Build A Beer Crate Out Of Two Fence Pickets

[UncleDavid]

This beer crate was developed out of necessity. The cardboard boxes that beer bottles come in are great until you rip a handle or the bottom tears out while carrying your freshly brewed nectar.

My goal was to come up with a cheap method of protecting my precious brews without sacrificing on quality and appearance. Those of you in a relationship will know what I mean.

I scoured the Internet and found lots of different designs. Many of the better designs used materials that would put the cost over budget and called for special dado and miter cuts.

I finally came across a simple design that uses simple rip and cross cuts; it’s also sturdy enough to withstand some abuse. After a little calculator time I came up with a crate that will hold a 12-Pack of 22oz. or 12oz. bottles all for the cost of two fence pickets.

After a little antiquing and some custom logos & labels this beer crate will not only impress the frugal, but also keep you from bounce checking your bottles on the floor.

Download the PDF instuctions here

 

[mynameissean]

Hey, that looks really sharp. I like the idea of darkening the wood with some vinegar. I'll have to try this out, maybe put some handles on the side to make it easier to carry. Thanks for putting the PDF together!

 

[TomSD]

Nice! I like the look and cheap is always good.

 

[wegz15]

Those look really good. Might have to make some. I would make a slight change. I would move the vertical ends down about a half inch so they can interlock when stacked.

 

[TomSD]

Those look really good. Might have to make some. I would make a slight change. I would move the vertical ends down about a half inch so they can interlock when stacked.

That's a great idea.

 

[Homercidal]

Looks good. My only criticism is that it looks like you ran screws into the END GRAIN of some boards. I believe it would be stronger and last longer if those screws were run into the other boards where the wood fibers can grab the threads better.

Small thing, really.

 

[davis119]

Subd

 

[tjpfeister]

Nice, I like this! I think I will make a few of these to get my mountain of bottles under control.. I see in your photo that you chose to use the dog ear section that your instructions say to toss. I think I like the look of the dog eared piece better! $.02

 

[nutty_gnome]

I love this. Questions: What is the width of the picket? 4 inches? Also, what length and type of screw did you use? 1 inch decking screws?

 

[davis119]

I love this. Questions: What is the width of the picket? 4 inches? Also, what length and type of screw did you use? 1 inch decking screws?

Id say ant thing but decking screws. It might look nice if you used cement nails the hard faced ones. With the square head. May look antique. But you would have to glue it too then


My question is about how much in material?$$$$

 

[Brickout]

Very nice!

Here's an idea, forget the fence pickets and use a shipping pallet. They're just about everywhere and they're free!

 

[UncleDavid]

I love this. Questions: What is the width of the picket? 4 inches? Also, what length and type of screw did you use? 1 inch decking screws?

The pickets I used are 3.5 inches wide and 72 inches long. I used a nail gun and wood glue to put it together. The nails are 2 inch finishing nails.

 

[UncleDavid]

My question is about how much in material?$$$$

Fence pickets are $1.05 each at the local Home Depot. After nails, glue, steel wool, and some vinegar the total cost to make one us under $4.

 

[davis119]

Very nice!

Here's an idea, forget the fence pickets and use a shipping pallet. They're just about everywhere and they're free!

Have you ever taken apart a pallet? Im possible. And not worth the time to cut it up. Because then you have to have a place to get rid of the rest. IMO

 

[Howie]

That's awesome.

Will it hold the brown champagne style bottles? I think they may be a little bigger at the base than the bombers?

 

[Brickout]

Have you ever taken apart a pallet? Im possible. And not worth the time to cut it up. Because then you have to have a place to get rid of the rest. IMO

Yes I have. Here's a chair I made. It's just an idea anyway.

 

[davis119]

^ cool. I know it was a good idea. I was just saying its a pain to take em apart.

 

[TomSD]

Yeah pallets are a great source of wood but really, it it was me, five bucks at the local hardware store or the time to find a pallet, disassemble it and pick out the good bits. I'd pick the hardware store every time. It would probably be a different story though if I had access to an abundance of pallets on a daily basis but as it is I would have to hunt one down before I could even get started.

 

[brieuxster]

Thank you. I have a lot of pickets from a canceled fence project, this is the best.

 

[DanaDana]

Great job, and thanks for the plans!

 

[montecristo]

Awesome, nice job.

 

[BPhad]

Yes I have. Here's a chair I made. It's just an idea anyway.

Post the chair plans if you have them. It looks great.

 

[ButcherBoy]

Great project! I've been thinking about a similar project to tame my bottle collection. My idea was much more elaborate and harder to construct, this is a great idea, a little modification to work on 12oz bottles and I'm in business. Thanks for sharing!

 

[JonM]

That's a really cool idea. Looks pretty sharp too! I wonder if you could use a router to cut out a little channel on the top and then cut out a little lip on the bottom of another crate to make it so they lock together when stacked - kinda like milk crates?

 

[Brickout]

Post the chair plans if you have them. It looks great.

The plans aren't mine, though I did modify them to my needs. I download the plans for $5 over at repurposedgoods.com

I still have them if someone would like to host the file. It's too big to upload here.

