Furniture

Plywood Chair Set

Making a piece of furniture from a single sheet of plywood is quite the feat.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 3.8–7.3 hours
Cost: $$

About this build

Making a piece of furniture from a single sheet of plywood is quite the feat. Making 2 chairs and a side table from a single sheet of plywood is madness!

Tools

Essential

Brad Nailer
Circular Saw
Drill / Driver
Pocket Hole Jig
Random Orbit Sander

Materials

Item	Qty
Plywood, 3/4" Thick Full Sheet	1 board
1-1/4" Pocket Screws	28 each
1-1/4" Brad nails	99 each

Overall cost: $$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.

Cut list

Part	Qty	T × W × L
See Full Plans in "Extras"	1	3/4" × 48" × 96"

What to buy

Some parts are longer than a 8 ft board, so there is no honest board count to show here. Open the board plan to pick a longer stock length — it names every part that does not fit.

3/4" × 48"

0 boards

Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →

Start building →

Instructions

1Breaking down the plywood
Start by breaking down the plywood using a circular saw and the rip cut and accu-cut saw guides. Downloadable plans and templates can be found in the "Extras" tab.
2Adhering the Templates
Some of the boards cut from the plywood are going to trimmed up into pieces for parts used to makes the sides. The templates are provide in the plans (https://rogueengineer.com/diy-1-sheet-plywood-chair-set-plans/) and should be adhered to the appropriate boards using spray adhesive.
3Cutting out the Parts
With the templates adhered, I used the accu-cut, supporting the track on both ends to cut out all the parts.
4Aligning the sides
Gather all the parts and align the sides using a straight edge to keep the feet flat. Make sure the half lap joint is nice and tight.
5Assembling the Legs
Lift up the parts on top and then adhere them into place with wood glue.
6Assembling the Sides
Glue and nail the half lap joint together. Then fill and sand the seams flush.
7Install Back Support
Drill pocket holes and install the back support to the sides using 1-1/4" pocket screws.
8Install the Seat
Set the seat in place and mark the pocket hole locations. Drill the pocket holes and install the seat using 1-1/4" pocket screws.
9Install the Back
I slid the back in from the top of the chair and squirted some glue in the gap then clamped the back in place until the glue cured.
10Assembling the Table Base
Assemble the table base using wood glue and 1-1/2" brad nails.
11Assemble the Side Table
Install the base to the table top using wood glue and 1-1/4" brad nails.