do that is to replace one of the existing windows in my home with this test ADEW.  But the size of the earthbag window and the size of the existing window are not the same.  So I made this crate.  It is the right size to fit into my existing window frame once I remove the window.  Then I can create a mini-earthbag wall inside it, thereby creating what I hope is a realistic test of the window.

The wood is all scrap 2x4 and 4x4 from outside.  There is some fabulous pink ribbon in the picture but I assure you no glue, paint or glitter was used in the construction of this crate.  Just wood and nails.







This last image shows the steel pipe I am embedding in the earthbags, which will be cradled in the center of this crate.  Boot for scale.

Staff note (Nicole Alderman) :

I hereby certify that this badge bit is complete!

 
master gardener
Posts: 8918
Location: Pacific Wet Coast
4506
duck books chicken cooking food preservation ungarbage
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Did I admit I'm lousy at following instructions? I'll move this to Oddball if building a box to hold punky wood, dead chickens, biochar, finished compost and plant roots (the plant stems and leaves will stick out the top) doesn't count, but it *is* built out of recycled dimensional lumber, mostly recycled nails, and home made corner brackets.

Step One isn't really shown, but it involved disassembling a bunch of pallets to get flats for infilling other pallets and 2x4's for filling edges. It was a lot of work, and I only chose "HT" for Heat treated pallets.
Step Two was to start infilling gaps in skids:

The gap on the left side was just as big as the one still showing on the right.
I had scored four 6 ft long by ~30 inch tall skids. Two for this crate, and I will make a second matching one.

This shows the first side finished.

This shows the two 6 ft sides and the two 4 ft sides for the width. The four foot sides had to be shortened to 30 inches from the more typical 40 inch pallet size. After cutting them off to size with a skill saw, I fit a salvaged 2x4 into the gap between the existing flats and then filled in any gaps. The ends tended to have a bunch of narrow gaps, so I was going around to my stash of parts looking for a flat that was just the right width. You can also see the 2x4's that I had to fit into the gap between the front and the back of the skid at the "sides". This serves both to keep the dirt from falling out, and to allow me to fasten the edges of the panels together with my brackets.

This shows the aluminum brackets and the tools I used to level and screw around with. The small mattock was strategically place to hold that panel against the end wall while I got the bracket installed. My friend Pythagoras helped me get the box reasonably square and the level helped both vertically and horizontally, however it is *not* fine furniture, so "good enough" was the goal.

Here is an inside view with two chunks of wood already inside. It will take a *lot* of everything mentioned to fill it, but I'd like to to have some time to settle and then get topped up before spring planting!
The long term goal is that I want to be able to plant some annual veggies, or short-lived perennials despite getting older and be able to pick them easily. This bed is solid! I can lean on it, and sit on the edge and the amount of kneeling I can do is decreasing gradually. Things like tomatoes, bush beans, carrots etc. I want lots of wood in the bottom to hold water for our dry summers.
Staff note (gir bot) :

Mike Haasl approved this submission.

 
pollinator
Posts: 211
Location: Pacific Northwest
98
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I made a box out of wood
20210327_094037.jpg
I've got wood
I've got wood
20210327_100019.jpg
cut u up
cut u up
20210327_144334.jpg
make a frame
make a frame
20210327_144327.jpg
pre-drill the siding
pre-drill the siding
20210327_155822.jpg
now it's a box
now it's a box
20210327_155830.jpg
it's got more boxes inside. more things go in those boxes. Perhaps more boxes?
it's got more boxes inside. more things go in those boxes. Perhaps more boxes?
20210327_165310.jpg
a van is a kind of box
a van is a kind of box
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Mike Haasl approved this submission.