 

[nutty_gnome]

So.... I went ahead and bought some wood to create this thing according to plan. First problem was that HD near me did not have dogear pickets in stock. So instead I bought 3inch by 3/4 inch by 8 foot furring strips that were good quality but cost only 97 cents per piece. I also bought some 1 inch fine thread deck screws and some gorilla wood glue to put it together.

I got the wood home and cut per the plans. I screwed up the horizontal pieces on the ends. I used the side rails where I should have used the horizontal rails. I am still chasing my tail to figure how I screwd that up, but the homebrew is dulling my senses and thoughts.

The one I cobbled together (incorrectly) hold 23 12 ounce long neck bottles. I am going to figure out what it takes to hold a case of long necks next time. An excellent idea, but executed poorly by yours truly. Sorry. If I can do one for 2 bucks in wood and 50 cents in screws, I'd move to wood over nasty old cardboard in a heartbeat.

 

[AnchorBock]

That's a really cool idea. Looks pretty sharp too! I wonder if you could use a router to cut out a little channel on the top and then cut out a little lip on the bottom of another crate to make it so they lock together when stacked - kinda like milk crates?

This is a great idea - anyone have an idea how high these could stack safely?

 

[ThunderStruck]

Wow, Really cool. I am always lookin for new projects.

 

[Ramitt]

This is a great idea - anyone have an idea how high these could stack safely?

I wouldn't go much more than 48 ozs

 

[Brickout]

This is a great idea - anyone have an idea how high these could stack safely?

Just keep the vertical end pieces the same length and shift them down a 1/2". That way the bottom crate will sit off the floor a 1/2" and the next crate will have a 1/2" notch to fit in to.

 

[Spartan1979]

Well Done! Thanks for the plan.

 

[DrPhunk]

This looks like what I've been looking for! Thanks!!

 

[TJinWV]

Very nice! I'd think with one more picket, you could expand it to hold a case (though I'm not sure of the strength)?

 

[twenty5]

I started this project a bit over a week ago with some minor changes to the original design.
I used 5/8" x 5" pickets because my lowes and hd didnt carry the narrower ones. So far I have made 6 that fit 24 12oz bottles, I wish I had taken into account the width of the shorter 12ozers though. I also dropped the legs 5/8" in order to stack them, which works perfectly. To put the thing together, I screwed the bottom in with trim screws for more strength than nails and used clinched rose head nails for the rest for a vintage look. I also used wood glue at every joint for added strength. Next plan is to make 2 or 3 for the 22oz and 750ml bottles, I am planning on boxes of either 15 or 18.
I could post up some pics and dimensions once I finish up (at this rate it may be a week or so). The problem I am currently having is trying to gray the wood, the vinegar/steel wool solution turns the pressure treated wood a brownish color which looks good but wasnt exactly what I was going for.

Thanks for the original design OP, I have been trying to come up with a good looking way to store a ton of beer and this does the trick perfectly at a great price.

 

[UncleDavid]

I started this project a bit over a week ago with some minor changes to the original design.
I used 5/8" x 5" pickets because my lowes and hd didnt carry the narrower ones. So far I have made 6 that fit 24 12oz bottles, I wish I had taken into account the width of the shorter 12ozers though. I also dropped the legs 5/8" in order to stack them, which works perfectly. To put the thing together, I screwed the bottom in with trim screws for more strength than nails and used clinched rose head nails for the rest for a vintage look. I also used wood glue at every joint for added strength. Next plan is to make 2 or 3 for the 22oz and 750ml bottles, I am planning on boxes of either 15 or 18.
I could post up some pics and dimensions once I finish up (at this rate it may be a week or so). The problem I am currently having is trying to gray the wood, the vinegar/steel wool solution turns the pressure treated wood a brownish color which looks good but wasnt exactly what I was going for.

Thanks for the original design OP, I have been trying to come up with a good looking way to store a ton of beer and this does the trick perfectly at a great price.

I have found that if you reduce the amount of steel wool in the mixture it will be less of a brownish color.

 

[cwdrake]

Anybody have the lengths of the cuts needed to make one that holds 24 12oz. Longnecks?

 

[UncleDavid]

Anybody have the lengths of the cuts needed to make one that holds 24 12oz. Longnecks?

Try this post: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/how-make-beer-crate-12oz-beer-bottles-318788/

 

[mjmac85]

Have been thinking of doing this and was going to print out a design. For roughly $5 a crate I have a project for next weekend.

 

[Henry22]

Went to Lowes and got the wrong fence posts...I know dumb. So I will be going back this weekend and getting the right ones and I can still use the wood from the other ones.

Has anyone thought of drilling two holes in the end and making rope handles? Could make it even more antique looking.

 

[UncleDavid]

Went to Lowes and got the wrong fence posts...I know dumb. So I will be going back this weekend and getting the right ones and I can still use the wood from the other ones.

Has anyone thought of drilling two holes in the end and making rope handles? Could make it even more antique looking.

That's a cool idea, I like it. BTW, Lowes sells 69 inch fence pickets - you need to make sure you get the 72 inch ones. These are the ones I've used before:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_98037-199-L98037_0__?productId=3413592&Ntt=fence+picket&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dfence%2Bpicket%26page%3D1&facetInfo=