What's up guys? I'm brad from Fix This Build That. Today I'm going to show you how to make a shoe storage bench
It's a great project to wrangle all those shoes that you got laying around the house
Let's check it out and see how we did it
The sides of the Bench have a modified frame and panel construction
I started by cutting the legs to size from two by two material
The bench is going to have a quarter inch plywood back also
So I laid out a recess or a rabbit into the back legs to hold apply
I made one cut to define the depth of the rabbit and then I raised the blade to match the leftover material and cleared out the
rest of it with another cut
You can see I went a little deeper than I needed to on that first cut but it won't affect the function
The legs are joined by a pair of side rails
I started by cutting one by fours to length
Then I rip them down to get two rails out of each piece that'll be one by two
After that, I drill pocket holes in the ends of all the rails
Before joining the rails on the legs together I cut the side panels to size from 3/4 inch plywood
I laid the legs in the rails face down and then I secured the top rail with screws
Then I use the panels that I just cut to position the lower rail
this eliminates any room for error and measuring and give that exact match
I secure the lower rails
And then I moved on to the panels
I drilled pocket holes on the sides to join the legs and one on the top of the panel to attach the walnut feet later
Since 3/4 inch plywood isn't really 3/4 of an inch
I use some playing cards to shim the panels up and make them flush with the inside face of the legs
Then I locked everything in place with some more pocket screws
The base of the bench will be painted and for a smooth surface
I wanted to fill the pocket holes
My intent here was to show you this cool little jig that I made to cut my own plug from dowels
But as it turns out installing these plugs was a huge pain in my neck
Since I couldn't find a great way to push these in I reverted to using a scratch awl to push the plugs in bad idea
Yeah, that was me. Just taking a scratch awl in the finger
I got lucky there
And I only escaped with just a small cut after pushing a few more of these in by hand
I had an epiphany if I didn't tuck the angle I could just cap the dowels in with a hammer
This works so much better. I'll never be cutting these angled plugs again and doing stupid things with a scratch awl
After the glue dried I came back and I cut the plugs flush
and then I blocked planed and sanded things smooth
I also put a small chamfer on the bottom of the legs to help prevent chipping when the bench is being slid
Now the whole reason I'm using three-quarter inch panels versus a floating quarter inch panel it so I could mount adjustable shelf pins
I used a shelf pin jig and I drilled the holes on both sides and then I sanded the whole side assembly to 150 grit
Next up I cut the parts for the lower and adjustable shelves from 3/4 inch plywood
Each shelf will receive a piece of trim on the front to hide the plywood edge and give it a beefier look
I need the 1 by 4 again to get the trim
I cut it to size on the miter saw and then I took it back to the table saw
I ran the board through to get to 1 by 2 trim pieces
Then I used the trim to measure the cross cut on the lower shelf
This gave me an exact match and I'll do the same for the adjustable shelf later
I drill pocket holes along the front of the lower shelf to attach the trim and along the side to attach the side assembly
The ply that I was using for the shelf was a little warped from sitting in the shop for a while
So I clamped it down firmly to the work surface, then I attach the trim with pocket screws
the last piece I needed was a back stretcher and I cut that from the plywood as well since it's going to be hidden and
You won't see it
To attach the top I drilled three large counter bore holes with a forstner bit and the underside of the front and the back stretchers
I stopped three-quarters of an inch from the other side
Then I came back with a twist bit and drilled a hole all the way through the stretcher
I over sized these through holes to give the screws room for wood movement later.
