Wooden Crates
I recently build a couple of building with board and batten siding and needed to find a project in which to use the offcuts. A perfect project is wooden crates, which can make use of an offcut only 12” long.
Having made quite a few wooden crates, I prefer crates that are 12” by 20”. Of course, the actual dimensions can vary a bit depending on their use and the materials, but this is a good size that feels comfortable in my hands. Typically I use 12x or 10x material that’s planed to around 5/8” thick.
The crates fit together with 1/2” finger joints and have a rabbet for a bottom board. The bottom board can either be a solid 12x board that’s 1/2” thick, or fine 1/4” plywood such as ApplyPly or EuroPly. The plywood is expensive (over $100), but a single sheet can make 20 crates ($5-6 per crate).
A critical part is the handle, which I cut out of each end. I form a 4.5” slot centered 2” down by first drilling two 1 1/8” holes. I next use a router bit to join the holes into a slot. And then a roundover router bit to give the handles a radiused edge.
Since the materials are construction offcuts, they typically have a fair amount of cupping to them, so for the glue-up I need to use a lot of clamps to get everything nice and tight together. Ideally my joints fit tightly together by hand without pounding, but if they are too tight, then I can use hide glue so they slide together.