I need to make a wooden box to ship something delicate. Could I please get some pointers?
Hi Tilderinos,
I've got to ship some wrought iron to a blacksmith in another country to be reforged and properly heat treated. I've worked with them before and they're far better than anything that is available in my country.
They've asked me to ship the pieces in a wooden box, that is not real wood (I don't know the English term for it). It must be processed wood, the names in our hardware stores are multiplex and plywood underlayment etc. This is to avoid customs issues with untreated wood.
I have been advised to make the sides of the box multiplex, with underlayment for the top and the bottom. I have my dimensions, but I have never done a woodworking project before and I am nervous the men in the hardware store will laugh at me for my inexperience.
I have some basic questions like:
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Is it okay to go to the hardware place and ask them to cut my pieces to size?
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The box must hold together fine, but it doesn't need to be beautiful or lasting. I am thinking of putting the top and bottom on like the back of an IKEA wardrobe, with tacks, but my wife says hiring a staple gun might save a lot of time. Would a staple gun be too aggressive and potentially wreck the rather soft treated wood?
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Lastly... Could someone just reassure me this will be fine? I associate woodworking as a very masculine 'father' skill and I did not have one of those. I have very poor spatial awareness and my wife is the furniture assembler in the house, so she will be helping me, but this is my first time trying this craft that I find very intimidating.
Thank you for any input anyone is able to provide!
As an intermediary woodworker: Anyone laughing at you is no woodworker you want advice from anyways. I'm not sure what country you're in, but the woodworkers I've met throughout the years have always been very eager to hear my ideas and share their thoughts.
Absolutely, you can even call and ask if they offer in store cuts as you don't have a good saw for the dimensions you need.
I'm not sure what weight or wood thickness you're working with, so I'll preemptively recommend screws. Staples can come out without too much force. Nails are stronger, screws are best.
My friend, everyone sucked at most things the first time they tried them. The only reason I'm a halfway decent woodworker now is because one of my best friends growing up was the son of a carpenter and taught me a whole bunch of shit when we hung out on the weekends. Go for it! Worst case scenario, it's a wash and you have to start over, but think of how much you'll have learned along the way!
There's a ton of good YouTube carpenters and tutorials if you to need them.
More for if you want an alternative to assembling your own crate (probably the best English word for this): At least in the U.S., there are companies that will sell you pre-cut crates with assembly instructions. I donāt know which shipper you are using, but they may be able to assemble a crate and pack your iron for you.
I think you've gotten really good feedback so far, but to address:
Yes, this is going to go just fine. š Despite not doing much wood working, I think building a plywood shipping crate is a great place to start. Between you, your wife, and YouTube I think you've got this under control.
I would strongly recommend using screws instead of nails or staples. I think the people receiving the crate will be greatful they can open it by unscrewing a lid. Nails can be a bigger pain to remove.
Even more grateful if you circle the ones that take the lid off with a marker.
Also, if customs might want a look, use screws.
Thank you so much to everyone who replied in this thread, I sincerely appreciate it.
@goose
@nukeman
@Englerdy
@creesch
I really appreciate the practical suggestions as well as the moral support. I don't know why this is freaking me out so much, but I have the confidence to take the first steps. Thank you for taking the time
@goose
@nukeman
@Englerdy
@creesch
@chocobean
@lostwax
@Englerdy
I know this is a very late update and potentially necroposting, but, I did it!
I am so proud of myself and I now have a baseline set of tools that I am slowly building upon. I learned many practical things from this process, but, if you will allow me to be a bit earnest here, I did not have a dad/uncle/cool homesteading aunt/safe elder figure to teach me things like this.
I really appreciate you all giving both practical and encouragement advice. I feel so proud I was able to do something I've been passively discouraged from doing all my life, and it makes me excited to know that I am capable of learning new things. Also, it gave me such a satisfaction getting the little details right and having something to show for it at the end of it!
Thank you all, sincerely. What for you was a couple of minutes writing out a comment on a website helped me get over an adulthood-long block in 'I'll never be able to do that, why try', and that has given me a huge boost in confidence and an eagerness to try other stuff I've never learned! Thank you!!!
I'm proud of you @knifemissile! This was a delightful notification to get and I'm glad for the update. It's really exciting to see someone overcome a "doing a hard thing" hurdle and finding out that so often they CAN do the hard thing. I'm excited for your momentum and hope you attempt many more things you might have been intimidated to try. š
You did it!!! Great job and I'm so happy for you! Not an exaggeration at all because, as you mentioned, there's a lot more going on here more than "person makes a box": we all have things about the way we grew up that not only doesn't add to our confidence in trying a new thing, but can actively take away from it.
Yay you got a beginning tool set as well! It's going to be exciting when another opportunity comes along and instead of the old trepidation, there may (also) come a rush of "yes! I can do this!"
:) I'll second goose to request for pictures if you're up for it. And if you want to write more details about the build I'm all ears
Glad to hear it! If I can offer you one piece of parting advice: Don't buy a tool til you have a job for it. Otherwise you'll quickly find yourself broke, but with a well stocked workshop. Got any pics of your handywork?
