Anyone know where I can find any large wooden shipping crates cheap? - I'm making a tiki bar

I posted this in the Main Discussion Area thread as well. Does anyone know where I can find any large wooden shipping crates? I'm going to use them to make a tiki bar at my new place. I'm looking for one or two crates, about 3 to 4 ft tall. I can always cut down the depth of them to make them more shallow.

I've got some cool frosted aqua glass, that was originally used as shelving at a Bally's shoe store that went out of business at Stanford Mall - I traded the manager there some concert tickets for the glass. I'm going to use the glass as the bar top - it's heavy and thick!

Anyone have any wooden shipping crates laying around at their work that I could pick up for cheap, or for free? It's going to have to be on the cheap side, because I'm pretty broke right now after my recent move, and with the holidays here as well. I have a truck that I can use to pick the crates up. Oh, and I live in the Bay Area, in Alameda, but anywhere in or near the Bay Area will work for me. Thanks in advance, everyone!

I just saw a few of them this morning, at a condo construction site, in a dumpster. To far away from you but I'm thinking maybe if you checked condo construction sites you might get lucky. I'm guess they were for new ovens.

so is this gonna be a cargo cult tiki bar?

my first tiki bar was made from the wwod panels that top the large stacks of paper from a printing shop.they are about 3x4,(they were perfect)used to keep the metal banding from cutting the paper. check out local printing shops.i would stick with the bigger shops ,not like kinkos. usually stacked around back. happy hunting TD

Hey Mai Tai, i've seen them at Pacific Blue Traders in San Jose.
When they get shipments of stone carvings in they come in wooden crates. (This may be tru for all shiped stone?)

The only get the shipments periodically, but they are fairly close.

The owners name is Doug, if you tell him what you're doing, (for a higher purpose) he may have some stuff around which can be of use.

Good luck!

Great idea! Have you thought of using the wood from old forklift pallettes? You should also check out your local liquor store for various rum boxes. You could deco-podge the various logo-types to the shipping crates.
-FB

On 2004-12-02 13:57, FreakBear wrote:
Great idea! Have you thought of using the wood from old forklift pallettes?
-FB

Funny you should mention that, I was thinking about using fork lift pallettes as well. I'll use those as a last resort if I have to, because my dad has a whole bunch up at his place that came with ground pavers that he's using to landsacpe his yard.

Also, they sell the shipping crate wood to build your own shipping crates, don't they? I was watching that show "Wing Nutz" on the Discovery Channel, and they had to box up a whole bunch of oddly shaped merchandise for a couple of trade shows and for sold items to deliver to customers. They simply pulled out their own wood and made their own custom sized crates on the spot. I don't know what kind of wood it was that they used, it looked like a soft pine or something. Anyone else know?

that wood is the chepest stuff you can buy at home depot (or anywhere else). if you can't find old crates...DIY!!!! as far as projects go...all you need is wood and a staple gun with staples large enough to penitrate two pieces of wood...or some nails and a hammer.

Don't use Pallets(unless you have to) - many pallets I've seen lately have been this nasty pressed wood-ish substance that cuts terribly, looks terrible and looks even worse when varnished. And stinks. Go with the real wood.

Mai-Tai,

Polynesiac's absoultely right. No matter how much of a snap you think your project's gonna be, it always take a major time investment. Never fails! Invest in some decent material. My $.02. And please post, 'cause I love your idea. Reminds me of some of those Disney props that you see at the jungle ride. I would make some stencils & paint up the crates with "Myers Rum","Hinano Beer", & maybe some other tropical/tiki related booze labels. This is a totally cool idea that you've got for your tiki bar. Can't say that I've seen one like that, but I think it will be original and totally cool! Good luck!

A-A

On 2004-12-03 22:02, Aaron's Akua wrote:
Reminds me of some of those Disney props that you see at the jungle ride.

Yep, that's exactly the look I'm going for. I thought of using one or two large crates for a tiki bar after looking through that "Show me your mugs & I'll show you mine..." thread in the Collecting Tiki forum. I saw a picture of Swanky's back bar, and he is using three small wooden crates to store all of his alcohol and mixers, and I immedietly thought "How about something like that except larger for the front bar section, with heavy aqua glass for a bar top?" The image that immedietly popped into my mind was the crates that they have around the Jungle Cruise and in the outside line section of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.

