Square bushel

[Wlmedley]

Does anyone know what would be the size of a square bushel crate.Bushel baskets have gotten expensive and I thought I might build some square ones out of thin white oak strips and solid wood ends.Also thinking about a air brad nailer to attach strips to ends.I have a compressor but have never owned or used an air nailer.Garden is looking good so far and I might have some extra potatoes to sell this fall.If not maybe sell some empty bushel crates  :laugh:

[GAB]

According to my dictionary a bushel is 2150.42 cubic inches.
If you build with inside dimensions of 12" wide x 18" long it only needs to be 9.956" tall.
If you build with inside dimensions of 12" wide x 15" long it only needs to be 11.947" tall.
Hope this helps.
GAB

[beenthere]

Plastic milk crates are often found cheap. They are 12 x 12 x 10.5 inches = 1550 cu.in

About ¾ bushel. 

Or might calculate cu.in of 5 gal plastic pails and sell that way. 

[Wlmedley]

Thanks a lot.You guys are a lot better mathematicians than I am.Internet wasn't much help.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

I make these to fit a dozen fruit jars. I use a 12" wide 1X8 for the ends for quarts and I think it is a 10" wide 1X6 for pints. As I remember my outside strips for quarts are 18" long and 16" for pints. I think the inside dimensions for quarts are 12" X 16" X 8". If I plane the end boards a little the pint crate perfectly nests inside the quart crate. My strips a 2" wide edgings salvaged off my 2" framing. I stand them up and cut/edge them in 1/2" drops which leaves a 3/8" X2" wide lath strip that I then sticker and air dry and cut to length. I use poplar and being that thin it dries real quick. I use a drill press to predrill the ends of the strips and I use ringed dry wall nails to help them old better. You can cut and predrill the strips in stacks of 4-5 at a time and knock out a bunch of crates pretty quickly. Good luck.

BTW - if you do want a square bushel I'd start with a standard size end board like a 1X10 or 1X12 then just set the width to an easy standard like 12", 14" or 16" and adjust the length from that to get the desired cubic inches for volume.

[Wlmedley]

Howard,that's what I was thinking about.They look good.Now that I know the size of a square bushel I'll make them slightly bigger so as not to short anyone.I was thinking a brad nailer might not split the wood but not sure.Would make it faster and they don't cost a lot.Might try one.

[Texas Ranger]

Air Nailers (pneumatic Nailers) come in different gauge nails.  It seems smaller is better for your application, cheaper in pawn shops., 

[Tom King]

I would use a medium crown (7/16") air stapler.  I use them for putting on wooden shingles, but they were first used for this type of thing.

[Don P]

That's what i use on the hard service crates. I wouldn't mind having a narrow crown for the lighter ones. Staples hold much better for this.

We have some marked wax boxes that might help with how they broke up the dimensions.
This is a 3/4 Bu box. It's about 15-1/2" long x 11" wide x 9" deep


 

This is 1/2 Bu. It's 10-3/4" x 14-1/2" x 7" deep


 

This is a 1-1/9 Bu. Its 15-1/2" x 11-1/2" x 13-1/2" deep

[beenthere]

This 18 ga stapler works very good.. 20v

20V MAX* XR® 18 GA Cordless Narrow Crown Stapler (Tool Only) | DEWALT

[Wlmedley]

Thanks DonP.Think I'll use the 1 1/9 size to be safe. Thanks beenthere. I'll check it out.Maybe they make a 14V as this is what my Dewalt tools are.If not I have a pretty big stationary compressor in the garage that doesn't get much use and I might get an air one.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Just remember when you nail into the end of the boards the fasteners don't hold as well so I'd avoid straight fasteners like brads or such. That is why I use the ringed dry wall nails. Screws are probably best but to reduce time and cost I tried the ringed nails. 

[kantuckid]

My thought was same as above. Having worked produce section in a grocery they are full of various boxes marked in lbs or volume. A bushel is not a consistent target as I recall as it varies with the veggie or fruit involved as I recall? Weight is a better choice if retails involved unless you growing or buying bulk then want to cash in on little peck or half peck baskets, etc. 
Built what suits you need bushel sized or not is my thought.
 In the garden we use plastic buckets & tubs or grocery sacks on an arm for beans & okra 100% of the time. 

Small, ringed shank box nails come to mind. 

