Guides

Guides and references

Everything you need to plan and build your made-to-measure furniture: the guides, in the order you'll need them, and the references to keep at hand while you build.

Before you start

• Tools for DIY furniture Reading time 26 min

  What every tool does, when you need it, a cheaper route, and how to use it well.

• Where to cut without a workshop Reading time 10 min

  The rail replaces the workshop: how much floor a cut needs, the sacrificial-board setup, what a store cutting service does for you, and living with the dust.

• Why your plan has extra parts Reading time 6 min

  The rail, the divider, the battens: why a plan made to your measurements has parts a factory manages without.

Choose

• One wide wardrobe or several narrow Reading time 5 min

  One wide wardrobe or several narrow ones: what each costs in board, in effort, in height and in hanging length.

• Under-eaves storage Reading time 8 min

  What a sloping ceiling actually constrains: depth, the low corner, the cold pocket behind the unit, and what the loft floor carries.

Build

• Build custom shelving Reading time 3 min

  The full step-by-step: measure, choose a material, limit the span, anchor, and build.

• How to follow a cut line Reading time 6 min

  The blade stays at zero and the angle lives in the line: marking, scribing, and cutting a long line straight.

• How to cut a bevel Reading time 8 min

  Which angle to set when the roof says one number and the saw scale means another, and which bevels are structural.

References

• Standard shelf dimensions Reading time 3 min

  Typical depth, spacing between shelves, and span limits in 18 mm MDF.

• Shelf materials Reading time 2 min

  MDF, plywood, or pine: which holds best, and when to use each.

• Shelf weight capacity Reading time 2 min

  How much a shelf can hold, and how to hold more without sagging.

• Shelving hardware Reading time 3 min

  Screws, dowels, pins, and anchors, with a metric-imperial table.

• Fixing furniture to the wall Reading time 4 min

  When wall fixing is required, and what to watch for depending on your wall.