Lego Shelf

Hey there,

In this instructables I will guide you trough the process of building a lego shelf.

This is a very simple build, but like every new project it has some tricky parts. I will try to assist you by giving usefully tips and notes and with some motivation I'm sure everyone can build one themself.

5 lego base plate

1 base plane - 18mm 2m/0,4m blockboard

1 edge band or veneer - 2m

50mmx20mm wooden strip (2m in total)

750mmx150mmx8mm back panel

Aluminium bracket

Joints: Lamello

The first step is always to cut your material. Since I was bound to the dimensions of the lego plate all of the messures are just for reference and are not the final messures. So I advice you to just roughly stick to my plans and customize your shelf to your linking.

Have a lock at my plans and you will see that every part has the same width. So, to save some time and effort I cut a loong piece of my base plane with the length of every piece added together. Since you will see the front edge of the board later I covered the front facing edge with a wooden edge band.

Since we don't want to cut any access wood from the frontside we need to make sure the lego base plate is parallel and flush with the front edge. It's also important that the plates are nicely joint, as seen in picture 3. Avoid any gaps by cutting just enough so that the lego bricks fit perfectly.

You could laminate every piece seperatly, but I intentionally used a big piece of veneer to achieve a solid wood look. When every this is glued together it will look like the shelf is made from one single wood slap.

If you want to use this method, make sure that the lego plates are in the correct order and parallel to the front edge. To align them accordingly I made use of some lego bricks to join them together.

For the veneer I used normal wood glue, but for the plastic surface of the lego plates you need something stronger. As it appeared a combination of PU-glue and model constructing glue (UHU Hart) was perfect.

After pressing the board, trim off the access veneer and move on to the next step.

After I left the board in the press over night, I could cut the pieces to the final width. I sanded the front side using a sanding machine and then separated the board to get both side panels and top and bottom. For now the length isn't important.

Again I used one large wood strip to cover the backside, rather than small ones, so the transitions will look nicely.

I cut the wood strip a little bigger and used a planer to get the piece to final messures. I made sure that the height is the same as the block board + lego plate. I marked where to cut the wood and which joint will belong together.

Lamelloss are perfect for gluing those pieces since they make sure that the wood strip is flush with the underside, which makes everything very simple.

Before the glue-up it's a lot easier to sand the pieces and clean up every surface. Also remove all acces glue.

For installing the back panel I decided to put it in a groove. As you noticed I left quite some space in back. That way a extensions cable can be placed there and the mounting constructions has a lot of room. If you want to use the shelf as a entertainment center as I did, make sure to drill a hole on the underside.

The last step before the glue-up is to cut the mitters. Again make sure that the transition is smooth and look nice. This sound easier than it is, so don't rush it and take your time.

After you completed the previous steps successfully just some glue for the joints and some tape to press the shelf together. If this isn't enough pressure feel free to use clamps.

And don't forget to put the back panel in the groove.

After cleaning any remaining glue I finished the project by applying some oil to get a nice and warm wood color.

Since this is a floating shelf I used a aluminium bracket and mounted it on the underside of the top panel. I also cut a multi-layer panel, where I cut in a notch for the bracket, and mounted it on the wall.

Just slide the shelf on the wood strip and you have a nice floating shelf.

Thanks for following along. I really hope you liked my shelf and if you do let me know in the comments. And of course if you have notes on the projects.

Have fun building this shelf and go wild decorating it!!