[Tom King]

If you use Senco brand medium crown staples, that come in lengths up to 2-1/2", they not only won't split anything, but they have glue on the legs that heats up on the way in, and sets up so hard that you can't get much apart without tearing something up.

You can find the old MII guns, like one of mine I bought new in 1975 and still works fine, for 40 bucks used.  They're easy to fix if they don't work.  This model shoots up to a 2" length of 16 ga. staples.

They have a couple of small holes on a flange on the bottom.   Those were for pallet manufacturers to gang them in automated setups.

[Don P]

That glue takes about a year to grow out of you  :D
Actually most of them have some form of hot melt on them. It's funny, the best fasteners are not in construction, they are in pallet and crate manufacture. Depending in how the points on a staple are shaped for instance. They can make them want to cross, punch in straight, or splay. You'll never see an option at the building supply. In the 90's Bostitch came out with a nail they called the hurriquake, higher strength, ring shanked in such a way there was pretty much no pulling them. At a couple of bucks a box more, they bombed. It was a hopped up pallet nail.

[low_48]

I guess I was just too young when I first started dragging a metal bushel basket to feed hogs. It felt way bigger than the numbers given here! 

[kantuckid]

My first job was picking red potatoes in a Kansas field late summer. Was after the 5th grade and a buddies uncle owned the farm. Burlap bags filled got ya ten cents each. Bags were light until they were full. ;D Old guys stole my bags by dragging a few over to their rows for pay I lost.
 I made around $5 that day. 

[Wlmedley]

I always like to see how many bushel of potatoes I get out of the garden each year.Usually fill up a basket and then dump that in the back of the truck.The best year I ever had I planted 100 pounds and dug 30 bushels.That has never happened since.This looks like it might be a pretty good year so I figured some nice baskets full of potatoes might be pretty popular this fall either to sell or give to friends.I'd rather barter than sell.I've got a neighbor who gives me eggs and I try to repay him by doing small repair and welding jobs.I think in this kind of trading works out better for everybody.

[beenthere]

The best year I ever had I planted 100 pounds and dug 30 bushels. That has never happened since.

:D :D  Because you don't plant 100 pounds any more.  Learned your lesson.  ;) ;)

[Wlmedley]

You're right :laugh: I don't plant 100 pounds anymore but I did on a yearly basis back when I was younger.I really don't know why.Potatoes were pretty cheap and I always had a steady job.I guess it was a family tradition.My grandpa always had a big garden and it always made my mother feel a little more secure but they lived through a lot harder times than I have.I really don't know why I do it now.Nobody around here plants anything except maybe a few tomatoes. I guess old habits are hard to break.

[kantuckid]

Our old garden plot became infested with the Late Blight-AKA the Irish Potato Blight. It came in via what I thought was a real deal- a trailer load of free composted dairy manure. We got weeds I had to look up and the blight which is sort of like spent uranium as it's there for longer than I'll be around! 
We've moved the garden this year as potatoes and tomatoes both die off from that blight and there no real cure. We still have squash and pumpkins there in the old plot and hundreds of green maters coming on, so far, so good. Beans, okra, cukes, corn don't get bothered by that blight. 
Copper spray can squelch it but only so many times can it be used on stuff you eat and eventually the blight wins and you've blown time and money. 
As for cute containers for produce, up in VT/ME, etc., they make baskets from thick veneer cuts and one of the neat items is the bucket shaped ones made with heavier wood than a typical peach basket and nailed with copper nails. Wife collects baskets and we have one. I suppose they steam the wood, bend around a wooden form shape as it's built. Crafty but also serviceable. 
In grocery produce work, years ago, I (me an art trained guy) always got a kick out of the labels on wooden crate ends as many were very catchy. 
  

[thecfarm]

I can remember having a potato garden. I forgot when we stopped that, maybe when I was 12-13.
 But we still had a row or two of potatoes in the vegie garden.

[kantuckid]

A guy I worked with who carpentered in ID for some years, they could go into large potato fields after the harvest and pick the leftovers up for free. 
I can buy them here for less than the effort to grow them, but they are fun to grow. next county over the ext agents office has an adjoining farm produce auction that potatoes sell cheap plus seller tables with lots of Amish and other locals items.  

[Wlmedley]

kantuckid,Does this look like blight you were talking about.Hit my potatoes 2 years in a row about first of July.Plants looked perfect and then died all at once.A guy at farmers market said might be to much fertilizer so this year I didn't use any.So far they still look good.