 
Posts: 73
Location: Alberta, Canada
78
kids monies chicken building woodworking homestead
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Submission flagged incomplete
I decided I needed a generic box of holding for the shop. Basically a place to temporarily hold things, or carry things around. 14" x 14" x 14" felt right, so that is what I decided to go with. I had some old bed rails (i ended up using 4 total) that I used for the sides, and an offcut that I used for the corners and bottom. The bed rails had some old existing paint on the edges, but no paint was used during construction, and nails were the only thing used to hold it together. All in all, not the prettiest thing, but it's functional.
Wood.jpg
The wood I started off with.
The wood I started off with.
Cut.jpg
All the pieces cut, plus the hammer and nails used.
All the pieces cut, plus the hammer and nails used.
Sides.jpg
Two of the sides assembled.
Two of the sides assembled.
Finished.jpg
All done!
All done!
Staff note (gir bot) :

Someone flagged this submission as not complete.
BBV price: 1
Note: Sorry, the "no paint" rule applies to old paint on upcycled wood as well. 

 
J Crozier
Posts: 73
Location: Alberta, Canada
78
kids monies chicken building woodworking homestead
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So for my Box of Holding Mark II I've sourced all shiny new wood. I made this one 12x12x14 as my other one ended up being just a bit too big to tuck away nice. Once again only nails were used to hold it all together.
Wood.jpg
Wood I started with.
Wood I started with.
Cut.jpg
All the pieces cut.
All the pieces cut.
Assembly.jpg
2 sides assembled.
2 sides assembled.
Done.jpg
All done.
All done.
Staff note (gir bot) :

Someone approved this submission.
Note: Lovely! I hope it does all the holding you want it to.

 
pollinator
Posts: 466
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The purpose of my crate is to serve as a compost-sifter for our community compost bins.  I use it to return chunky, carbon-rich and unfinished material from the finishing bin to the deposit bin, and remove gick.  I was super happy today walking to the garden, as I saw a neighbor using it!  Success!  I took that as a sign to go ahead and submit this post here on the forum.

Design requirements:
  • Width: A little wider than shoulder width, so that the average gardener can lift it easily and shake it front to back or side to side (for ergonomics)
  • Length (depth): Must not exceed about 1/3 the bin size (which is 1mx1m), so that a shovel can dig into and deposit the materials without removing the crate
  • Height: Enough to hold a couple shovel-fulls of compost, but shallow enough to stand over, inspect materials, and pick out any plastics or inappropriate gick
  • Materials: All salvaged, nothing purchased; no (or minimal) waste
  • Tools: Hand saw, Phillips-head screwdriver, hammer and nail for makeshift pilot holes

  • Materials:
  • Salvaged HT pallet wood from the dumpster
  • Scrap wood for corners from cleaning out a community basement
  • Hardware (screws and screw hooks) from an old picture frame kit
  • Mesh wire from community garden surplus


  • Scrap-wood.jpg
    Only needed two boards. Third board will be saved for future project.
    Only needed two boards. Third board will be saved for future project.
    Crate-Construction-progress.png
    Remove junk nails. Measure. Cut. Make one side. Make the other. Add remaining sides. Install screw hooks and mesh.
    Remove junk nails. Measure. Cut. Make one side. Make the other. Add remaining sides. Install screw hooks and mesh.
    Compost-sifter.png
    In place and operable.
    In place and operable.
    Staff note (gir bot) :

    Mike Haasl approved this submission.

     
    Posts: 31
    Location: Fernie, British Columbia
    33
    chicken building ungarbage
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    I thought I would make a box for carrying farm stuff around. I'm not sure exactly what it will be used for just yet. My idea was to build something that would be good for carrying veggies and/or food from our off site garden. It's 24'' x 16'' and is about 15'' deep.

    The wood I used was all stuff that I had lying around from other projects. The tongue and groove is cedar leftover from the tiny house I built two summers ago. It is a bit weathered from being stored semi covered but it's mostly dry and in decent shape, just a bit dirty. I made some 2x2 lumber for the frame out of a piece of 2x8 that I had under the deck.

