Woodworking plans · Woodworking
Nightstand plans
A plywood nightstand: an open box on a toe kick with a shelf, screwed through the sides, a back over the sides' back edges and a top pocket-screwed on. Free, any size: open it in uCAD, change the sizes or the lumber you can buy, or just tell its AI what you need, and the parts, the screws and the cut list follow.
Level: easy · Time: about 3 h · Shown: Nightstand 450 x 600 mm
Make it your size
- Width: 350 to 600 mm (450 in the cut list below)
- Depth: 300 to 500 mm (400 in the cut list below)
- Height: 450 to 750 mm (600 in the cut list below)
- Shelf: with or without
- Plywood: 15 mm, 18 mm, 21 mm
In uCAD, change any of these in the part's panel: the model is built again, joints and all.
What you need
Tools: circular saw, drill, 3 mm drill bit with countersink, wood screws (the lengths in the cut list), 3 x 16 pan-head screws, pocket-hole jig (set to the plywood's thickness), pocket screws, wood glue, edge banding.
Fixings (and wood glue):
- screw 4x50: 16
- screw 3x16 pan head: 14
- pocket screw 32 mm: 4
Cut list
At the sizes shown above. Letters match the drawings below.
| Part | Qty | Length | Width | Thickness | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | back | 1 | 522 mm 20 9/16" | 450 mm 17 11/16" | 6 mm 1/4" |
| B | side | 2 | 582 mm 22 15/16" | 394 mm 15 1/2" | 18 mm 11/16" |
| C | top | 1 | 450 mm 17 11/16" | 400 mm 15 3/4" | 18 mm 11/16" |
| D | bottom / shelf | 2 | 414 mm 16 5/16" | 394 mm 15 1/2" | 18 mm 11/16" |
| E | kick | 1 | 414 mm 16 5/16" | 60 mm 2 3/8" | 18 mm 11/16" |
Lumber to buy
US lumber, 8, 10 and 12 ft boards, 4 × 8 ft sheets:
- Plywood 3/4": 1 sheet 4 × 8 ft (or a part sheet: 80 3/16" × 31 3/8" will do)
- Plywood 1/4": 1 sheet 4 × 8 ft (or a part sheet: 20 9/16" × 17 11/16" will do)
In millimetres
Boards 2400 and 3000 mm long, 2440 × 1220 mm sheets:
- Plywood 18 mm: 1 sheet 2440 × 1220 mm (or a part sheet: 2037 mm × 797 mm will do)
- Plywood 6 mm: 1 sheet 2440 × 1220 mm (or a part sheet: 522 mm × 450 mm will do)
Your store sells other lengths or sections? Put in yours in uCAD's cut list: what to buy and how to cut it are worked out again.
How to cut it
From US lumber, a 1/8" saw kerf between the pieces; the hatched ends are left over.
Plywood 3/4", sheet 1
Rip it into strips 15 3/4", 15 1/2" wide, then cut them across. Little on it: a part sheet or an offcut 80 3/16 × 31 3/8" will do.
Plywood 1/4", sheet 1
Rip it into strips 17 11/16" wide, then cut them across. Little on it: a part sheet or an offcut 20 9/16 × 17 11/16" will do.
Build it step by step
The box: glue the bottom and the shelf between the sides and screw them through the sides, three screws a joint (pre-drill, countersink), then the toe kick under the front.
The back: square the box, lay the back over the sides' back edges and screw it on every 200 mm with 3 x 16 pan-head screws.
The top: two pocket holes along the top of each side, on its inside face; set the top on, flush at the back, and screw up into it.
The pocket holes: a pocket-hole jig set to the board's thickness. In uCAD, Build steps plays these one by one on the model, the wood see-through so you can see where every screw goes.
Questions
Can I change the size?
Yes: open it in uCAD and type the sizes you need in its panel. The parts, the joints, the screw lengths and the cut list follow.
My store doesn't sell these sizes. What then?
Choose what yours sells in the plan's panel (15 mm, 18 mm, 21 mm): it's built again for that lumber, with screws to match.
Is it free?
The plan, uCAD and the cut list are free, no sign-up.
Tell us what you need. We’ll do it.
uCAD’s AI draws it in real sizes, and changes it when you ask.
Can’t make the furniture fit?
We’ll lay it out for you, every piece at its real size.
Want a new kitchen?
We’ll design it: the units, the worktop, the appliances, to your walls.
Not sure the staircase will fit?
It will: we work out the steps from your floor height and show you.
Love a house, a garden or a room you saw?
Show us the photo: we’ll build one like it, to real sizes.
Building a shelf, a bench, a workbench?
You get the cut list, what to buy and how to put it together.
Need a floor plan?
Tell us the rooms: we’ll draw the flat or the house, walls, doors and windows.
You say it, we draw it
No CAD to learn: write what you need the way you’d tell a builder or a designer.
Not right? Say so
“Move the sofa to the window.” “A metre wider.” Every change can be undone; nothing can break.
Free to try
Nothing to install: it opens in your browser. A new account tries the AI free.
More plans
Build it your size
Open the plan, change the sizes, print the cut list.