Home Tree Atlas

It’s pretty surprising the almost unlimited ways you can get creative building with plywood by gluing pieces together. I’ve only just started basic woodworking, but I’ve already made a lamp, and coasters using scrap plywood – along with a number of other plywood projects.

Bloks, as I like to call them, are organizers made by cutting holes in sheets of plywood and gluing them together. They can be customized to any room, or for any items that you want grouped and organized helping to get rid of clutter on your tables.

TOOLS

• Jigsaw

My power saw jigsaw was bought at IKEA, not the best but still does the job

• Drill

And a drill bit the size of your jigsaw blade

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• Plywood

I used 3/4 inch plywood. You can use thinner plywood, but you’ll just need to glue more pieces together to create a stack

• Sandpaper

I used 150 grit sandpaper

• 4x Clamps

These will be used to clamp together the plywood while the glue sets

• Wood Glue

• Tape Measure and Pencil

• Polyurethane

This is used to finish off the plywood when you are done – giving it a nice shine. You can also use Linseed oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Gather your items

This is a custom organizer for your items, so gather up what you want to organzie. For me this included notebooks, my phone, pens, and loose items.

Next measure how wide your holes need to be to fit your items. For my phone, I needed a hole that was 3 by 2 inches.

I just made sure there was an inch border around the whole block and in-between most holes.

Step 2: The depth of each hole

The next step is to figure out how many pieces of plywood sheets you’ll need to create your block. I knew I needed 4 sheets to create the height of the block. There would be one base layer (at the bottom) with no holes in it. The holes for my phone and notebooks would be cut in the next 3 layers, while the holes for the pencils and loose items would only need to be cut in the top plywood sheet.

The Template for the Bedroom Blok

This one will hold a book in the back and my phone in the front. I ended up having to drill a hole through the side once it was built to feed through my charger cable.

Step 3: Cut out your template

Step 4: Trace your template onto your plywood

I just mark the corners of the template and use a ruler to connect them

Step 5: Drill your holes

Take your drill and the drill bit that is the same size as the blade for your jigsaw, and drill a hole on opposite corners where each hole will be in the plywood. This hole lets your jigsaw blade get into where you need to cut.

Step 6: Saw out the holes

Take the jigsaw and cut out the holes

Step 7: Glue the pieces together and clamping it

Glue the pieces in the right order. When you’re done glueing the plywood together, you’ll need to clamp the block (using scrap wood on the top and bottom) so the glue makes a solid connection with the wood. It will take over 30 minutes for the glue to set.

Step 8: Sanding down the edges

Since the jigsaw does not make perfect straight lines, I took some sandpaper and sanded down the edges of the block. You can do this by hand, or you can buy a cheap sanding disk attachment for your drill – which is what I did and it saves a lot of time.

Step 9: Adding some gloss

After you’ve sanded down the edges, wipe off the wood dust so you have a clean surface to apply the polyurethane to. After my first coat, I waited 3 hours for it to dry. I hand sanded it down all over before adding a second coat – followed by another sanding after it dried to smooth it out.

The Desk Blok

The Bedroom Blok

Email me at jacob@hometreeatlas.com with photos if you make your own, or if you have any questions.

Plywood can be cut into any shape that you can think of. And I liked the idea of having an angular desk lamp – shaped a bit like Batman’s, The Dark Knight Tumbler.

While plywood can be shaped to make the lamp stand, concrete is easy to use and can be shaped into a base. Then all that is left is a strip of LED lights – I got mine at IKEA.

TOOLS

• Jigsaw

The one I have cost $25 from IKEA and is ideal for cutting different shapes from plywood

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• Plywood

I used 3/4 inch thick plywood

• LED Light

The one I used is the basic DIODER light from IKEA. You can also get strips of flexible LED lights from Amazon.com if you want to create a more curved shaped lamp.

• Concrete and Rubber Gloves

I just used a normal bag of concrete, and had another bag of sand. You can also use Quikrete Concrete Mix which is already mixed – so all you need to do is add water.

• Wood Glue

• Spray Paint

This is if you want to paint your lamp – mine is black.

