Wooden Puzzle Shelf

I made a wooden shelf that fits together like a puzzle. It doesn't require any glue, nails, or pegs to stay together. I made this because I noticed that one side of my room seemed a little empty, and I also had a lot of stuff around my room that could use some organizing. I thought that a new shelf would be the perfect solution for this, but I didn't want it to be an ordinary shelf put together with some glue and nails. With the proper prototypes and measurements, this is an easy and fun shelf to build. It can be used for clothes, shoes, or anything else that you feel like needs organizing. With all the pieces cut out correctly, it should only take 5 minutes to put it together. If you want a unique, good looking, and fun to build shelf, this is the perfect project.

For the materials all you need is a 4 ft by 8 ft piece of smooth plywood. You can choose what type of wood to use, me personally I used maple because it matches my bed. For cutting the initial rectangular pieces of plywood I used the saw they have at Lowes. When I got the piece of plywood I made 3 cuts, each 1 ft by 8 ft because the whole width of the shelf is 1 foot. To make the rest of the cuts for the joints I used a jigsaw which was helpful, but when cutting it might create some splinters. Because of this I used a sander with 80 grit to get rid of the splinters. I also used a tape measure, carpenter square to make straight lines, pencil, rubber mallet, two clamps, and two sawhorses.

Before getting any materials or trying to make the actual shelf I made a prototype that was a lot smaller where every inch of the prototype is one foot of the real shelf (This doesn't apply for width). This step is not necessarily mandatory, but it helped me a lot because it made me know what the shape of each piece should look like. For prototyping I used a glowforge and the Rhino 7 app. This could also be done with just some scissors and cardboard.

When I got the piece of 4 x 8 foot plywood that was 0.5 inches thick, I had the people at lowes cut it into four 1 x 8 foot pieces. Keep in mind that the width of the saw will take away from the width of the last piece, so make sure you use the three pieces that are really 1 foot wide. After I brought those home, I then cut them into 7 different parts; three 12 inch by 47 inch pieces and four 12 by 25.5 inch pieces (Note that all the length measurements are made assuming that the wood you're using is 0.5 inches thick). If you use a different thickness it would just be 45 + 4 times the thickness of wood you're using or 24 + 3 times the thickness of wood you're using. These directions will be easier to follow if you do have 0.5 inch thick plywood.

This is definitely the hardest part of the shelf. This is because you have to get the joints to fit tightly enough so it doesn't move, but also loose enough so you can put it together. This is why I started with smaller cuts so I could always cut a little more if needed. For this step you need your two 12 inch by 25.5 inch pieces and one of your 12 inch by 47 inch pieces. You are going to cut the smaller pieces the same way; in the middle of them you are going to make two cuts each the thickness of the wood you are using (this was 0.5 inches for me). The length for each of those cuts will be 6 inches. Also, on the top and bottom of each piece you are going to cut out a piece the thickness of the wood your using and 6 inches in length. These cuts are going to be in the middle of the top and bottom. For the longer piece, you are going to make two cuts that are both the thickness of the wood your using and 6 inches long. These two cuts should be 15 inches (pluss the wood width) away from each side of the wood. This means that the two cuts should also be 15 inches away from each other since each cubby is 15 inches wide. Once done you should be able to slide each smaller piece into the slots made in the bigger piece (See the pictures for reference).

With the rest of the wood, the two 47 inch and two 25.5 inch pieces, you will make the top, bottom, and sides. The two longer 47 inch pieces will be identical and the two smaller 25.5 inch pieces will also be identical. The longer pieces will have 8 different cuts. You will cut out two pieces off the top and bottom of the piece that are each 3 inches by the thickness of the wood your using. Then you will make four more cuts that are each 3 inches by the thickness of the wood your using. These cuts are the places where the top of your other shorter pieces will go. These cut's edges should be 15 inches apart since the width of the shelves are 15 inches and so everything lines up when you put it together. The two shorter pieces should have two cuts on the top and bottom that are 6 inches by the thickness of the wood you're using. Those cuts will be the point where the top and bottom pieces and sides come together. Then you will make two other cuts that are 3 inches by the thickness of the wood you're using. On each side of these cuts you should have a foot plus the thickness of the wood you're using (So for me I had 12.5 inches on each side). These two cuts will be where the middle 47 inch piece will connect with the sides (See the diagram to get a better representation of the measurements for all the cuts).

All you need for this step are all the pieces and maybe a mallet to help with the pieces getting put together. Getting the pieces to fit perfectly takes some trial and error, so start small since you can always cut more off. First, get your 3 pieces from step 3 and put each smaller piece in the longer piece's slots. The pieces should go all the way together since both pieces have a cut that is the width of the wood. After, you get the two longer pieces from step four and put them on the top and bottom of the structure you already have. Each slot on the longer pieces should line up with the top and bottom of the shorter pieces. Lastly, out the two smaller pieces from step four on each side. You may notice that some of the pieces are slightly out of line and look almost warped, but once you put the side pieces on everything is very sturdy.

After the shelf is assembled, it's helpful to sand the whole shelf. This is not only important to make the shelf look nicer, but to also help make the shelf smooth before staining or painting the shelf. For this step I used an electric sander with 80 grit. I used a rougher grit because some of the joints weren't super smooth. To make the shelf even smoother you can always use a rough grit and then go to 150 or 240 grit.

After you have put the shelf together, if you don't like the natural color, you can stain your shelf. This is completely optional, but in my opinion it looks a lot better with the stain. You can stain each piece before you put it together, but I found it easier to stain after it was assembled. Multiple coats of paint or stain will make it a little darker. I only used one coat of stain for my shelf. If you like the color of mine I used the color copper from the brand Wickham.