Woodworking plans · Woodworking
Planter box plans
A wooden planter on short feet: corner posts, 1x4 boards screwed round them, a slatted bottom on 2x2 cleats; a stile in the middle of a long side. 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: Planter 400 x 400 mm
Make it your size
- Width: 300 to 1200 mm (400 in the cut list below)
- Depth: 300 to 600 mm (400 in the cut list below)
- Height: 230 to 900 mm (450 in the cut list below)
- Boards: 19 × 89, 18 × 94, 20 × 95
- Posts: 38 × 38, 40 × 40, 45 × 45, 50 × 50
In uCAD, change any of these in the part's panel: the model is built again, joints and all.
What you need
Tools: saw, drill, 3 mm drill bit with countersink, outdoor screws (coated or stainless; the lengths in the cut list), sander, a liner or landscape fabric.
Fixings (and wood glue):
- screw 4x50: 70
- screw 4x35: 12
Cut list
At the sizes shown above. Letters match the drawings below.
| Part | Qty | Length | Width | Thickness | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | front board / back board | 8 | 400 mm 15 3/4" | 89 mm 3 1/2" | 19 mm 3/4" |
| B | side board / slat | 11 | 362 mm 14 1/4" | 89 mm 3 1/2" | 19 mm 3/4" |
| C | post | 4 | 406 mm 16" | 38 mm 1 1/2" | 38 mm 1 1/2" |
| D | cleat | 2 | 286 mm 11 1/4" | 38 mm 1 1/2" | 38 mm 1 1/2" |
Lumber to buy
US lumber, 8, 10 and 12 ft boards, 4 × 8 ft sheets:
- 2x2: 1 × 8 ft
- 1x4: 2 × 12 ft
In millimetres
Boards 2400 and 3000 mm long, 2440 × 1220 mm sheets:
- 38 × 38 mm: 1 × 2400 mm
- 19 × 89 mm: 1 × 3000 mm, 2 × 2400 mm
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.
2x2
1x4
Build it step by step
The walls: the posts inside the corners, the side boards between them, the front and back boards over the side boards' ends; two screws through every board end into the post (pre-drill near the ends).
The bottom: the cleats inside the front and back, screwed through the bottom boards every 150 mm; the slats across them, 6 mm apart for water, screwed down. On a long planter, a stile in the middle of the front and the back, screwed through every board.
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 2x2. What then?
Choose what yours sells in the plan's panel (19 × 89, 18 × 94, 20 × 95; 38 × 38, 40 × 40, 45 × 45, 50 × 50): 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.