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CRAFTED FROM
WOOD, MATH
& CARE.

BuildCrates is a computerized parametric crating engine — an intelligent system, not a crew. We don't guess crate designs — we compute them, board by board, and render every blueprint to protect what matters.

See Our Work Our Story
Engine v3.2 — live on mainnet
Stack of wooden crates with blueprint dimension callouts Isometric stack of three wooden crates framed by dashed blueprint dimension lines and registration marks. STACK HEIGHT DEPTH BC-001
Our Story

EVERY CRATE IS
AN ANSWER.

The frustration

Every crate we ever needed was either over-engineered guesswork or under-built hope. Hand-drawn sketches, conflicting measurements, and lumber that never quite lined up with the plan. Protection is a system of forces — it deserves to be treated as one.

The engine

So we wrote a solver. Feed it length, width and height — millimetre-exact — and it runs the full equilibrium analysis: every joint is a free body, every force is resolved through its trigonometric components, and every board, brace and skid is sized from the resultant forces it must carry. Nothing is eyeballed; everything is computed.

The system

There is no crew to argue with the math — there is an intelligent parametric system. The same solver that drafts a 2-tonne freight crate also drafts a museum column, a cold-chain vault and a dignified oak coffin, then renders the 3D model, the interactive viewer and an 8-chapter blueprint PDF in either of its two editions — deterministically, every single time.

0
Equilibrium equations
ΣFx · ΣFy · ΣM = 0
0
Rendered views per blueprint
every angle, every board
0%
Physics-computed
zero guesswork
0
Blueprint chapters
cut list → stencils → assembly → marks
The Physics

SUM OF FORCES,
EQUAL TO ZERO.

Before a single board is sized, the engine isolates the crate as a free body and holds it to the three conditions of static equilibrium — the discipline taught in Tippens' physics: ΣFx = 0, ΣFy = 0 and ΣM = 0. Every diagonal brace is resolved through its sine and cosine components, every joint is checked for moment balance, and every sling rigging is computed so the crate hangs true.

Free-body diagram of a crate hanging from a crane hook Two slings at rigging angle theta hold a crate; tension T1 and T2 resolve against the weight W. T₁ T₂ θ θ C.G. W = m·g

Carriage from a crane

A sealed crate hanging from a crane is the classic case of the concurrent force system. The two slings carry the crate at a rigging angle θ; the engine resolves each tension into horizontal and vertical components and demands that the sum of forces — in both axes — and the sum of moments about the centre of gravity all equal zero. Steeper slings mean lower tension per sling; the engine computes the exact rigging angle for every load, from a 40 kg crate to a 2-tonne machine base.

ΣFx = 0 T₁·cos θ₁ − T₂·cos θ₂ = 0— the horizontal pulls cancel
ΣFy = 0 T₁·sin θ₁ + T₂·sin θ₂ − W = 0— lift equals the crate's weight
ΣM = 0The moments of every force about theC.G.balance — the crate hangs level

Sling tension vs. rigging angle — T = W / (2·sin θ)

Bar chart of sling tension versus rigging angle At 30 degrees each sling carries the full weight; at 60 degrees, 0.58 times the weight. 1.00 W 0.71 W 0.58 W θ = 30° θ = 45° θ = 60° TENSION PER SLING

Forklift carriage — moment at the mast: M = P · d

Moment diagram of a load on forklift forks A load of weight P at distance d from the mast creates an overturning moment M equal to P times d. P = m·g d — lever arm M = P·d OVERTURNING MOMENT ABOUT THE MAST
Blueprint schematic of a crate side with computed braces Orthographic blueprint of a crate wall showing frame, X-brace and dimension callouts. 1200 mm 800 mm 800 mm
The Engine

NOT GUESSED.
COMPUTED.

Feed the engine three numbers — length, width, height — and it decides the rest: which boards carry the load, where the X-braces land, how thick the lumber must be, and whether the build is new wood, recovered scrap or sealed MDF. Every diagonal is a hypotenuse solved by the Pythagorean theorem, its seat angle fixed by the arctangent of the wall ratio; every brace is checked against Euler's buckling and every joint against the resultant of its force polygon.

  • Free-body analysis on every member (ΣF = 0)
  • Brace angles from trigonometry — never eyeballed
  • Moment & shear checks at every joint
  • Blueprint PDF — 8 chapters, two editions (new & scrap)
  • Engineering data chapter — load, floor & brace analysis
  • Scrap-inventory sorting
  • Forklift & crane carriage analysis
  • Crypto order IDs — unguessable BC-XXXX-XXXX
  • Free-order credit system — tracked per email
The Blueprint

ONE ENGINE,
TWO BLUEPRINT EDITIONS.

Where your wood comes from changes the plan — so the blueprint is printed in two editions. Buy fresh boards and the engine nests every blank edge-to-edge on a standard 1.22 × 2.44 m sheet, wasting nothing. Recover pallets and it runs the scrap protocol: every board is classified by exact size, spliced where needed, and allocated by section modulus — the thickest stock carries the frame, the thinnest skins the walls. Same crate, same forces, two honest cut lists.

