How to Make Wooden Storage for Shoes

Creating the Pieces

• 1

  Cut two long sides for the box from 3/4 inch plywood. These should be 14 inches long and 8 inches tall. Cut two end pieces, each 7 inches wide and 7 inches tall. Cut the bottom to 12 1/2-by-8 inches. Use a table saw to cut pieces to width, then make the crosscut (the short end) to length on a miter saw. Cut a top for each box from 1/4 inch thick plywood. The top should be 8 7/8-by-14 inches.

• 2

  Remove the blade from your table saw by turning the arbor nut (located in the center of the blade) counterclockwise with a wrench. Install the two outside chipper blades of a stack dado set to create a 1/4-inch wide dado. Reinstall the arbor nut, turning it clockwise to tighten. A dado set is a set of blades that can be combined to create various widths of notches, commonly known as dados.

• 3

  Set the depth of the blade to 1/2 inch. Set the table saw fence or rip fence to 3/4 inch from the blade. Run one long edge of each long side piece over the dado blade to cut a groove into its face.

Assembling the Storage Box

• 4

  Apply wood glue to the edges of the bottom piece. Nail one short end piece to each short end, so that the bottom of the end is flush with the bottom face of the bottom panel. Use an air powered pin nail gun with 1 1/4-inch nails, three inches apart. Nail the opposite end in the same way.

• 5

  Apply wood glue to the vertical edges of the end pieces and nail the long sides onto the box, with both ends flush with the outside faces of the end pieces. The long edges should be flush with the bottom face of the bottom panel. Arrange the long sides with the dado up, above the ends of the box.

• 6

  Cut a piece of 1/2 inch foam 8-by-12 1/2 inches. Set it into the bottom of the box. Place the shoes in the box and slide the top panel into the dados.