 

[Don P]

Late blight turns them black. If it happens again cut a stem and look at the vascular system, if its an oozy mess it is probably a bacterial wilt.

Here's an ID page;
Identifying the Pathogen :: USABlight | A National Project on Tomato & Potato Late Blight

Umm, their breakout map is light, I've had a better one online before, I could watch the blight coming, for whatever that is worth  :-\. At the time I was hauling stuff from local farms to go down to the cities. One weekly trip, I had been burning blighted tomato plants all morning, hopped in the box truck and started doing pickups. My first couple are at stores and corners, then I'm driving on to Joe and Sally's tomato farm and the thought hit me. I cracked the window and told Joe what I had been doing and that i was "contagious". He busted out laughing, "It's on the wind and everywhere, I doubt you are any worse than the breeze". So much for getting out of loading 'maters  :D.

[samandothers]

My first job was picking red potatoes in a Kansas field late summer. 

I grew up digging potatoes versus picking.  Did you have some fancy potato trees or bushes?

[Wlmedley]

 

 
Made my first bushel crate and I think it turned out pretty good.Bought a air stapler at Harbor Frieght which will shoot 1 1/2" staples.Got the best one they had and it seems made well and works good.Kind of fun to use.Planning to make nine more .Hopefully get enough potatoes to fill them all.
 

[Don P]

Construction criticism? It looks heavy, which may not be a problem. The biggie I see is the bottom looks to be shot up from the bottom, if so the holding power of the staples is just in withdrawal. It might work or it might dump the load on your feet. I usually nail a cleat along the bottom edge of the sides that the bottom boards fasten to, then the staples are in shear, much more load holding power.

On those market runs I made pine crates to hold 30 doz eggs, the common commodity box size. The $3 one trip cardboard boxes were throw aways at the far end and ate into the farmers pocket. The chefs loved our crates and asked for our eggs. The eggs were better than commodity and the crates protected the eggs in busy coolers. It was our "brand". I picked up the empties and dropped off full crates. After I healed up and went back to work, the next driver whined about my heavy crates and insisted they went back to disposable boxes.
... and lasted less than a season  :. But there's the point on weight, the major complaint I get on crates is weight.

I just carried the stapler back down to the shop last night with new guts, I do like a stapler.

[Tom King]

I wasn't going to say anything, but an inch and a half seems a little short for 3/4".

There is a difference in holding power of glue on different brands of staples.  Some look like they have glue on them, and some don't even have any, but I've not found any that hold like Senco staples do.  I know that Bostitch don't.  1-1/2" Senco staples might hold if the wood is good and dry.

I'm having a hard time finding 2-1/2" stainless steel Senco staples.

[kantuckid]

From curiosity of a guy who worked 5.5 years in a supermarket back when and I've seen many wooden crates of course-I just googles old wooden fruit and vegetable crates. Lots of types and variations, most collectable of course, esp. if the labels intact. Use google images of old crates for some ideas. 
My own Dad made some craft wooden items when I was a kid, all from wooden crates. I own a couple of his projects, ones is a small10 drawer goodie cabinet that I have my antique and vintage ammo collection inside of. 
I had one store customer who raised rabbits and I gave him lots of wooden crates full of trimmings off of lettuce, etc. as back then much produce came straight from the fields to store. 
They were about 100% thin, rough sawed pine boards- except the ends which were 1/2-3/4" pine, often smoother with the artsy labels. 
Baskets are still made and used but not much as corrugated paper now or mesh & plastic bags 

[Wlmedley]

Thanks for the comments. I might have to change my design a little.The depth is a little oversized so I could change design and still be in spec.I used pine for slats 3/4" thick.I have some 1/2" poplar cut.May try that on one. I was afraid it would be to flimsy.Looked up crates on google,your right kantuckid there are a lot of good ideas.I should have googled crates to begin with instead of bushel 

[Wlmedley]

Don P took your advice and built another crate using 1/2" poplar slats and installed cleats for the bottom slats.It's quite a bit lighter and is still a little over a bushel.Tom King I can't use any longer staples in this gun but the ones I bought do have glue on them and seem to hold good.Thanks for all the advice.Never to old to learn.

 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Looks good and I suspect way over engineered for the weight intended. I can't tell from the picture but can the user get his finger between the slats for a secure grip? 

