Making a Plywood Bookcase / Roomdivider

I've been wanting a bookcase for in my apartment for a while now and I also needed a room divider. So I made a design, bought a sheet of 18 mm birch plywood and made all the pieces fit onto that single sheet.
This was my first time working with plywood, and I really enjoyed it. It's so even and stable, without any internal tension or other issues. It was also the first time I used sanding sealer, stain and water based lacquer. All of those were definitely a success and I intend to use them a lot more often in the future :)
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DISCLAIMER
Even though my videos are set up as tutorials, I'm not professionally trained in any of these crafts. The tools that I use can be dangerous. Don't try a craft if you are unfamiliar with the tools and the necessary safety precautions. Be safe!

[@kerchuansoong]

The exposed plywood edges are such a good material detail to keep! I Fantastic design :)

[@GrahamDallas]

Really nice project, I like the fact you can put books in both sides

[@CraftsWithEllen]

That's my favourite feature!

[@CrudeButEfficient]

Great job! 👍 8:35 - that's the face of determination! 😉

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Haha, exactly!!

[@Gwydion67]

Well done, Ellen!😄 Furniture needed? Furniture selfmade! 🔨👍 Your opportunity of sharing the workshop with Laura is such a great deal...📐🗜 Thanks for letting us participate!😊

[@CraftsWithEllen]

It really is a great opportunity to try my hand at lots of new stuff 😄

[@Gwydion67]

@@CraftsWithEllen Indeed, that's what makes us "makers": Being curious without limits, never stopping from any material, technique or project idea.💭🔎🛠⚖✂️🧵🧷🥼🛢🪑📜🎨⚡😁👍

[@joliski]

This turned out perfect. It's hard to believe that it came from just one sheet of plywood. Good job!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

It took some math, but I made it work :D

[@AlsHackShack]

Super nice Ellen! Thanks for sharing :)

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thank you Mr. A.H. Shackleton.

[@MakeBrooklyn]

That turned out beautiful!!! Well done Ellen!!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thanks Jim!

[@FredMcIntyre]

Turned out great Ellen, awesome work! 😃👌🏻👍🏻👊🏻

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Cheers Fred 👊

[@MaltandMake]

Amazing how much you can make from a single sheet!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

It's like playing Tetris, but you can change the size of the pieces to make them fit 😁

[@annie-centrepiecefurniture]

Wow !! Looks great very retro ;)

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thanks so much Annie :)

[@dennisdouglas6466]

Nice work 👏 👌

[@FigmentsMade]

This is so good! And such a great idea! It looks like it fits the space beautifully.

[@CraftsWithEllen]

I'm super pleased with how it looks in the space 😊 Thanks Sharon!

[@ReindeerStudios]

Dude, I wanna play Dixit and Smallworld now. :D That came out very nice, Ellen.

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Such good games!

[@Stephens8x6Workshop]

Go go Ellen. Nice one ☺

[@CraftsWithEllen]

💪😄

[@TwistedTwineWoodworking]

Looking forward to more furniture projects! You do a great job on your videos.

[@NMBWoodworks]

That looks great and well done on getting it out of a single sheet👍

[@CraftsWithEllen]

👊😃

[@TheGrantAlexander]

Beautifully done, I love when I see bookshelf room dividers, they are so fun and practical!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Agreed!

[@carolg.6838]

Really nice design and building of it.

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thank you Carol!

[@ceciliacorson1804]

I’ve been thinking of going into woodworking for a long time. This video, your hard work, resourcefulness, and forethought have really inspired me! Keep it up. I can’t wait to see what you build next. 😊

[@petermiller6146]

That looks amazing! What a great idea and so well executed fantastic work.

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thank you Peter 😊

[@AndyCPugh]

That looks really good!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thanks Andy 😃

[@mopemaster]

Ein sehr schönes Bücherregal, Ellen! 🤩✅👍🏻

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Danke!

[@p_mouse8676]

Lekker heh, die lacquer! ;) Nice project!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Lecker ;)

[@garagemonkeysan]

Nice film. The bookshelf looks great! From huge picnic table to fancy bookshelf. You rock! Mahalo for sharing! : )

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Whoop whoop! Thanks!!

[@RobertBoerner]

Beautiful project, and a great video.

