Building a Cedar Planter

1. Intro: Hello, and welcome to Beginner woodworking. I'm so Cow Woodgal and today we're going to tackle a super simple, super quick, and super cheap project, a cedar planter box. This class is appropriate for woodworkers of all skill levels, and only a few basic tools are needed, including some form of a saw, whether it be power or hand, a sander, a hammer and nails, or a nailer, or a pocket hole jig, and a drill. That's it. We'll go over what we want the planter for, the design and measurements, the supplies needed, cuts, assembly, and finishing of the planter. Buckle up buttercup because this project will only take you an hour or so and around 25 bucks to make. So what are you waiting for? Let's die in. 2. Overview: Love planter boxes because they're a simple way to really upgrade your entryway, your porch, your deck, or even a wall in your yard. We're gonna make ours out of cedar because it's naturally rot, weather, and insect resistant, which is perfect for outdoor curb appeal. For mine, I want it right next to my front door so I can place my fall mums in there as a welcome greeting to visitors or change it out during the season. What are you going to use your planter for? 3. Design: I'm putting mine on my front steps, I'm going to measure the area to see what kind of space I have to work with. I'm also going to check the size of my planting pot that will go inside my cedar planter to make sure that I can cover the height and width of the pot, and just the pretty plant will be visible at the top of my cedar planter. If you want your plant or flowers spilling over the top of your planter, this is particularly important. Like mine to be about 15 " tall and 13 and a quarter inches wide. I'd also like there to be legs that extend above and below the box portion of the planter, about an inch and a half. Let's do some calculations. To keep the cost down, we'll be using cedar fence planks, which are less than $3 each. These will be the sides and front and back of the planter. I'm going to use Redwood one by twos for the top and bottom supports, which we'll call aprons. If you'll remember, we talked about the extensive use of aprons in building a simple table class. Do this because my big box store doesn't carry cedar one by twos or two by twos, but the redwood option isn't too cost prohibitive and is also rot, weather and insect resistant. We'll use redwood two by twos as the legs of the planter. Just to note, these two by twos are actually one and three eighths inch wide. They don't sell the typical two by twos at my store in the redwood variety. So let's make the legs 15 " tall. Sides and front and back, let's make 12 ", which is the 15 inch height minus the 1.5 extension at top and bottom of the legs. Cedar fence planks are 3.5 " wide, so we can fit three in between the legs nicely. Remember to account for the width of the legs here in your measurement. Since I want my planter width to be 13 and a quarter inches, I'll subtract two and three quarter from that, which is two legs with each width at one and three eighths, giving me 10.5 ", which works great for the combined three fence planks. We'll also use that 10.5 inch measurement as our aprons at the top and bottom of every side. Since the sides and front and back are 12 ", we'll make all those fence planks 12 ". For the bottom, we'll want to span the distance from apron to apron, since that's what we'll nail the bottoms into. So we'll have three planks there at 13.25 ". Up next, we'll go over all of our supplies and materials. 4. Supplies: Now that we've got our design and measurements and we know what we need to buy in wood, we can determine all our supplies. First up, we'll need three cedar fence pickets. Choose the ones that are five eighths inch thick and 3.5 inch wide and six foot long with dog eared tops. We'll get one redwood one by two by eight foot, which is actually five eighth inch thick and one and three eighth inch wide and eight foot long. And 12 by two by eight redwood. If you don't have them already, you'll need nails and potentially 1 " pocket hole screws, if you'll be pocket hooling. I found these panel nails that works really well on this wood. You'll also, of course, need your drill if you're using the pocket hole jig. We'll also use wood glue and some sort of fence stain meant for outdoor use. You can choose a tinted one or one that is more natural and let the wood do the shining. For our tools, we'll need some sort of saw. You can use a handsaw, jigsaw, or my personal favorite, a mitre saw. We'll also need a sander or sandpaper. You'll need either a hammer and those nails or a brad nailer and 1 " long nails. If you're not using a pocket hole jig, you'll also need two inch long nails. Finally, you'll need a brush and gloves for applying the stain. 