Milk crates like this have a million uses.
And they also make really handy storage boxes.
Unfortunately you can't really obtain it legally
and they're also kind of ugly.
So I set out to make some storage boxes inspired by milk crates, of my own.
So this box being slightly larger than a milk crate
is similarly sturdy.
But it looks much nicer.
And you can legally.
In the studio I'm gonna go through all the steps
that I went through for making some boxes like this.
I just recently finished building my homemade slot mortising machine
so I used lots of mortise and tenon joints in making these boxes.
And so this video is another opportunity to see some of my jigs and machines in action.
So, enjoy the video.
I start by cutting some recycled Ikea shelving into strips
which I'm gonna use for the frames for the top and bottom of the box.
Next I use my table saw sled to cut the strips to length.
I'm cutting 2 at a time.
To join the corners, I use a very fine box joiner.
Actually more like a finger joint.
I'm using my homemade screw advance box joint gig
to cut these very fine joints.
Each turn of the crank gives me exactly the right spacing to
cut a finger joint with the width of the blade.
Being the width of the cut.
And here's my cut joints as came out of the jig.
The slots are joints and the rails with mortise and tenon joints.
This gives me lots of opportunities to use my
homemade slot mortising machine.
To make the shape for the handles
I start by drilling 2 large holes on either side of the handle hole.
To cut the space between the round holes I used once again my slot mortising machine
to make a straight cut between them to the round holes.
Next I use a 1/4 round bit to round out the edges of the handles.
Before gluing the top and bottom frames together I do just 1 more test fit
just to make sure everything fits nicely.
I made a wooden comb with the same finger spacing as my joints
to help me get the glue into the joints.
I have to check the square right away
because the joints actually end up tightening up pretty quickly.
Next I rub some sawdust onto the excess glue.
That way I can scrap off the excess glue with the sawdust
without smearing it all over the place.
To put the last piece in I have to actually glue up both joints at the same time.
It's always a little bit
tricky to get it in 'cause there's not very much time to
get it in before the glue really sets.
Next I cut the slats.
One 2 X 4's thick enough to cut three of these slats out of.
I'm ripping them on the table saw.
I run them all through the thickness planer just to
make sure they're all smooth and consistent thickness.
Next I used my table saw sled to cut the slats to length.
I can cut 3 of those at a time.
Next thing is my homemade tenon jig to cut the tenons on the end of the slats.
The tenon jig allows me to cut both sheets of the tenon with just one clamping in a jig.
Next I route the edges of the slats just using a quarter round bit of the router.
Next I cut the shoulders of the tenons.
I only need to take off a tiny amount so I'm just pushing it across the saw blade sideways.
Next I round the edges of the tenon with my carving knife.
There's a lot of edges to cut so I'm going through this pretty quickly.
Next I glue all the slats into the bottom frame.
To glue it together with the top frame is more difficult
because I have to actually apply the glue to
every single one of my joints before mating them together.
This is where it gets tricky because I have to get all the slats to fit in their respective holes.
They don't all align perfectly so it's all a matter of
pushing them in the right spot and then banging them in.
Next I apply some clamps to it just to make sure everything is really pressed together.
For the corners of the box I make some L-shaped profiles on the table saw
which I then glue into the corners.
Here's one of my L-shaped profiles which I'm just about to glue into the corner of the box.
To glue the bottom onto the boxes
I cut the rabbet along the bottom inside edge.
I'm using my slot mortise machine as a router table to do this.
For the bottom of the boxes I just used plywood.
The plywood I'm using here is actually recycled from an old desk
so part of it is stained.
Because I didn't cut my rabbets all the way to the corner
I need to trim the corners off of my plywood bottom.
I put some glue into the rabbet in the bottom of the box
and spread it around with a rubber spatula before I
put the bottom in.
Although I glued the bottom onto the boxes
just for good measure I'm also attaching it with some screws.
Next I use my table saw to flush trim all of my box joint edges.
I then use a quarter round router bit
to round the corners of the box nicely.
I use the same router bit to route outside top and bottom edges of the box.
Finally I'm trimming the box up a little bit with a hand plane.
Especially the inside edges because I didn't route those.
And the boxes are all done. I hope you enjoyed this video.