How To Make A Beer Crate For 12oz Beer Bottles

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davis119 said:
Im confused u started with a 4x8 sheet and they cut it. And let u pay for just what u wanted?
Im just asking cuz its good to know when I make them
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No, paid for and received the full 4x8 sheet. I had them cut it to make it easier to transport. Basically got the material for half the price. I'm making 6 cases s I will use it all.
 
autobaun70 said:
No, paid for and received the full 4x8 sheet. I had them cut it to make it easier to transport. Basically got the material for half the price. I'm making 6 cases s I will use it all.
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Sorry. I got ya now. Im a little slow in the a.m.
 
I made one of these today. Easy, cheap, and very useful. I'll be making plenty more, soon. Fun little project.

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UncleDavid said:
Great idea!!! I wonder how your concept would work with nylon cord threaded into a grid pattern? I think I might try that. Nylon cord is cheaper than 1/8 inch hard board and easier to work with.
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I think that's a great idea as well and more mindful of the budget. The rods look great, but honestly took a $5 per crate average up to around $8. Not crazy by any means, but it does shift the cost more than a little.
 
These take 1 1x2 and 1 1x3 furring strips per crate? Going to pick up the pieces this weekend. Need to decide how much for about 5 crates
 
mjmac85 said:
These take 1 1x2 and 1 1x3 furring strips per crate? Going to pick up the pieces this weekend. Need to decide how much for about 5 crates
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The lumber store near me only sells them in eight foot lengths so it takes two 1x2 and two 1x3 furring strips to build one. I have quite a bit left over, but not enough to make a complete crate. Doing some quick math to figure how much you need to make 5 crates assuming you use eight foot lengths of furring strips, I come up with six 1x3's and seven 1x2's.
 
mjmac85 said:
These take 1 1x2 and 1 1x3 furring strips per crate? Going to pick up the pieces this weekend. Need to decide how much for about 5 crates
Click to expand...

Take a look at my earlier post and if you change things slightly you can build two crates with 5 pieces of wood (four 1x3 and one 1x2). it makes pretty efficient use of the lumber that way.
 
DirtyDirty said:
I made one of these today. Easy, cheap, and very useful. I'll be making plenty more, soon. Fun little project.
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Quick design suggestion, but they may be a bit more stack-friendly if you leave the 2 vertical pieces on the short sides an inch or 2 short of the top of the crate. This way the "legs" of the next box can nestle comfortably and inter-lock with the crate below.
 
jybingbrew said:
Take a look at my earlier post and if you change things slightly you can build two crates with 5 pieces of wood (four 1x3 and one 1x2). it makes pretty efficient use of the lumber that way.
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I like this idea better. I guess I will have to make 6 crates. I just got a card in the mail from the in laws with a $50 gift card to Lowes. I guess it's a sign. So thats 15 pieces total. 3 1x2 and 12 1x3. Is everyone just putting glue on the joints and then nailing?
 
Randar said:
Quick design suggestion, but they may be a bit more stack-friendly if you leave the 2 vertical pieces on the short sides an inch or 2 short of the top of the crate. This way the "legs" of the next box can nestle comfortably and inter-lock with the crate below.
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You don't have to cut them shorter, just move them down a half inch.
 
I made my own spin on this based on sierra nevada dimensions. I threw it all together in sketch-up so maybe I will throw a post up later with all the dimensions if anyone is interested. It fits like it was meant to be they bottles slide right in with less than a 1/16 of an inch play.

sierranevcrate03.jpg

sierranevcrate01.jpg

sierranevcrate02.jpg

crappy cellphone pics...

I designed it so I can use this one as the bottom crate and build the next ones with 1x4 on the side-base to stack directly onto the top of this one and on up... I will make a post later with all dimensions as I know sierra nevada bottles are popular around here..

Neil
 
Another option for wood is pallets. You can usually find them for free on craigslist or local stores.
 
Redcat said:
Another option for wood is pallets. You can usually find them for free on craigslist or local stores.
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They would look nice cuz its rough cut...... but they are a biTc# to take apart.

Some one posted a chair they made from them. Looks great but not worth the time IMO
 
I went with the original instruction and I love how they turned out. I am going to put 2 coats of stain and 1-2 coats of gloss and they will really be nice. Built 2 crates for under $5 with brad nails and wood glue. I have to build 5 more for the rest of my bottles even though I keg. They sure look nice by my keezer.

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jybingbrew said:
How do you do this? Just torch it with a blow torch and have some water handy?
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Yep... use a hand-held propane torch. Like you would use for soldering pipes. Similar to a MAPP gas torch. Wave the flame over the wood starting far away and getting closer to get the charing that you want. It's basically a large area wood burning instead of fine detail. I used to do this with a few small wood projects. It really brings out the grain if you do it right.
 
Cant wait to make some, and so cheap. So many options for woods and finishes! I would finish the wood before I assembled it. If your doing wood burning, if you screw it up you don't have to live with it.
 
idigg said:
I went with the original instruction and I love how they turned out. I am going to put 2 coats of stain and 1-2 coats of gloss and they will really be nice. Built 2 crates for under $5 with brad nails and wood glue. I have to build 5 more for the rest of my bottles even though I keg. They sure look nice by my keezer.
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How did you build them so cheaply? I think I must have bought the "wrong" wood. I got pine (from Lowe's) but I think it was "better than normal" pine - I forget the exactly labeling and I don't spend too much time in the lumber section. Let me go check the bar code....OK, I bought "EWP S4S", if that helps? I priced this out for oak and it was going to be about $40 for the lumber (including the scrap material, I went with the original "4 plank" approach).

