Making a Cubby Bench

Storage benches come in many forms and styles. If you make your own you are able to match the form and style to your existing decor.

This is the companion blog post for my video on how to make a cubby bench link to my video on YouTube

Wood supplies
full sheet of 3/4 inch plywood
1 x 2 pine 8 ft (2 needed)
1- 5/3 lattice pine 11 ft
round over molding 8 ft
1 x 10 dimensional pine 5 ft (2 needed)

Consumable supplies
wood glue
Primer
Paint (I used Swiss Coffee)
Pre-stain conditioner
Stain (I used minwax "honey")
Polyurethane (I used clear satin)
5/8 18 gauge brad nails
1-1/4 18 gauge brad nails
1-1/4 8 gauge wood screws

Tools
Table saw or circular saw with guide
Router hand held
Clamps
electric driver

Plywood Cut list in inches (I recommend cutting each piece out as needed, it is best to check my measurements with yours as you build encase there are discrepancies.)
48 x 16-1/8 (need 2) Top and bottom pieces of cubby
48 x 15-3/4 back side of cubby
15-5/8 x 15-3/4 (need 4) dividers for cubby front to back should be 15-3/4 and 15-5/8 tall.
48 x 3 (need 2) long strips to lift cubby
10-1/4 x 3 (need 2) short strips to lift cubby

Cut rabbits (1/4 deep by ply width) on both ends of to the top and bottom cubby pieces.

Cut 2 dados (1/4 deep by ply width) equally spaced in the  the top and bottom pieces.

My dados were cut to make three 15 inch cubbys. I lost the exact measurements.

Add a rabbit (1/4 deep by ply width) to one long edge on the top and bottom pieces.

Decide on the orientation of top bottom and back pieces and mark with pencil. Transfer the Dado and short edge rabbit lines to the back piece. 

Cut dados and short rabbits in back piece. Do not cut a rabbit on the long edge.

Join top, bottom, back and dividers with 18 gauge brad nails.

Screw top, bottom, back and dividers together with 8 gauge screw.
Holes should be pre-drilled and counter sunk.

Add 3 inch strips to base to give a 3/4 raise to the bench.

Use 1 x 2 pine to cover the front edge of the plywood. Upper and lower horizontal strips are 48 inches and the 4 vertical strips should be measured for snug fit. Use Brad nails to secure pine.

Cut lattice to run along the edge of the side ends and secure with shorter 5/8 inch brad nails.

Cover brad nail holes with wood putty. Sand putty after it has dried. 

Cut the two 1 x 10 dimensional pine boards to slightly larger than desired length then glue and clamp pieces. These will make up the bench top.

Prime and paint cubby desired color. No need to paint top or bottom.

After bench top glue has dried. clean up the board edges and cut to final size. You may need to sand or plane the joint on the top surface to hid the joint.

Route the top edge with a chamfer or a round over bit.

Apply pre-stain wood conditioner to bench top and then stain. I attache a few wood blocks to lift the bench top allowing me to stain the bottom edge at the same time as the top.

Three coats of polyurethane will seal the bench top. A light sanding between coats with 220 grit will help the polyurethane adhere.

Use a screws to attach the bench top after properly centering it on the bench. Clamps will hold the bench top in place.
Pro tip: I drilled and counter sunk the cubby side before clamping the bench top on. This allows you to clean up any blow outs on the top of the cubby box.

Here we have the cubby box completed.

The Honey stain with a clear satin finish is a dark and golden.

Time to get this out of the shop and into a home.

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