Here she is! The hardware store was so kind with the cutting that I took it back after I'd drilled, glued, and screwed it together. I wanted to sand some of the rough edges off in case a delivery person or logistics worker hurt their hand.
After the customs inspection I screwed the lid down and felt so cool and like a pro while the FedEx man watched on!!!
It looks great! Perhaps you can participate in Timasomo! I'm planning to put together some floating shelves, I may start today.
That looks lovely, a perfectly fine little (well, long) box! The sides look nice and sturdy, nice even placement of the screws, and, assuming you screwed the lid on the same way, it should be very easy to open it back up by the recipient.
Also good on you for sanding down the edges, nobody likes splinters in their hands!
I'll answer your questions, but I also want to point out that you might be able to just buy a crate for your purposes. I have no clue what country you are in but here I am finding multiple webstores offering prebuild shipping crate. These stores also mention that their crates comply with ISPM-15 requirements which I think is the wood treatment your blacksmith mentioned. I don't think we are in the same country, but just an example of a store I found.
Generally speaking hardware stores in my country offer this as a service. So, yes.
Nails will work. But, since nails can be pulled out if circumstances are really unlucky there is a small risk of a panel being pulled out entirely during shipping. So you might want to also secure each panel with a few screws to avoid that.
For screws you want to pre drill to avoid cracking the wood.
Also you might want to look online to prevent reinventing the wheel. I had a quick look.
Absolutely!
Hello friend, you have already gotten some fantastic advice including pre-built boxes which I also concur would be the best choice. I also grew up without a woodworking adult, and actually discouraged to try because woman, but try it anyway and it's one of those easy to learn lifetime to master type things where one would never get better without trying. Think of it as being prepared for if young people in your life can benefit from learning from you in the future.
If you did have to make your own box, or if you want to try making something to learn as a skill, that's totally fantastic and you'll be fine!
I do have some tools to recommend for a first time project or to have around the house for fixing things. Aside from the safety eye glasses, everything else is optional, but items that looking back I wish I would have gotten these for my very first project.
Click to expand spoiler.
My first adult wood project was hammer and nails because I was trying to be cheap. The headache and bent nails and the fact I can't take it apart for reworking sucked.
Powered sanding devices are also quite cheap now but manual is fine for occasional projects. Wood you buy from the store is very rough and will cut your hands a little until sanded. Also just feels much nicer and finished when sanded. Surprising how many products come with raw unsanded surfaces these days as well. Safety Gear are mandatory for your eyes.
As a software person, I'm always frustrated that in real life things move and don't interface together ... On a project like yours it's crazy helpful if the corners are held tightly at 90Ā° angle both while you prepare the holes, and when fastening together with screws.
general advice
Generic advice:
Pre-drill holes. @creesch is right. Don't skip. There are plastic drill guides if you are having trouble making the holes straight.
Measure twice cut once. :| this doesn't stop being true even with experience. Don't worry about embarrassment when mistakes are made we all still do.
When buying natural wood at the store, ask the staff to pick out straight pieces for you. The staff will usually take a lot of pride in being able to select something good and spend a long time making sure they select good, square, not damaged and not twisted or weirdly knotted pieces. For MDF or composite stuff just look for no obvious water / physical damage.
Stop working as soon as you feel tired. Hardware space is unforgiving; when you are feeling tired, that's when expensive mistakes happen and injuries more likely to occur. When it gets dark, either turn on better shop lights or wait for tomorrow, again because of expensive mistakes and risk of injuries.
Don't be intimidated by all the types of fancy woodworking joints. The humble but tried and true butt joint is perfect for most projects you're not entering a state fair or passing down as heirloom.
Some cities nowadays have Workshops for condo residents that come with all kinds of tools and beautiful work benches. If you live in one / have a buddy who has access to one it's well worth it to use one.
Thank you so much Chocobean. And thank you for both the kind words and the useful tips, I will be saving them. And thank you for the encouragement, I have been discouraged before and it is nice to hear that there are other people out there who aren't Mountain Men who have been able to learn this skill! (Ė¶ĖįĖĖµ)
There's a little point I want to make, as gently as possible, having read this and your other comments. I am fairly well unequivocally one of your mountain men, I build things for a living, then do it on the weekends for fun and have the big black beard and everything. But me and everyone else in this scene, we're just people, same as you. I can sense your intimidation, both of the job you have in front of you and your perception of those who do this kind of work and while you can find a dickhead anywhere if you look hard enough, most of us are OK and are happy to teach anyone wanting to try. Most likely, no one is going to laugh at you or think less of you. And if they do, screw em, there's five or ten others that won't. You will be fine.
Generally no one will laugh at you if you walk in and say hey I don't know what I'm doing and need help. We all start somewhere. Bluffing and pretending you know more than you do runs a greater chance of annoying people.
It's completely OK but a rarely (not never) offered service here at least. A conversation or two would point you in the right direction though.
Good luck, you'll be fine.