Edition A — New Material

Cut from standard sheets

For wood bought new at the yard: the engine lays every blank onto 1.22 × 2.44 m (4×8 ft) panels with a guillotine best-fit packer, so the cuts run edge-to-edge with zero bleed gaps — and reports exactly how many sheets your crate consumes.

  • Nesting layout per sheet — every blank drawn in place
  • Sheet utilization % + waste area computed per panel
  • Size Range Analysis: how far the crate grows before you need another sheet
  • Buy-less advice: the reduced size that fits your existing stock
Sheet stock:1.22 × 2.44 m· 18 mm core · cut edge-to-edge
Edition B — Recovered Scrap

Cut from upcycled pallets

For boards recovered from pallets: the scrap protocol classifies every board into families of identical dimensions, plans splices where a member runs long, and numbers every X-brace conjoint with its own stencil — notch depth, diagonal cut lines and all.

  • Material inventory of every recovered size class
  • Wood-splicing plan for members longer than any recovered board
  • Numbered X-brace stencils — each conjoint with its mark-and-cut diagram
  • Cut list per recovered class — every board allocated by strength
Upcycle protocol:collect → disassemble → classify → enable
1Cut list / inventory 2Nesting / splicing 3X-brace stencils 4Size range analysis 5Engineering data 6Assembly manual 7Humidity protection 8Shipping marks
Engineering Data

THE ARITHMETIC
OF EVERY BUILD.

Every blueprint carries a Technical Engineering Data chapter — the same honest arithmetic that accompanies the design preview and the Order page. The numbers below are live examples of what the engine computes from an order's own geometry: floor pressure, load utilization, safety factor, lateral racking and the tension each X-brace arm must survive. Nothing here is a rounded guess.

MetricValue (example)What it means
Floor design capacity400 kg/m²The rated floor standard every crate is checked against.
Floor pressureload ÷ floor areaDeclared cargo weight spread over the usable interior footprint.
Load utilizationdeclared ÷ capacityHow much of the rated floor capacity the load actually uses.
Safety factorcapacity ÷ loadHow many times over the rated capacity the load sits — always ≥ 1×.
Lateral design load15% of declaredThe side force a surface-freight crate must survive when it racks.
X-brace conjoints2 arms / crossEvery brace is a pair of boards, angle-cut and half-lap notched to interlock.
Tension per brace arm(lateral ÷ crosses) × slopeThe diagonal pull each arm carries, resolved through its sine component.
Brace capacity10 MPa pineAllowable tensile stress per arm — utilization below 100% means a sound brace.
Method note: floor capacity assumes the 400 kg/m² design standard; brace capacity assumes 10 MPa allowable tensile stress for pine; the lateral design load of 15% of the declared weight is the standard handling figure for surface freight. Each order's blueprint recomputes all of these from its own parameters — and the same numbers appear live on the Order page under Engineering data.
The Process

HOW A CRATE
IS BORN.

01

Measure

Drop in your dimensions — millimetre-exact. Length, width, height: the three parameters the whole system unfolds from.

02

Solve

The engine resolves every force into its components, balances moments and sizes boards, braces and skids from the resultants.

03

Render

The 3D model, the interactive viewer, and the 8-chapter blueprint PDF — cut list, nesting or splicing, X-brace stencils, assembly and shipping marks.

04

Deliver

Our mainnet confirmator watches the blockchain; one confirmation flips the order to paid and the full design package lands in your inbox.

What We Stand For

FOUR BOARDS,
ONE STANDARD.

Equilibrium

Every joint is a free body. ΣF = 0 and ΣM = 0 are solved, not assumed.

Force-Balanced

Every brace angle and board thickness comes from the resultant forces it must carry.

Recovery

The scrap protocol recollects, disassembles and classifies pallet lumber into reusable stock.

Determinism

Same input, same blueprint. The system never improvises — it recalculates until ΣF = 0.

Your Order, Step by Step

FROM YOUR FIRST CLICK
TO YOUR BLUEPRINT.

Step 01

You Design Your Crate

Tailor the exterior and design the structural composition. Every board, brace and angle is computed and checked for equilibrium before you ever see it.

Step 02

You Get Your BTC Invoice

Place the order and the engine mints a fresh Bitcoin address from our own mainnet node — a real address, never a placeholder — and emails you a live BTC invoice with a scannable QR.

Step 03

Payment Confirmed, Files Released

Our confirmator watches the blockchain and one Bitcoin confirmation is all it takes. The order flips to paid, the 3D viewer unlocks, and your full 8-chapter blueprint arrives as blueprint.pdf.

Step 04

View It Online, Forever

Your crypto order ID — like BC-7DF4-2098 — opens the permanent 3D online viewer: no CAD software needed. The model is grouped the way it's built — Frame · Wall · Lid · Skid — with collapsible part lists and a millimetre measure tool.