[thecfarm]

Would it be worth it to make them cleats a little wider so the lip would fit inside of the box under it?

[Wlmedley]

1/2" between slats Howard but good idea might space a little more on top slat.Thought about using rope handles on solid sections.Thecfarm , I don't think I'll be stacking them.Got to keep them simple to match my mind.😀

[Wlmedley]

Would it be worth it to make them cleats a little wider so the lip would fit inside of the box under it?

After thinking about it I understand what you are saying,make cleat wider so it would hang down and set in top another basket.All other dimensions would stay the same.Good idea,I'm a little slow to catch on.

[Tom King]

1-1/2" should be good for 1/2" material.  I expect it's stronger than most.

[Don P]

I'm getting mine lighter and lighter, I'm a framer, a 2x4 is a wee thing  :D. most recently, and we just got the basement "root cellar" roughed in at work, I need to make a bunch more boxes for quart jars.

I think the last ones had 1/2" bottoms and end panels with 3/8" sides. The end panels have an exterior cleat/nailer/handle thingy that gives more meat to nail and glue to. I think they were down to 3/4 x 1-1/4". Then under the bottom is a cleat across the bottom edge of each end piece. There's a set of ends glued up in clamps in the background. I used an 18ga pin nailer to shoot the 1/2" to the 3/4 nailers. You can clamp a stack with a bottle jack on the stack and a 4x4 to the ceiling. I like the dropped stacking cleat, genius  
This is an older pic but that style is pretty strong, the cutout is optional. On egg boxes, I learned it was not a great idea to have a hole in front of flats of eggs  :D. With the stacking cleat even more reason to leave the end solid, when stacked they could be mouse tight.

[kantuckid]

  Looks good and I suspect way over engineered for the weight intended. I can't tell from the picture but can the user get his finger between the slats for a secure grip?

A half of a narrow oval in the bottom side of the top board would make a 4 finger holding spot. My cellar has no boxes, just shelves for jars.
Root veggies need air circulation, also apples too.
Rather than fret over staples having glue, place a drop of titebond green top exterior glue as you assemble the crate. Way stronger than any staple glue and a good addition even if they have glued staples if the grains at a 90 deg angle so not an ideal glue joint.  

[WV Sawmiller]

  I am wondering why you use solid boards for the sides instead of the ends? Looks to me like that would cut the cost and weight. I do like the cleat idea and I like idea of the extension to help stack them. 

   Are you guys using nailers and staplers using air guns or electric? I saw one 20V cordless listed but is that the norm?

[Don P]

Mine are all air. Keep an eye on package deals at Lowes or wherever, usually a pancake compressor and 2 small guns, used to be ~$150 around holidays. Mine is Bostitch but I've seen several brands, it came with a 18ga pin nailer and a 16 ga trim gun. I think I remember seeing one package with a narrow crown stapler. I bought the medium crown stapler separately.

[Wlmedley]

I bought the best one harbor freight had for $60.It's air and I really enjoy using it.No split wood even in dry poplar.Mine is narrow gauge and works good for small crates.Howard, I think you would like it for the small crates you make.Really makes working with poplar easier.

[doc henderson]

nothing better than a combo of glue, screws and staples.

[rusticretreater]

I bought a porter cable setup and it came with three nail/staple guns.

[Tom King]

I bought my first nail guns in 1975 from a salesman who pulled up, in a boat, to the house I was building on the lake.  I thought it was really strange that a salesman was in a boat, so I asked him, "What in the world is a nail gun salesman doing in a boat?"

He said, " It works great.  All I have to do is go out on the lake on a calm day, cut the motor off,  and listen for hammers."

He was right.  I'm still using the ones I bought then.

[Don P]

'75, they must be T nailers. Can you still get nails for those?

[Tom King]

No T nails.   Senco SNIV framing nailer that uses clipped head nails up to 3-5/8", and will drive them in about anything.  Two sizes of finish nailers, one used and made before safeties were required. and a couple of others.

They were offering a free box of nails with each gun you bought.  I still have some of the 1" finish nails in the box of 5,000.

