Wooden Crates

Going through a furniture store has always been an inspiration to me.  I look at the different pieces and then I go through the process of building them in my head, and how I can modify and customize each one to my own tastes with only the tools I have at my disposal.  Walking through Wal Mart one day I saw they had wooden crates that resembled smaller versions of the old apple crates I grew up seeing in this area.  I could tell they were cheap and not very sturdy, but I immediately saw some uses for them that were really appealing to me around my home.  I also realized that none of the components of the crates were very lengthy nor thick.  They could all be made from scraps that I had laying around already.  On my next construction project, my dad and I were sent quite a bit of rough cut lumber that was warped and not cut quite to specifications.  I also had a table saw and chop saw set up to complete the cuts.  I could write down the lengths of each piece and go and cut out that list and deliver to my dad who was putting them up on the house.  That would leave me with time that most people I suppose would twiddle thumbs or play on smart phones.  I decided to cut the lengths of pieces I would need to begin making crates.  I cut crates out for two days in between cuts for the house which caused me to pretty much run from point A to point B delivering the cuts as I cut my own lengths from the scrap ends and the “throw away” pile.  I cut the corners from the 2x material with the table saw on a 45 degree angle, and I cut the straight slat pieces from all the other scrap.  

Furniture

When I got a huge pile completed I hauled them home and pieced them together into my first crates.  I used the crates to build shelves for my children’s clothes in their bedrooms. 

I soon found that those were not nearly enough, and also found more uses for the crates, and so I delved into the scrap lumber pile my dad and I had built up over the years from all the building projects we had completed.  I built crates and made shelves for my house with them and started having family and friends ask about them and began building them for their places as well.  I soon decided to advertise for the crates and began gathering lumber from all over the place to fill the orders, the rustic and tarnished wood seemed to draw more attention and so I would pick up wood from the roadside where people had dumped it, and off job sites from remodeling jobs, and from around the river and lake shores, from landscaping jobs where old landscape timbers were discarded and from cleaning up around friends’ homes.  I’ve cut up box springs, couch frames, beds, furniture, old decking boards, packing materials from lumber yards and even once cut up an old piano someone had thrown away.  I use the crates for so many things around my house I have nearly 100 in use at present. 

Selling

I’ve found that several of my advertising outlets tend to have their own quirks.  LetGo is the absolute worst for people trying to beat down your advertised price and thus I have gone up in each advertisement, so they feel they are getting a better deal.  OfferUp has been great for people being straight forward, but has not had nearly the responses, and Craigslist has by far been the greatest, both in quantity of inquiries as well as in fair dealings.  I’ve also learned not to let it get to me when people do not show up or do not follow through with their end of a deal on any of these, as I’ve had probably 50% back out once they requested me to make their crates, including one who requested special dimensions.  I suppose some folks are just that way and do not have any notion of anyone but themselves.  I have since stopped taking requests for special dimensions unless they have bought from me previously. 

Stewardship

Once again I find myself trying to be as efficient as possible with using wood scraps that would otherwise go to waste and rot or be thrown out.  God gave us the natural resources to use and be good stewards of.  I feel this is something I can do in a small way to make good on that. 

Genesis 1:26