5. Cuts: And now it's time to cut our wood. We'll start by cutting our four legs from the two by two redwood at 15 inch long each. Next, let's cut our aprons from the one by two wood at 10.5 " long each. We'll cut eight of these. Then cut 12 fence planks at 12 " long, and with your last bit, cut three pieces at 13.25 " long. Super easy. That's all your cuts. I've got a buy and cut list uploaded to Project Resources, so you can reference that as needed. And also, if you don't have a miter saw and you need a little bit of a primer on how to use different saws, then go to one of my other classes where I give a super thorough overview of each of the saws that you can use. 6. Assembly: Before we get to my favorite part of assembly, let's give a quick sand to all our pieces. I'm not super worried about this being buttery smooth as it's for outdoor use, but if we get some of the roughage smooth now, we'll have less or none at all to do after it's assembled. And that's a win in my efficiency book. After things are sanded down, give your workspace a little cleanup. Alright, we're going to either pocket hole our aprons or attach them with two inch long nails. I will warn you that five eighth inch thick material tends to break the surface of the wood when attaching with pocket holes, so you have to be pretty careful with it. If you'd rather not deal with that, just use the hammer or nailer with two inch nails. Pull out your pocket hole jig, set the depth of both the jig and your drill bit to five eighth inch. Set your apron in the jig and drill one hole. Do the same to the other end, making sure to keep the holes on the same side. Do this for all eight aprons. Now, we're going to attach the aprons to the legs. First, mark the legs at 1.5 " down from the top and 1.5 " up from the bottom. This is our placement line for the top and bottom apron. Set the legs on your bench and line up an apron at either the top or bottom, leaving the 1.5 inch extension above or below. We want that apron flush with the outside edge of the leg, so we're keeping them both face down and pocket holing from the inside. This also effectively hides our pocket hole. Glue the ends of the aprons, drive the 1 " pocket hole screw into the leg, being super careful not to blow through the wood on the legs as the screw makes its way through. Drive in the other side. Do the same for the top or bottom on all sides. If you're nailing, line up your apron and leg as before, glue the ends and hammer or shoot a nail in from the outside edge of the leg into the apron. I do two here. Do this for all four sides, top and bottom. You should now have a skeleton box, which is your framing for the fence planks to attach to. Lay your planter on its side and place a 12 inch picket on the frame and nail it in. To up top into the top apron and two below into the bottom apron. You can do this with a hammer or nailer. Be sure to use 1 " nails. Place another plank next to it and do the same. Now place one at the end. Nail in. Do this for all sides of the planter. Finally, we'll put on the bottom of the planter. Take your 13 and a quarter inch pickets and place them on the bottom, spanning between bottom aprons. Make sure to nail into the apron, not the fence pickets on the inside of the planter. Glue this first where it will sit on the apron. Nail it top and bottom. Up next, we'll finish this bad boy. 7. Finishing: I already sanded before, I don't see any need to do any more sanding at this stage. That's just how I roll. I'll go ahead and wipe down the planter to prepare it for stain. Mix your stain, then dip your brush into the stain and apply, making sure to wear gloves to protect your hands. Brush on the stain evenly, and after a few minutes, if you have any drips, wipe any excess stain with a shop cloth or paper towel. Let this dry fully. Check your can for re coat and dry times. Gonna be placing a potted plant in here, but you're welcome to line the inside with landscape cloth, stapling it to the sides of the planter and filling it with dirt, placing the plants directly into the planter. Whatever suits you, just make sure to poke a few holes into the fabric if needed so water can drain out the bottom. Put in your flowers or plants and admire your handiwork. And perhaps make a few more with all the time and money that you've saved. 8. Final Thoughts: Okay, how easy was this built? Amazing what a handful of fence pickets can make. Incredible. I hope you'll make more of these. And if you can, please post yours to the project section. It's so cool to see what you make, and it encourages others to make their own. Also, if you get a chance, if you found this class helpful in your woodworking journey, please post a review. Reviews are the way that students find my classes, and it truly helps to spread the word of woodworking empowerment. I really appreciate it. Meanwhile, I think I'm gonna make a few more of these planters as gifts from my neighbors. Until next time, keep building.