• Clamps

I cut out 3 sheets of plywood and glued them together – so they needed to be clamped

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Creating a template

There is no real science here. I knew I wanted an angular lamp, a bit like Batman’s Tumbler. So I doodled it out until I got decent shape. Then I started drawing it to scale – changing the angles and lengths until it looked right. Here are 2 things to keep in mind when creating your own template:

1) Make sure that where your LEDs will go, will be high enough off the ground to be a good light source. Too low and you won’t get much light out of the lamp. Too high (if it is a desk lamp) and the direct view of the LEDs can be blinding and off putting.

2) The bottom of my template, the base, will be stuck in cement. So the angled shape is to help it stay secured in the cement. Cut your plywood so the base has some parts sticking out to keep it secure in the cement.

STEP 2: Cutting the plywood

I used tape to stick the template onto the plywood, then traced it, and cut it. I wanted a thick lamp so I cut two pieces which will be glued together.

STEP 3: The middle piece

I wanted there to be a middle section where the LED lights could sit inside – hidden away. So I took my template and cut a 1cm off from the underside. Then made the cut from plywood.

STEP 4: Glueing the pieces together

Take the wood glue and spread it across the plywood. The block of plywood will then need to be clamped down until the glue dries – which takes 30 minutes.

STEP 5: Turning it black

Using an IKEA bag, I placed the block of plywood on top of a piece of scrap plywood and spray painted it black. 2 coats were applied to all sides.

STEP 6: Creating the box for the cement base

This is another place where you get to play around to get the shape that you want. I took a piece of paper and traced the bottom of the lamp base onto it. I then added 1 inch to all of the sides. Then I folded the paper up to get the height of the box I wanted.

After cutting this cross shape out, I then minus 1cm from all of the corner edges and drew a line from the base to create an angle.

STEP 7: Cutting out the cement box aka the formwork

The box template was traced onto a thick piece of cardboard. You going to need to use thick cardboard since the cement will want to bulge out. Then cut out the template.

Next, I used a box cutter and went along the inside lines – not all the way through. This scores the cardboard creating clean groves to fold the cardboard.

STEP 8: Waterproofing the cardboard

Tape the inside section of the box to waterproof it.

STEP 9: Taping the box together

You want to make sure that you tape the sides together well – so that it holds together when the cement gets poured in.

STEP 10: Mixing the conrete

Wear rubber gloves for this next step. I’ve had cement burns while building in the Philippines, and it hurts.

Follow the directions on your concrete bag – whether you need to mix in sand and water or if you just mix in water. I cut the top of a water bottle to help me scoop up the concrete powder and it was later used when pouring the cement into the box.

STEP 11: Pouring the floor

I poured in a layer that was 1/2inch to 1inch first, to create a bottom layer. Shake the cardboard box around a bit to flatten out the cement.

STEP 12: Inserting the lamp stand

Now that there is a bottom layer, the lamp stand can be put inside of the box. I used a paint tin and some scrap pieces of wood to hold up the lamp.

STEP 13: Pouring the cement

As you pour in the cement, take a thin stick and poke the cement all the way around. This helps release the air bubbles inside. And once you have poured in the cement to the top, use your finger to tap on the sides of the cardboard box – this also helps with the air bubbles.

STEP 14: Let it dry

I left it to dry for a day and a half before removing the cardboard box.

STEP 15: Respraying

The plywood got a bit dirty from the cement pouring. So I taped up the cement base and spray painted it again.

STEP 16: Adding the LED lights

The last step was supergluing the LED light strip into the groove.

Email me at jacob@hometreeatlas.com with photos if you make your own, or if you have any questions.

For more DIY projects and ideas, visit The Mill @ Home Tree Atlas

I saw the FADO table lamp in IKEA and thought that it would make for a interesting, almost mystical, floor lamp.

TOOLS

• Drill

A battery or corded drill will do – this is used to screw the dowels together

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• 3 Wooden Dowels

I was able to find some dark ones which I liked

• IKEA FADO Lamp

A glossy white globe table lamp available here from Amazon

• String

This is used to cover up the screws connecting the dowels. I would of preferred to of used leather, and might change it up one day.

• Screws

2 screws are needed to connect the dowels together

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Marking out the dowels

Take the 3 dowels and stand them up. See at which point is best for them to be connected – and mark it. In my case, it was just above half way.

