Overview
You’ve seen chests of drawers—
well, here’s a “chest of
baskets.” It can be used in nearly any
room—in the bathroom for storing
towels, the entryway for organizing
hats and gloves, the bedroom for
workout clothes, even in the kitchen
for veggies or hand towels.
The total materials bill for our
pine stand, including the baskets,
was about $50. We bought baskets
at a craft store, but lots of
other retailers like Pier 1, West Elm
and IKEA also carry them. Make sure
to buy your baskets first; you need
to construct the stand based on
their dimensions.
To keep the frame of the stand
both lightweight and strong, we
used biscuit joinery. It’s a clever way
to join wood, and a technique you
can use with many other projects.
See below for biscuit joiner tips.
How to build it
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Photo 1: Mark the legs
Clamp the legs together and mark
them all at the same time. That way,
all your marks will line up and you'll
avoid mismatches.
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Layout detail
Careful layout makes the next steps easier.
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Photo 2: Cut the biscuit slots
Cut slots in the ends of the rungs
and sides of the legs. Assemble each
ladder in a "dry run" to make sure
they fit together correctly.
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Photo 3: Assemble the "ladders"
Join the rungs to the legs with
glue and biscuits, then clamp the
ladders together. Work fast! You have
to assemble eight joints before the glue
begins to set.
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Photo 4: Connect the ladders
Install the front and back crosspieces with
glue and nails. Then add the runners that support
the baskets.
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Photo 5: Top it off
Glue and nail the plywood top to the top of
the stand, then apply cove molding to neaten up
and hide the edges.
You’ll build the two
“ladders” that form
the sides of the
stand, then glue and
nail the crosspieces
to join the two
ladders.
To get started, cut
all the parts to
length (see Cutting
List in Additional Information below). Mark the
rung and crosspiece
locations on the
legs. Mark all four
legs at the same
time to ensure the
framework is uniform
and square
(Photo 1).
As you mark the
legs, keep picturing
how your baskets
will sit on the runners,
especially if
you’re using baskets
smaller or larger
than ours; it will
help you avoid
mental errors. Use
the biscuit joiner to
cut slots in the
edges of the legs
and ends of the
rungs (Photo 2).
You’ll need to clip
the biscuits to suit
the 1-1/2-in.-wide
legs and rungs (see
“Biscuit Tips,” below).
Apply glue to the
biscuits and slots
(Photo 3) and
assemble each joint.
Clamp the ladders
together and set
them aside until the
glue dries.
Join the two ladders
by gluing and
nailing the crosspieces
between
them. Remember
that the three front
crosspieces that will
support the baskets
lie flat. Next, install
the basket runners
(Photo 4) even with
the flat crosspieces
that run across the
front. Glue and nail
the 3/4-in. plywood
top to the stand,
then apply cove
molding to cover the
edges (Photo 5).
Figure A: Basket Stand
Here’s what we used to make this basket stand:
30 ft. of 1x2, 6 ft. of 3/4-in. x 3/4-in. square dowel,
6 ft. of 3/4-in. cove molding, 3/4-in. plywood, 12 x
12 x 8-in. baskets, No. 0 biscuits, wood glue, 2-in.
finish nails, cherry penetrating oil finish.
Biscuit tips
1 of 5
Clip biscuits for narrow stock
The smallest common biscuits
(No. 0) are almost 1-7/8 in.
long. That’s too long for the 1-1/2-in. wide
parts on this basket stand. But there’s an easy solution: Just clip
about 1/4 in. off both ends of each biscuit. Your slots will still be too
long and visible at inside corners, but a little filler and finish will hide them.
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Number the joints
While you’re marking
the center lines
of each biscuit slot,
also number each
joint. That will eliminate
confusion and
misalignments
during assembly.
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Make a glue injector
Spreading a neat,
even bead of glue
inside a biscuit slot
ain’t easy. You can
buy special injectors
online, or make your
own.
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Homemade injector top
To make your own injector, modify the cap
from a marker with
a fine-tooth
saw.
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Always do a dry run
Biscuits grab fast.
During glue-up, you
don’t have time to correct
mistakes or dig up a longer set of
clamps. So always test the whole
assembly—including clamps—before
you get out the glue. For complicated
assemblies, give yourself more working
time by using slow-setting wood
glue. Titebond Extend is one brand.
A biscuit joiner is a superb tool for joining wood where it would be
difficult to use nails or screws. The joint is strong, invisible and
easy to create. The compressed wood biscuits expand on
contact with moisture in the glue. Since the biscuits are
placed in slots that are wider than the biscuit, you can
adjust the joint a little after butting the two pieces
together. Biscuits come in three common sizes:
No. 0, No. 10 and No. 20.
Video: How to Use a Biscuit Joiner
A biscuit joiner will help you make strong, fast and accurate joints. Spike Carlsen, an expert at The Family Handyman, will show you how to use a biscuit joiner to get perfect joints.
