I like magazines (I know, I’m one of those weird people who still likes printed media) and needed a way to store them.  I had thought about buying some, but only found 2 options:  cheap cardboard or spend ~$10 each for nice ones.  Since I wanted more than 1 or 2, I decided to build.

Here’s the finished project with a couple of coats of latex paint brushed on.

I found a great idea on Ana-White.com to make some of my own.  I had some leftover luan underlayment laying around, so this project was essentially free to build.  If you were buying all of the materials, a single $10 sheet of luan would build you dozens of these.  Add in a bottle of wood glue for $3, a roll of masking tape for $3, and a bit of paint and you’re looking at less than $20 to build dozens of these.

Here’s how to do it.  All you really need in the tool department is a trusty circular saw and a guide for cutting.  Clamp your straight edge to the board and cut your plywood.   My preferred straightedge is a piece of SuperStrut bought from Home Depot.  It costs about $15 for a 10 foot length, which is great for ripping a full sheet of plywood.  You can find this stuff in the electrical section, next to the conduit.

Since I was using luan and the sides of the plywood did not match, I ended up cutting 2 pieces and putting the matching face veneers together .  This way I could also cut the 2 sides of the box at a the same time so they would be identical.  Note the use of masking tape to hold the 2 pieces together.  Pro tip:  run a strip of masking tape along the cut line.  This will prevent the saw from tearing out the material.  You’ll end up with a much better finish on your cut.

Matching Face Veneers

Once all your pieces are cut, simply glue them together using your favorite wood glue.  No need for fancy clamps here, just use masking tape to hold all the edges together.  It works wonders on these types of boxes.  Here’s a batch of these all finished up, ready for final finishing.  Enjoy!

Tools:

• Circular Saw
• Clamps
• Straight cutting guide (a piece of straight wood can work here)

Materials

• 1/4″ plywood or similar (I used 5mm luan underlayment)
• Wood glue
• Masking tape
• Paint of your choice to finish (optional)