My wife found cheap wooden crates online, way cheaper than I can make them, but I like the fact that I made them. :)

The wood for my single crate cost about $11.
 
HibsMax said:
How did you build them so cheaply? I think I must have bought the "wrong" wood. I got pine (from Lowe's) but I think it was "better than normal" pine - I forget the exactly labeling and I don't spend too much time in the lumber section. Let me go check the bar code....OK, I bought "EWP S4S", if that helps? I priced this out for oak and it was going to be about $40 for the lumber (including the scrap material, I went with the original "4 plank" approach).

My wife found cheap wooden crates online, way cheaper than I can make them, but I like the fact that I made them. :)

The wood for my single crate cost about $11.
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I think everyone is using Firring Strips to make it so cheap..
That is what I used... They are less than $1.00 per 8' length.
 
JonGrafto said:
I think everyone is using Firring Strips to make it so cheap..
That is what I used... They are less than $1.00 per 8' length.
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Yup, thats what I used. Less than $5 for two crates.
 
Great thread. I'll be building a few to solve my current problem: crap-loads of beer and no good way to store it for aging. What a terrible problem this is!
 
Ah, OK. Thanks. I did read the bill of materials and I had to google what a furring / firring strip actually is. LOL. I will ask at the DIY center because I didn't see anything that was obviously labeled as firring strips. I guess firring strips, by their nature, don't have to look too purdy because they are hidden. I think the wood I selected is not meant to be hidden and is of a higher quality, thus more expensive.

Cheers!

EDIT : checked Lowe's website and I found the furring. WOW, super cheap!
 
So my pops was at home depot today, I thought I'd ask him to look for the determined size pieces. He said they didn't have firring strips, and it would be $80 to build my four boxes. I naturally told him not to pick me any material up. Does any one have advice on what to look for before I go to home depot? I want to be able to call my pops crazy if the opportunity arises! Thanks, though I know its a dumb question..
 
I looked online and wasn't able to find the strips at home depot but they had them at Lowes. When I went shopping I just went to Lowes and skipped the orange box. Is there a Lowes available to you?
 
Anyone iron on logos?

I tried a few last night and they didn't transfer onto the wood.
 
FarmBoy530 said:
So my pops was at home depot today, I thought I'd ask him to look for the determined size pieces. He said they didn't have firring strips, and it would be $80 to build my four boxes. I naturally told him not to pick me any material up. Does any one have advice on what to look for before I go to home depot? I want to be able to call my pops crazy if the opportunity arises! Thanks, though I know its a dumb question..
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Here are the item numbers and links to the furring strips at HomeDepot.

1 x 3 x 8 Furring Strip Board
Model 164704
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100088011/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=furring+strips&storeId=10051


1 x 2 x 8 Furring Strip
Model 160954
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100075477/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=furring+strips&storeId=10051
 
FarmBoy530 said:
So my pops was at home depot today, I thought I'd ask him to look for the determined size pieces. He said they didn't have firring strips, and it would be $80 to build my four boxes. I naturally told him not to pick me any material up. Does any one have advice on what to look for before I go to home depot? I want to be able to call my pops crazy if the opportunity arises! Thanks, though I know its a dumb question..
Click to expand...

its going to be near the mounding. And 1byboards
They have roundish edges like a 2x4 and aren't the prettiest things. Ask some one there if u can't find them
 
Neilyboy said:
I made my own spin on this based on sierra nevada dimensions. I threw it all together in sketch-up so maybe I will throw a post up later with all the dimensions if anyone is interested. It fits like it was meant to be they bottles slide right in with less than a 1/16 of an inch play.



I designed it so I can use this one as the bottom crate and build the next ones with 1x4 on the side-base to stack directly onto the top of this one and on up... I will make a post later with all dimensions as I know sierra nevada bottles are popular around here..

Neil
Click to expand...

Waiting with baited breath :D
 
I made one crate last weekend using this pattern with some scrap 1x3. When I put my bottles in, I found that a few of them have the mouth even with the top of the crate. Easy fix - instead of 4-10" pcs and 4-10.5" pcs for the small ends, make them all 10.5. Also, you don't have to worry using the wrong size :)
 
jybingbrew said:
I made one slight modification that allows you to cut the # of pieces of lumber (assuming 8') from 4 pieces (2 of each) to 3 pieces by replacing the 5 17" slats made with the 1x2 with 4 17" pieces made with the 1x3.

This will actually let you make 2 full crates with 5 total piece since the 1x2 strip can be used across 2 differen crates by only using it for the vertical pieces.

Summary of the breakdown for one crate:

1x3: 18.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 10.5 | 10.5
1x3: 10.5 | 10.5 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17
1x2: 10 | 10 | 10 | 10
Click to expand...

Made mine in this manner then using someone else suggestion, I bumped the two 1x2" up 3/4" of an inch so that the crates interlock when stacked. Worked great. I made my dividers using cardboard, no going for pretty, just functional.
 
I built a bunch of these, just because I wanted to :mug: I don't bottle, but my brother in law does and he should like these. I did notice if you're not careful selecting out good furring stripes, you will have some bent crates. The pic with 7 stacked are leaning a good deal due to some really bent stripes. Oh well. There pretty stable 4 high. I stained 5 cherry and 2 dark ebony with a coat of clear. I like the cherry one's a lot, match my kitchen cabinets.

Cheers - Justin :mug:
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