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thanks Robert!

[@whazee]

Looks great! 😊👍

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thanks 😄

[@00schralf]

The shelf looks really cool 👍 and I also like plywood. It is quite easy to use and also looks great 😁

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Yeah, the look is definitely a plus too!

[@raynoladominguez4730]

Pretty cool project. Great video.

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thank you Raynola!!

[@reforzar]

Nice work!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thanks Brian!

[@Kkuts37]

Really nice!!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thanks Kathleen!

[@ellieboa]

love this! great idea to leave more space in the bottom domino for adjusting. ikea poang chairs ftw!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Apparently that's how you're supposed to do it, I never knew 🤷🏼‍♀️ And that Ikea chair is the one piece of furniture I had when I moved here! So comfortable!

[@Everythings_Adjustable]

That looks great Ellen, (looking up sanding sealer UK now) 👍 😉

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thanks!

[@johnfithian-franks8276]

Hi Ellen, for birch plywood there are a lot of voids, do you have a layth, if so you can make a great sanding spindle with a selection of widths and grits of sandpaper.

[@CraftsWithEllen]

I do have a lathe, thanks for the tip :)

[@WayofWood]

This looks great. I‘ve build a similar design some time ago; getting the alignment of the dominos was a bit nerve wrecking on the long pieces...

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Yeah, that was definitely the part that had me worried the most 😬

[@KarolineHinz]

there is the sheet 😍looks super nice!!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

First!! Oh wait.. that's not how that works.. Thanks Karo 😊

[@KarolineHinz]

Your prize for being first is some mighty fine ....sawdust.

[@beautysynnoman26]

Amazing!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Thank you Melonee!

[@beautysynnoman26]

@@CraftsWithEllen I was excited to potentially do this but then after two tools in I realized I am not equipped :(

[@davebauerart]

I like the differently sized and shaped compartments. Did you design them to fit your stuff or just for visual interest.?

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Mostly just for visual interest. I did know I'd need some larger ones for my boardgames, but I didn't measure anything

[@Brendan9674]

I was looking at shelves at Ikea last night. Maybe this is a nicer option.

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Ikea has its purpose, but this will be with me for a very long time 😊

[@janverzee9423]

Netjes hoor, berken multiplex is geweldig spul om meubels van te maken. Een vraagje, houtlijm werkt toch niet op geverfde oppervlakken?

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Klopt, de houtlijm is een stuk zwakker op behandelde oppervlakken. In dit geval komt de lijmkracht vooral van de deuvels, en die zijn sterk genoeg. De lijm op de andere vlakken is meer een kwestie van "baadt het niet dan schaadt het niet" 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@malvinm337]

awesome project! love your videos :) ps: Smallworld!!!!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Such a good game!!

[@amethyst1826]

I thought you meant actual dominoes, like the black ones you play the game with!! 😆😆

[@pempu_making]

Very nice indeed 🤩 one question to ease my brain: when you picked out the sheet and made your measurements to find out how you get all the pieces out, did you consider the width of the blade from the beginning? And like, that tiny bit of material that gets lost due to cutting? Cause it always gives me headaches to keep the saw-allowance in mind when I measure out all my pieces 😄🙈

[@pempu_making]

Also: Harry Potter Books 😍

[@CraftsWithEllen]

I got around that problem by leaving a few cm of wiggle room. For example, the sheet was 125 cm wide and I made all the boards 30 cm wide. So by cutting four strips out of it, I needed 120 cm and had 5 cm left for saw blade losses. Could've probably gotten away with making the boards 31 cm wide, but I didn't want to do that level of math or worrying 😅

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Of course Harry Potter books!!

[@michaelrichard4421]

@@CraftsWithEllen what were the dimensions of the plywood sheet? I see 120mm wide how long?

[@CraftsWithEllen]

It's 125 by 250 :)

[@dav1dsm1th]

It's a shame you missed the Rockler (One Sheet) Plywood Challenge by two years... Some of their gadgets would help with your new furniture building habit (maybe fire them an e-mail and see if they are feeling generous 😀)

[@CraftsWithEllen]

Ooh yes, this project would've been perfect for that!

[@DrKuebel]

Looks cool! Jan // #DrKuebel