I didn't have a four foot clamp, so I used a makeshift clamping strip with some s clamps to pull the sides together
I attached the front the back stretchers
then flip the base over and attach the lower shelf
I used spring clamps to position the shelf
then I reference the distance between the bottom of the shelf and the bottom of the legs to make sure everything was even around the bench
With everything in the right position, I attach the shelf with the pocket screws
With the base assembled I cut the plywood for the adjustable shelf to width factoring in the shelf pin
I cut a 1 by 4 to that same length
And then I ripped it down on the table saw to the 1 by 2 sides for the trim
I attached the trim the same way I did before and then I gave the shelf a little test fit
To turn off the side panels I used cove molding
I mitered it to fit around the inside of the panel. Then I tacked it in place with pin nailer
Next I cut a back panel from quarter inch plywood and I was ready for paint
I sanded everything to 150 grit then I put my first of three coats of semi-gloss latex
paint on. The final two coats were done with a foam roller versus the nap roller you see here. It gives a much smoother finish
Now it's my favorite part the walnut top
I picked out this huge 12 foot long board from my walnut stash and I started by breaking it down on the miter saw
I cut it into three four foot sections. Which was great because it was exactly what I needed
I cleaned the boards up a little bit they have a lot of dirt and bark on them
So I want to make sure it was a little bit easier on my jointer and Planer knives
Each board had a little bit of a cup to it as well, so I started by face joining
the board making sure I had one smooth and flat side
From there I went over to the planer and I flattened the other sides of the boards
Until all the boards had the rough milling marks gone and had smooth surfaces on both sides
If you don't have a jointer or planer you can purchase hardwood boards already milled on all four sides at a number of different places online
as well as local hardwood dealers
With the boards flat and smooth on the faces, I went back to the jointer, and I milled a flat edge on each board
And I finished off by taking the boards to the table saw and ripping them all to the width that I needed
I ended up having to leave some sap wood on the boards but I really like the character that it gives it
To join the boards together I use wood glue and a bevy of clamps no biscuits dominoes
or other oddly named joinery methods are needed here
I just put a few small clamps on the glue joints at the end of the boards and that helps keep everything aligned
There are a few bug holes in this and I'm going to fill those with epoxy. I'm just going to mix it up
It's just some cheap stuff. I've got from Harbor Freight, but it's worked well on a project
I hope I have enough let's see how it goes
I mixed the two-part epoxy together and then I used a popsicle stick to fill it into the holes
I ended up having just enough to cover all the repairs so it was perfect
When the epoxy was dry came back with a card scraper and went over the repairs just to get everything
down to a smooth surface before final surfacing
From here you could go straight to an orbital Sander, but since I have a drum sander
I used it for the final flattening. This thing saves a ton of time
Next I took the top over to the table saw I cut it down to its final size on the Crosscut sled
The top looks pretty thick at an inch and an eighth and the front edge have some voids left over from the bark removal
So I decided to put a bevel on the underside of the top because this is going to help lighten the look it's also going
To help me deal with those bark voids all in one step
I set the saw blade to 45 degrees then I just slid the fence so that the blade lined up with my layout lines
I cut the front edge this way, and then I turned the board and cut the side bevels after removing the fence
Using a chamfer bit my router would have been a much easier task here but my bit
just wasn't big enough to give the size bevel that I needed
Cutting the sides was a little unwieldy and it left some burning on the bevel during the cut
I used a block plane and a card scraper to remove any of the burning from the cut and to smooth everything out
I finished up by sanding the whole top to 220 grit and I was ready for finish
I used a satin polyurethane finish for some extra protection and some durability on this one
I applied two coats that were thinned 25% and then two more coats that were thinned 50/50 with Mineral spirits
I really love how this top came out. It's just a nice warm feel to it, and I always love walnut
After the top was dry put it on the base and position it for consistent reveal around the front and the sides
I clamped it down with some quick clamps
and then I secured it to the base through the oversized holes that I drilled earlier in the stretchers
This is going to allow for that seasonal movement that I talked about as the wood on the wall up top expands and contracts
I flipped the bench around and then I nailed all on the back with a brad nailer
The last thing I did was install the adjustable shelf. I used those shelf pins that have a hole in them
And this is so I can secure that shelf in there with some screws
Because it's going to see a lot of action of shoes going in and out
So here's what was going on in our entryway that brought on this project
I love the heart pine bench that I made but it does nothing for organization
but now oh yeah
My wife, and I really love this project so organized
If you want to build your own shoe storage bench there's a link down below in the description
That will take you to my website
There's full plans available there as well as all the materials that I use to make the project
So go check it out if you're not subscribed
I'd love to have you as part of the channel
Comment down below and let me know what you think about the video until next time guys get out there and build something awesome!