I'm thinking of using old fruit crates as a back bar as well for now, until I can come up with some more dough to put in a proper back bar with a countertop sink, electrical outlets, and all. My long term goal is to put in a "Space Tiki" themed bar, with a curved front covered with metal with those swirl marks buffed into the finish, and cut-outs for backlit colored jewel type glass, contrasting nice hardwood, and a boomerang top made out of that thick aqua glass (I picked up about a dozen of those glass shelves from that Bally's shoe store, basically all I could carry and fit into my car's back seat at the time). The extra glass will be re-used as shelves in the back bar area, but this time to hold my booze, and I'll backlight all of the shelves and bottles from underneath as well.

So long term plans for the bar will be with nice with quality materials, but I won't be able to start on it for a while. For now I need to get my tiki bar set up quickly, to form the tiki bar stronghold area in the house before my fiance changes her mind! :)

Yeah, the wood used in those pallets is pretty lousy, and it's treated and pressed, so it looks pretty bad. I will use my fiance's old pine futon frame that's laying around in the garage before I use pallet wood. Hmmmmmm.....

I will indeed post pics and follow-ups as this project develops. Much mahaloz for everyone's interest and support. I will investigate the leads that everyone mentioned above, especially that Pacific Blue Traders. I'm also going to check out various stone and tile companies, like Walker Zanger, and Cost Plus, and maybe even Home Depot - they might have shipping crates for all kinds of items.

Here is a picture of Swanky's back bar from that thread:

[ Edited by: Mai Tai on 2004-12-04 04:15 ]

Hey Mai Tai, sounds like you've got a damn big project.

Besides the Jungle Ride, Indiana Jones has some really cool stuff to look at as you wait in line. I liked the line better than the ride to be honestt.

There are all those stone carved buddas and so on crated up.

In the 1980s I had a Safari (for lack of better term) restaurant.
We used alot of old corrugated steel which I love.

With almost any accents it can become Quanset Hut, 1930s Ozarky, or Tropical 3rd world.

We made crates about 4 inches deep stacked, attached to the walls. (so they were only a little larger than a large picture frame, but gave the look of exotic freight)
Also had some heavy steel drums as tables. They were painted to appear as Crude oil from Sumatra. The Crates too had stenciled wierd logos.

This is trite, we used small awnings to give the appearance of being outside too. (made of the old rusty steel, lightly smeared with green zink oxide I belive it was)

The use of non plastic rope is good to cover any modern hardware like Simpson brackets you use. Signs in French, Cerlilic or Arabic half hidden also add a cool wierd aura.

Good luck!

Swanky's back bar crates look like old wooden beer cases, much sturdier than fruit boxes. You can find plans for DIY wooden beer cases in books & online, and you can find vintage ones for between $5-$20 depending on condition & rarity. You might also try your local homebrewers to see if any of them have wooden beer cases for sale.

I think you would probably be best served by building your own from .5" plywood & 1"x1"s, you would be certain that the boxes are the size you want and as sturdy as you want.

On 2004-12-08 14:05, freddiefreelance wrote:
Swanky's back bar crates look like old wooden beer cases, much sturdier than fruit boxes. You can find plans for DIY wooden beer cases in books & online, and you can find vintage ones for between $5-$20 depending on condition & rarity.

I just garbage picked 2 exactly like Swankys'. Finally something for me to brag about :)

-Z

My tiki bar out back is the same! We saw it in the Trader store across from Jungle Cruise at DL. Except we added furniture, like in the store. Looks like a pirate ship wrecked and some one made the base of the bar from the ship's chandlry and floatsom. The top is polished "deck planks" and it's all topped off with a custom palapa. And it's all on wheels, so we can nudge it away from the pool during kid induced high tides.

Nice to see my thread get revived. Your bar sounds cool, Hau 'oli Tiki. Any pics?

Mai Tai,

I am also in the planning stages of my bar/hut and I really like the idea about crates you brought up here! I keep writing down all the ideas I pick up from this forum and hopefully they will coalesce into a nice reality :)
Again, thanks for the ideas!!!

• Jason

No problem. Glad my idea could spark some creative juices among others!

I'm going to start stepping things up here soon on construction for my tiki bar. I'll be sure to post pics as I go along. I have a few other ideas that can integrate shipping crates as well, I'll be sure to post those as well, but not tonight - I just staggered home from poker night, and I'm wiped out (and not just financially!).