    The main frame of the box is screwed together, and the panelling is attached to the outside with narrow crown staples.
    IMG_20220317_145627_resize_59.jpg
    Starting lumber
    Starting lumber
    IMG_20220317_150202_resize_55.jpg
    Making 2x2's (1.5'' x 1.5'')
    Making 2x2's (1.5'' x 1.5'')
    IMG_20220317_152203_resize_81.jpg
    everything cut and ready
    everything cut and ready
    IMG_20220317_153803_resize_69.jpg
    Frame assembled
    Frame assembled
    IMG_20220317_161413_resize_0.jpg
    Panels attached and floor installed. Just need some handles!
    Panels attached and floor installed. Just need some handles!
    IMG_20220317_163045_resize_49.jpg
    Finished crate
    Finished crate
    Staff note (gir bot) :

    Mike Haasl approved this submission.

     
    gardener
    Posts: 1762
    Location: British Columbia
    956
    3
    monies home care forest garden foraging chicken wood heat homestead ungarbage
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    Provide pics or video (less than two minutes long):
    - the wood you're starting with
    - the construction partially underway
    - the finished crate/box
    - description of why you made the crate/box the size you did and what it's for

    I made a box to hold the used tubes and tires in our ship. My husband works on bikes, so they accumulate quickly. They can be reused for a number of projects.  The box is 24 " x 15" and it fits between the two shelves in the shop.




    Staff note (gir bot) :

    Mike Haasl approved this submission.

     
    pollinator
    Posts: 100
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    Submission flagged incomplete
    I built this box so I could store spare lumber instead of having it be ground contact the whole time.
    IMG_3604.jpg
    My starting wood. The long piece will be cut in to 4x 20 inch sections
    My starting wood. The long piece will be cut in to 4x 20 inch sections
    IMG_3605.jpg
    Box under construction
    Box under construction
    IMG_3606.jpg
    Box finished
    Box finished
    IMG_3607.jpg
    Already in use
    Already in use
    Staff note (gir bot) :

    Someone flagged this submission as not complete.
    BBV price: 1
    Note: If it had a bottom we probably would have approved this.  To be a crate (or especially a box) it should have more wood than air on the sides.  We're updating the requirements a bit to clarify all this.

     
    gardener
    Posts: 1392
    Location: Washington State
    842
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    Here is my submission for the Dimensional Lumber Woodworking Aspect - Sand for Straw - Make a Wooden Crate BB.

    Wheaton Labs: I built a wooden crate for use in the shop or to take tools/supplies to projects.  The materials came from the shop under the chop saw and under the drill press.  I used 2x2 square pieces for the internal frame then 3/4" for crate bottom and sides.  The frame is screwed together and the bottom boards are screwed to the frame.  I used the brad nailer to affix the side panels to the frame.  Then I sanded the area that would be used as handles to go easy on hands.

    To show you've completed this Badge Bit, I have provided the following:

    Requirements:
    - at least one cubic foot: 11" x 14" x 12.5" tall (these measurements are inside the frame)
    - has a bottom (nearly solid)
    - sides are at least 50% wood so things don't fall out
    - made from untreated wood free of glues
    - no paint, stains, or oils
    Pictures:
    - the wood you're starting with
    - the construction partially underway
    - the finished crate/box
    1-Lumber.JPG
    the wood I started with - collected from scrap in WL Shop
    the wood I started with - collected from scrap in WL Shop
    2-assembling-the-frame.JPG
    assembling the frame
    assembling the frame
    3-Frame-Assembled.JPG
    frame assesmbled
    frame assesmbled
    4-Brad-Nailing-the-sides.JPG
    brad nailing the sides
    brad nailing the sides
    5-Finished.JPG
    a finished crate for tool or supplies storage in the shop
    a finished crate for tool or supplies storage in the shop
    Staff note (gir bot) :

    Someone approved this submission.