STEP 2: Drilling the dowels

Lay 2 of the dowels on the workbench, aligned at the bottom. Clamp them down using a scrap piece of wood. And use a drill bit slightly smaller than the size of your screw to make a pilot hole

STEP 3: Screwing the dowels together

Once the pilot hole is made, you can then screw the two dowels together

STEP 4: Connecting the last dowel

Now do the same with the 3rd dowel, screwing it slight lower than where the other 2 are connected

STEP 5: Wrapping the poles

Using string, wrap the poles where the screws are. This is to hide the screws and to keep the dowels in place.

STEP 6 OPTIONAL: Braiding the string

Just for an added touch, I braided some string to wrap around the center. This is done by cutting 3 long pieces of string the same length. Tie them together at the top to create a knot. Tape the knot down onto your workbench. To braid them you take the first string to the left and go over the second one, and then under the third one. Now take the first string to the left, and go over the second one, and under the third one. Keep repeating this – making sure that when you go over and under that the string gets tight at the top where it is being braided.

STEP 7: Adding the light

The FADO lamp has these holes in the base that make it easy to mount to the top of the dowels. You can also slide the lamp in-between the dowels.

Email me at jacob@hometreeatlas.com with photos if you make your own, or if you have any questions.

Turn pieces of scrap plywood you have laying around into some handmade coasters. If you’ve never tried woodworking before, this is a great project to get you started.

TOOLS

• Jigsaw

I’m using one that I bought at IKEA for $25.

• Optional: Corded Drill

A corded drill was used, along with an inexpensive sanding disk attachment, to sand down the cut pieces of wood. This can also be done by hand with sandpaper.

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• Plywood

3/4 inch plywood. You can use thinner or thicker pieces – since they will be glued together to create the width of your coasters.

• Scrap Wood

I used some dark scrap wood to create the borders of the coasters

• Wood Glue

• Clamps

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Taking measurements and cutting

Here is the cut list:

• The plywood is 3/4inch thick. So 4 strips of plywood at 7.5cm long by 1.5cm wide
• The wood for the border is 1cm / 0.39inch thick. So 2 strips at 10cm long and 1.5cm wide
• 2 border pieces 7.5cm long and 1.5cm wide

To get these measurements, I measured a coaster I had which was 10 cm by 10 cm.  Now I needed to create a square out of plywood and the border wood as close to 10cm as possible.

Measuring out the plywood thickness plus the thickness of the border pieces, I found out how many pieces of plywood I would need to get to 3.9 inches / 10cm. That is the width of the coaster – so the height needs to be the same.

When cutting the border pieces I measured a little extra ( a few millimetres) so that they can be sanded down and made even with the plywood later.

STEP 2: Glue and clamp the plywood strips

The plywood pieces were then glued together and clamped down in place.

STEP 3: Sand down the ends

Once the wood glue has dried (it takes 30 minutes) the next step is to sand down the ends of the plywood – it needs to be completely flat so we can glue the border pieces.

Put a piece of scrap wood on top of the plywood block, and clamp it down to the table (the scrap wood protects the plywood from getting damaged). Sand down the ends so they are flat.

Also sand the top and bottom of the block if the plywood pieces are uneven.

STEP 4: Glue the short ends first

Glue the short border pieces first to the ends of the plywood and clamp them in place.

STEP 5: Sanding down the boarder pieces

Once it has dried, sand down the 2 boarder pieces even with the plywood pieces

STEP 6: Glue the long boarder pieces

Glue the long border pieces to the sides of the plywood block and clamp them in place

STEP 7: Sand down the new boarder sides and the top and bottom

Once the glue has dried, sand down the long border pieces so they are flat with the short border pieces. Then sand down the top and bottom of the coasters to make them flat.

A good way to clamp the coaster down to sand the top and bottom, is to clamp a scrap piece of wood to the table, then clamp another piece of scrap wood sideways against the coaster (like in the picture below)

STEP 8: Adding a shine with polyurethane

Next cover the coasters with 2 coats of polyurethane, waiting the right amount of time in-between coats – for me that was 3 hours. And use a fine grit sandpaper to sand the coaster in-between coats of polyurethane.

Email me at jacob@hometreeatlas.com with photos if you make your own, or if you have any questions.

For more DIY projects and ideas, visit The Mill @ Home Tree Atlas