[Wlmedley]

Cut a bunch of parts and went in full production mode.Extended cleat works really good for stacking plus holds crate off the floor for air flow.Made one out of cherry just for the heck of it and put some cherry slats in others.Even cherry didn't split and it is hard as a rock.Air stapler is nice.I think it

 

 

 

 will be good for small projects.While I'm posting might as well show picture of sign I made for a friends daughter who is opening a store.Hopefully it's not a vape shop 😀

[WV Sawmiller]

   Looks like you are really getting into this crate making gig. I looked at HF yesterday but I'd have to buy the compressor as well as the gun, the nails/staples and hose (unless that comes with the compressor) so I'm looking at around $200 plus I figure. I will probably eventually do it but will worry/study on it a while longer.

   I'm still wondering why you make the sides solid instead of the ends? That looks to me like it would reduce the weight and amount of wood required. 

   I've made a few with scrap pieces of walnut and such for ends and the walnut and poplar go together real well for an awful pretty crate so I can see where the cherry would be nice too.

[Wlmedley]

Slats and ends are both cut at 19"It's easier to remember and comes out to a bushel when depth is 8".Actually slightly over a bushel.

[samandothers]

Slats and ends are both cut at 19"It's easier to remember and comes out to a bushel when depth is 8".Actually slightly over a bushel.

Nicely executed and they look good too!  What thickness did you make the sides and ends, 1/2", 3/8"..?

[Wlmedley]

Set sawmill to 1/2 on 1" scale and slats came out about 7/16" for slats.On the cherry one I made solid Pieces are 3/4"and on the poplar ones solid pieces are 1".Would have used 3/4" solids on all but all I had in poplar was 1".Would like to make some out of white oak but I don't have any 2"stock for slats.Have plenty of 1" white oak sheeting.

[Wlmedley]

Got started building these crates and can't seem to stop.Getting fancy now ,white oak,cherry,walnut,poplar and pitch pine in this one 

 

[Don P]

I got a call the other day for 4 trays to hold pints jars of preserves, the same inside dimensions as the cardboard flats they come packaged in, just a little deeper to protect the lids... and with the stacking cleats. The boss was going to clean up and get the quart jar boxes ready, canning season is upon us.

[WV Sawmiller]

Don,

  I make crates for one dozen pints and quarts and found the pint sized crates perfectly nest inside the quart crate which is handy for storage and when loading a bunch to take to a flea market or such.

Wlmedley,

   Sorry, but those crates are not going to work. You are not going to have the heart to fill them with a bushel of dirty taters so you better get back to building them with pine or some dirty hardwood you don't mind messing up. :D

[Wlmedley]

Howard,I think I made more crates than I'll need for potatoes and probably give the fancy ones away.l have two sisters and one sister in law and one daughter in law that will want one.I think now I'll make some small ones like you make for canning jars and use my fancy wood for those.They are fun to make.

[Wlmedley]

 

Thought I'd put my brand on some of the crates I made.Used a butane soldering iron I had but it was a pain.Don't think I'll do very many.Like to have a small branding iron if I can find one.If your wondering T and T stands for thick and thin.An old fellow that lived nearby when I was a kid had an old sawmill and cut mostly railroad ties and that's what everybody called his operation :laugh: 

[Don P]

I've debated having someone laser the farmers market logo on the side of some for presentation type boxes but haven't gotten roundtuit.

[Don P]

One of the ladies needed a box for a dozen half pint jelly jars. I remembered this thread. I made the inside dimensions as the cardboard flat they come in, which was 8-3/4 x 12".




I couldn't find my 18 ga brad nailer so ended up breaking up the strips of nails and hand driving gun nails  :D. The HF narrow crown stapler looks like the next toy on the list.

[Wlmedley]

Nice looking box.Looks a little like hickory?

[Don P]

Whoops, I forgot to answer that. It was a leyland cypress we had planted years ago. The yellow belly sapsuckers, I kid you not, came down from the mockernut up the hill and proceeded to hammer on that row every year till only one tree sort of remains. So, yes, you are picking up on the same damage as in hickory. And I was curious what the wood looks like, I like it.

Back to trying to dig out of the pile of pine that was too good to throw away in the barn. I got the HF stapler the other day. The gun was $28, by the time I walked out with 2 boxes of staples it was $54. I've put 4 or 5 clips through it.



 

Not bad for a gun I can't figure out how they sell that cheap. No depth control so I'm dialing the pressure down, playing between misfire and a good drive depth. (You could also grind the driver a little). No worse than a bostitch at 6x the price  ;). It's a combo, it should drive 18ga brads but I haven't tried yet. I'll post when it dies but I think its a no brainer so far, my thumb is regaining its color already  :D