     
    pioneer
    Posts: 259
    Location: SF Bay, California Zone 10b
    128
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    forest garden fungi foraging cooking
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    I've made a crate using scrap lumber at the Wheaton Labs workshop. It's intended purpose is to hold kindling after it's split, so that it can be brought to the wood stove. I gathered the wood as I was building it (which I don't recommend BTW) so there's 3 separate photos of the wood I used. I also included measurements of the box using a tape measure.
    20220426_141606.jpg
    This wood was used for the bottom
    This wood was used for the bottom
    20220426_144606.jpg
    These columns were attached to the corners
    These columns were attached to the corners
    20220426_155709.jpg
    This wood was used for the sides
    This wood was used for the sides
    20220426_143048.jpg
    I hammered in the nails to fasten it
    I hammered in the nails to fasten it
    20220426_143139.jpg
    I used a drill to make pilot holes
    I used a drill to make pilot holes
    20220426_154026.jpg
    Bottom assembled and corner columns attached
    Bottom assembled and corner columns attached
    20220426_171243.jpg
    Finished crate
    Finished crate
    20220426_171319.jpg
    Width
    Width
    20220426_171333.jpg
    Length
    Length
    20220426_171339.jpg
    Height
    Height
    Staff note (gir bot) :

    Someone approved this submission.
    Note: I certify this badge bit complete.

     
    pollinator
    Posts: 270
    Location: Val d'Espoir, Quebec, Canada, zone3a at the bottom of a valley
    141
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    forest garden rabbit books chicken composting toilet food preservation bike building wood heat homestead composting
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    Here's my BB submission to create a wooden box-crate. Needed it to store many extra jars of stuff and bits in the shop wich i rarely use. The dimensions of the boxe was based on the extra wood i had on hand and the space it should fit under the shelf in the shop.
    20220807_151652.jpg
    Starting wood and tools
    Starting wood and tools
    20220807_152902.jpg
    During construction
    During construction
    20220807_155728.jpg
    Height
    Height
    20220807_155739.jpg
    Width
    Width
    20220807_155833.jpg
    After. In use in the shop.
    After. In use in the shop.
    Staff note (gir bot) :

    Mike Haasl approved this submission.

     
    Posts: 284
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    My scrappy crappy box. Will be a wool hen.
    PXL_20230205_022846391.jpg
    Scraps
    Scraps
    PXL_20230205_023946106.jpg
    Dogs breakfast of nails
    Dogs breakfast of nails
     
    Posts: 27
    Location: Billings, MT
    16
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    My thought was that a nice big box/crate would be great to organize our board games and fit them neatly on our book shelf in the living room.  I brought home this crate from the shop and the wife and kids looked at me like I had a three eyes, they did not think my idea was so great.  So, now I have an empty crate!  Oh well, it will still come in handy, I often find myself in need of sturdy bins in the garage, shop, and job site.

    I made it out of some scrap redwood from a fence I made for a client last summer.  The sides are a 2x12 ripped in half, and the slats are cut offs from the fence pickets.  It is 10" x 10.5" x 25" just shy of two cubic feet.

    I am a carpenter by trade, so I used any/all tools and technology available to me that I darn well felt like which includes, table saw, band saw, RO sander, hand saw, hammer and nails.  This was a skill building exercise because I decided to drive the finish nails by hand, which I do not usually do.  I was humbled by how bad I am at it and how many "roses" and bent nails there are.
    Scraps.jpg
    Redwood scraps
    Redwood scraps
    CUtting.jpg
    Cutting to length
    Cutting to length
    parts-ready.jpg
    Parts sanded and ready to go
    Parts sanded and ready to go
    first-piece.jpg
    First piece is always the toughest
    First piece is always the toughest
    spacing.jpg
    Evenly spaced slats
    Evenly spaced slats
    finished-with-clamp.jpg
    This is a 24" inch clamp for scale.
    This is a 24" inch clamp for scale.
    finished.jpg
    Forgive the horrible camera angle?
    Forgive the horrible camera angle?
    Staff note (gir bot) :

    Someone approved this submission.
    Note: Yes, it's amazing how dependent we can become on technology!

     
    Happiness is not a goal ... it's a by-product of a life well lived - Eleanor Roosevelt. Tiny ad:
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