Upcycling & Recovery

FROM PALLET TO
REBORN LUMBER.

A magnificent business model— turn residual industrial wood into professional, engineered crates: recovered, computed, coated and delivered.

The scrap protocol is not waste handling — it is a four-stage upcycling line. Every pallet that reaches us is treated as raw material with documented dimensions: recollected, disassembled, classified by size, then enabled as live parameters in the generator. Nothing that can still protect goes to waste.

  1. 1
    Recollect with intentGather pallets worth the journey — straight stringers, dry deck boards, standard footprints. A single euro pallet yields roughly 7 metres of usable 100×18 mm board; damaged boards are set aside, the rest is in.
  2. 2
    Disassemble board by boardBreak the pallet down with pry bar and sledge, de-nail as you go, and keep stringers separate from deck boards. Clean, true-edged stock is the whole game — the engine can only use what survives the tear-down intact.
  3. 3
    Classify by identical sizeGroup the recovered boards into families of the same dimensions — same thickness, same length, same width — e.g. 1200×100×18, 800×100×18, stringers. Every class is now a known quantity the engine can plan around.
  4. 4
    Enable the parts in the generatorTick "Enable Custom Wood Limits...", set the number of recovered size classes with the +/− dial (up to 10), then enter thickness, length and width for each class. The whole inventory is captured in three numbers per class — and the parts are live.

The engine then allocates each recovered class by section modulus and strength: the thickest boards carry the frame, the thinnest skin the walls — and the blueprint prints the final plan as a cut list per recovered class. Every collected, disassembled and classified board appears in the build.

The finish — from disassembly to showroom gloss

From the disassembled board to the finished crate, the coating protocol is part of the engineered design. The recovered wood is first sealed with Darawell mixed with water at a 1:3 ratio — a deep-penetrating compound that stabilises the grain and blocks humidity before any paint is applied.

Then the layering begins: primer, base and top coats compounded with catalysts that cross-link into a hard, automotive-grade film — finishes so rich they look like car paint. For valuable, sensitive cargo the same chemistry becomes a multi-layer membrane — primer, vapour barrier, catalyst coat and UV-clear — so a crate can protect precision instruments and expensive equipment as carefully as a swivel mount protects its payload.

4-step
upcycle protocol
100%
reused where possible
0
wasted boards
The four-stage upcycle protocol: collect, disassemble, classify, enable A pallet is collected, disassembled board by board, classified into stacks of identical sizes, and enabled as wood limits in the generator. L·W·H + − COLLECT DISASSEMBLE CLASSIFY ENABLE 01 02 03 04
PALLET — 01Recovered · Sorted · Reborn
Coating layering diagram: from bare board to car-paint finish Five layers on a recovered board: Darawell 1:3 seal, primer, catalyst base, colour coat and clear top coat. RECOVERED BOARD classified · sized DARRAWELL 1:3 SEAL water-mixed primer PRIMER grain lock CATALYST BASE cross-linked film COLOUR + CLEAR COAT automotive gloss
FINISH STACKSeal · Prime · Catalyse · Gloss
Joinery, Solved by Trigonometry

WHERE THE CUT GOES,
AND HOW DEEP.

Every diagonal of an X-brace is a hypotenuse — solved with the Pythagorean theorem and seated at angle θ = 40.9° in a typical bay. The two arms cross at 2θ = 81.8°, and instead of fighting for the same space they interlock: each arm receives a centre half-lap notch cut exactly half the board thickness (t/2 = 9 mm) deep, from opposite faces, so the crossing stays 100% flush — no lost thickness, no proud surface, and the full section of both boards still transfers the shear.

Where the cut goes
Wall bay with X-brace showing the centre half-lap notch window Two diagonal arms cross the bay at angle theta; the lap window sits at the crossing, its width equal to fw over sin two theta. CENTER HALF-LAP width = fw/sin(2θ) = 101 mm 750 mm 650 mm θ θ = 40.9° miter offsets: A = fw·tanθ = 86.7 mm · B = fw/sinθ = 152.7 mm
How the depth is composed
Exploded view of the half-lap notch and the assembled flush interlock Arm one carries a notch cut from its top face, arm two from its bottom face; each cut is t over two deep, and the arms drop together into a flush crossing. notch width = 101 mm 9 mm = t/2 ARM 1 — notch cut from the TOP face 9 mm = t/2 ARM 2 — notch cut from the BOTTOM face FLUSH INTERLOCK t = 18 mm — flat faces ASSEMBLED — the two arms drop together flush, full thickness kept
notch width = fw / sin(2θ) depth per arm = t / 2 = 9 mm crossing angle = 2θ = 81.8° diagonal = √(750² + 650²) = 992 mm
40.9°arm angle θ
101 mmlap window width
9 mmcut depth t/2
992 mmdiagonal arm

READY TO
BUILDCRATES?

Give us three numbers — length, width, height — and the engine does the rest.

Generate Design