Bookshelves- Minecraft Blocks

Hi! My name is Gabe, a Junior from Illiana Christian High School. This project idea came to mind because of the vast amounts of blocks there in Minecraft. This bookshelf set can be made differently almost an infinite amount of times because of the crazy amount of different blocks there are in Minecraft.

Supplies:

• Wood: Birch Finish, MDF Core
• Fusion 360
• Lightburn
• Spray Paint
• Red
• Dark/Light Gray
• Light Blue
• Black
• Green
• Clear Stain Oil Based Spray
• Painters Tape
• Laser Cutter
• Table Saw
• Miter Saw
• Wood Glue
• Pencil

Before this deign, I had many other ideas, but none of them seemed interesting enough for me. Suddenly, I remembered Minecraft and knew I had to do something involving it. First, I drew a simple plan for the shelves. I decided they should be about 4 feet tall and have four Minecraft Blocks, each 13" by 12.5" by 10.5". Then, I measured the wood sheet (49.5", 96.5") to make sure everything would fit. After a lot of thinking, I choose the blocks: Grass, Redstone, Diamond, and Bedrock. Using the measurements, I created the design in Fusion 360 and rendered it in Fusion 360. This helped me see exactly how it would look in real life.

First, I measured and marked a sheet of wood. I then cut it into two pieces, each measuring 12.5" by 47". Then after that, I cut those pieces in half to make them easier to handle, giving me four pieces in total, each 23.5" long. These will be the top, bottom, and sides.

Next, I cut another sheet into two 13" pieces. From each piece, I cut two sides at a 45° angle. Then, I cut two 10.5" rectangles, making a 45° angle on one long end. I did the same with the remaining sheets.

Finally, I cut smaller rectangles for the backs of the shelves using the rest of my wood sheet.

This part was most difficult to figure out. First, I got a spare piece of the same wood I used for the bookshelf. Then, I tested different power levels and speeds for engraving the Minecraft block textures.

To make the blocks look good, I followed these steps:

1. Covered the parts I wanted a different color with masking tape on one of the 13"x12.5" sides. For example, for the Redstone block, I painted the whole rectangle gray, then covered it in painters tape.
2. Used the laser cutter to cut through the tape where I wanted to paint red.
3. Painted the red parts of the Redstone block and let it dry. Then, repeated the process for the other side and other blocks.

For the tops of the blocks, I used the remaining four 13"x12.5" rectangles. These pieces didn't have angled cuts and were painted gray, except for the grass block, which was painted green.

To add texture, I used the laser cutter to engrave patterns onto the wood. I imported images into a program called Lightburn and adjusted them to fit the size of the side pieces. For example, I resized the Redstone block image to 12.5" x 10.5".

The laser engraving settings were:

• Speed: 400
• Power: Max 16, Min 7
• Image Engraving Style: Newspaper

This created textures on the wood.

Finish:

When Finished Cutting/Engraving/painting, I then sprayed all the sides and tops in Varathane Polyurethane Oil Based Spray to keep them looking fresh and shiny.

Assembling everything was the easiest part. I started by putting one of the four 13" x 12.5" rectangles with two angled sides on a table. Then after that, I placed each wooden side on those angles, making sure the pictures faced out. After that, I added the 12" x 10" piece to one end, followed by the top rectangle. This was repeated three more times for the three other blocks. I used clamps and wood glue to hold it all together. Some sanding was needed to make sure everything fit nicely and that no over spray of paint was showing.

And that is it! I really enjoyed my time working on this project, I found it both challenging and satisfying. It provided great opportunities for learning, as I faced many obstacles along the way. Thank you for exploring my creation, have a great rest of your day.