Keggers Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 A few months ago Marc hosted a video showing a civil war woodworking book he was currently reading. As a history buff, I was intrigued and ended up ordering a copy of this book for myself.In the book I found this crate and decided to build a few of them to sell and give as gifts. I've made several of these easy to make crates using cherry, walnut, hickory and red oak.The crate pictured is rift sawn red oak with a colonial maple stain. I used step dowels in place of nails. I prefer the look of the dowels to nails.It's an easy project that is fun to build. I'm thinking for Christmas - yep I'm already thinking about Christmas gifts! - I'd make a few more and fill them with apples or oranges and give them as gifts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Slicker than a Christmas ribbon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted August 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Slicker than a Christmas ribbon!Thank you, Richard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Very cool! Excellent finish!Getting a jump on Christmas is always a good idea too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I used to make small crates for cassettes and CD's out of scrap. I used brass escutcheon pins. Nice idea about those stepped dowels . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 That's cool! Very nice execution, I like the dowels better, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted August 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 That's cool! Very nice execution, I like the dowels better, too.Thank you, Ross. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Neat looking Kent. This is the second time today that I've read of "stepped". The other was in an article in FWW where the slats of the back of a bench were inserted into a stepped mortise. Did you make the stepped dowels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted August 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Neat looking Kent. This is the second time today that I've read of "stepped". The other was in an article in FWW where the slats of the back of a bench were inserted into a stepped mortise. Did you make the stepped dowels?Thank you, Coop. No, I didn't make the step dowels. I used Miller's step dowels. I first saw Norm using them on the New Yankee Workshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 That looks realy good..Great gift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted August 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 That looks realy good..Great gift.Thank you! It's not a difficult project but it's fun to build. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid Roger Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 I really like those little crates. The only thing that I would do differently is, I would cut some hand holes in the end pieces to make it easier to pick up and carry.I remember as a 12 year old working in a fruit & veggie stand and carrying apple and peach boxes around, those weren't made for looks, they were for a purpose though. (and to make go-carts and scooters with when empty ) Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Kent, what are the dimensions of the crates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted August 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Kent, what are the dimensions of the crates?18" long x 13" wide x 4" high and 3 1/2" deep. The end pieces are 3/4" thick and the slats are 1/2" thick. I really like those little crates. The only thing that I would do differently is, I would cut some hand holes in the end pieces to make it easier to pick up and carry.I remember as a 12 year old working in a fruit & veggie stand and carrying apple and peach boxes around, those weren't made for looks, they were for a purpose though. (and to make go-carts and scooters with when empty ) RogThank you, Rog. I have made some of them with handles. I actually just bought some red oak handles off eBay for a larger crate project. I didn't put handles on some of them because the civil war crates didn't have them. I agree it is a lot easier to pick them up with handles or hand holds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Hamler Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 Interesting use for the crates; I wouldn't have thought of that. Nice work.A.J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted August 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 Interesting use for the crates; I wouldn't have thought of that. Nice work.A.J.Thank you, A.J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prov163 Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Well done and beautifully finished. I love the Miller stepped dowels and have used them on several projects. You incorporated them nicely here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Well done and beautifully finished. I love the Miller stepped dowels and have used them on several projects. You incorporated them nicely here.Thank you for the kind words! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.