Building a Wall Mounted Magazine Rack
A wall mounted magazine rack is an easy and practical way to help keep your living room and other rooms tidy. Building a magazine rack for mounting on the wall is a fairly easy job and something that is well within the reach of anyone familiar with a bit of basic carpentry. The materials are also cheap and the job is easy enough, possible to carry out and complete in a quiet afternoon with no problem.
Tools and Materials
- Plywood
- Measuring tape
- Pencil
- Paper
- Ruler
- Saw
- Wood glue
- Wood nails
- Wood clamps
- Hammer
- Wall plugs
- Screws
- Sandpaper
Step 1 – Mark the Wood
You will need five main sections of the plywood to build the magazine rack with. Draw a small diagram to scale on the paper so you know exactly how much wood you need to purchase for the job and how you need to cut it. When you have the plywood, use a ruler and pen to mark the cutting lines. You will need a back section which is 25x26 inches, a front section of 7x25 inches, two side sections which are 5x7 inches and a bottom section which is 4½x26 inches. Be sure to double check your measurements to ensure that they are completely accurate.
Step 2 – Cut the Sections
To make things easier when it comes to assembling the magazine rack, label each section with a faint pencil mark. Cut out each section which you have marked on the plywood sheeting. When you have cut out all of the required sections, assemble them without applying any nails or glue at this point. This is just to see that everything fits together and matches as it should. If you need to trim back any sections of wood, then do so. Before assembling the furniture, sand down the edges of the plywood sheeting. These will be rough, especially along the cutting lines. Sand the edges down until they have a smooth and finished appearance.
Step 3 – Assemble the Pieces
Assemble the magazine rack using wood glue to attach each section. So that the glue can adhere properly, apply wood clamps to the areas which you have glued together. Apply small nails to give the piece of furniture extra strength. You should have something that looks somewhat like a box with a high back section and a lower front and sides and no top. When you have assembled the furniture, leave the glue to set thoroughly before removing the wood clamps and sanding away any excess glue which remains.
Step 4 – Finishing Up and Mounting
You may want to stain the plywood with an appropriate product to give it a more finished and attractive appearance. If you are going to do this, do so before mounting it.
To mount the magazine rack, first drill two holes in the wall and make sure that they are level and about 24 inches apart. Place wall plugs in these holes. Finally, mount the magazine rack in place, drilling heavy duty screws through the back of the rack and into the wall plugs.
