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I'm very new at building and working with wood in general. Had 1 project before this one but it was just a bunch of acoustic panelling frames.

I want to build a shelving unit for boardgames similar to the "BoxThrone", standing 79 inches tall, 33.5 inches wide, and 17 inches deep. The darker pieces are 2x4s, and the lighter pieces are 1x3 furring strips.

The idea is to have 2 kinda empty spaces in the middle to place any number of 14 by 14-inch shelves of any height (I'll be using pilaster strips for this) in such a way that it's completely freestanding without having to worry about it breaking apart if it's moved. I also kinda want to put it on wheels... and not have it up against a wall.

Is this design ok? Is this sturdy enough? Or is it way too overbuilt?

I'm really not sure and would love some feedback on this design.

fusion 360 mockup of design

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    Nothing wrong with your plan I think, but uses too much wood! I think plywood is better idea, if you have the tools to saw plywood to size. SPF is damp, takes long time to dry out at home to be suitable for furniture - buy now, use in 4 weeks. Also very expensive due to construction wood shortages. Plywood prices more stable, and much less material will be used, so I think project should be much cheaper. Plywood can be used immediately, no waiting needed.
    – Volfram K
    Commented Jun 17, 2022 at 4:56
  • Hi, welcome to StackExchange. Calling this "a shelf" is I think likely to cause confusion, so I'll edit the title accordingly. "is this sturdy enough? or is it way to overbuilt?" As I understand it you only need this to support boardgame boxes, which as a rule will weigh very little? As pictured, and assuming to put it together with enough nails and/or screws, it could safely support a family of four!
    – Graphus
    Commented Jun 17, 2022 at 12:23
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    To attract good Answers I think you're going to want to give us an idea of what tools you have available, so alternative suggestions can be reasonably scoped (e.g. don't require a table saw). Also, how much is the look of the BoxThrone important to you? If you only need the storage, check out the (dozens) of designs for shelving units and bookshelves online; you can take inspiration from them, or copy outright with tweaks to dimensions. As you'll see, many have plywood or MDF sides and tops, possibly a backing sheet (even if thin this ads a lot of rigidity) and use no 2x material.
    – Graphus
    Commented Jun 17, 2022 at 12:35
  • Note that, based on the image of a "Boxthrone" brand shelf in this answer, your shelf really doesn't have to be all that "sturdy" to hold up a dozen or so table-top gaming boxes. The games aren't that heavy. So long as you're not throwing drunken mosh-pit gaming parties, I'd imagine you'll be just fine with something with much lighter construction than what you've shown.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 11:14

1 Answer 1

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"Boxthrone" is a brand name for a modular steel shelf unit designed specifically for game boxes. It has shelves that can be adjusted to fit different sized boxes. Since each game box has it's own shelf no other box is shuffled when any one game is pulled from the shelf.
enter image description here

There are many ways to make shelves.
A basic shelf made of 2x4s with plywood shelving
enter image description here
This design in 2x4s is stronger than it needs to be to hold games.
Based on your initial drawing it seems like you are comfortable working with 2x4s. You'd size this to your specifications.
The design as drawn gives you four shelves.

If you:

  • Delete the middle two shelves
  • Add a solid plywood back for horizontal support
  • One more vertical support on the middle front. At 33.5 inches wide one vertical support 2x4 in the middle.
    you could use metal shelf tracks (shelf standard) and metal shelf supports (Pilaster clips).

The shelf standards would be installed at each of the four corners. You could go with one shelf standard in the middle front and one in the middle back as a support for a continuous shelf.
Or you could go with two shelf standards in the middle front and two in the middle back to give you two independent stacks of shelving.

You could use wood or wire shelving that would offer flexibility similar to the Boxthrone.

enter image description here
Often the self standard sits in a groove in the wood so that it's flush with the wood surface. That's a great way to go but it is simpler to mount the self standard on the surface of the wood.

Hope this helps
I wish I had some drawing tools to make all this clearer.

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  • Even without the drawing tools this is still a great Answer.
    – Graphus
    Commented Jun 18, 2022 at 17:01
  • For some reason, using SketchUp really threw me for a while. I watched some basic tutorials on YouTube and that really cleared it up for me. You can still DL and install SketchUp Make (from 2017, I think) to have a non-web-based version (if you want). It's done everything I've needed it to do, from designing cabinets to a house addition, and it's free!
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 11:12
  • Also, please list the source(s) of your images, pursuant to Stack Exchange rules.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 11:14
  • @FreeMan please link to the rule that says images must be linked.
    – David D
    Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 12:45
  • Quoting image sources helps confirm DMCA compliance and is (IMHO) implicitly stated here. Perhaps you may not think this is a "rule", but it is certainly an expectation at most (if not all) SE sites. Enforcement is community-based and enforcement level varies between sites.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 13:02

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