Making a Wooden Magazine Rack with a Laser Cutter

Sorting and dry fitting of the parts

Once all the parts were laser cut, I sorted them and made stacks of similar parts. You can see the result in the image below.

Preparing the parts for the frame

The magazine rack consists of four main parts: a front and a back frame and two shelves.

Assembly with the V-shaped part of the frame which will be the support for the shelves. They are made from two layers of plywood. In one layer there is a slot. Glue the two parts together as shown in the animation. Note that one leg of the V faces to the left and one to the right.
Pay attention that the edges line-up. Remove any excess glue in the slot. Used clamps to keep the parts together while the glue was drying.

Next, Assembled the legs and top of the frame. Again, note that for each frame you need one leg facing to the left and one facing to the right and make sure the edges line up.
For the top of the frame glue the three top parts together. The details of the assembly are shown in the animation.

Now it is time to do some sanding. Sanded all the parts which have been glued together at this stage. Looking back the sanding was the most time-consuming task of this project. It is possible to sand everything just using non-power-tools highly recommend a belt or disc sander. Of course, you could also decide not to sand if you are fine with the brown edges and the rougher look of the unsanded wood.

Here you can see the difference between a part before and after sanding.

Assembling the frame of the magazine rack

With all the necessary parts prepared, they can now be assembled into the frame. First, glue the legs to the middle part of the frame. Then join the left and right part of the V-shaped shelf support. It is important that the slots form a 90-degree angle. Use a set square or something similar to check the alignment.

Building the shelves

First, glue together the four pieces forming the spine of the shelve. They need to form a 90-degree angle. Afterward, add the sides of the shelves making sure that the acrylic fits in the middle.

Combining the frame with the shelves

Now there is just one final step left. Insert the tenons of the shelves into the slots on the frame and glue everything together.

Use clamps to keep the parts together until the glue dries. As you can see in the image added some wood scraps as cauls between the clamps and the frame. This will prevent any denting that may occur from clamping pressure. Also, pay attention to not apply too much pressure so that the shelves don’t warp.

Then, all that was left remove the clamps and the protective foil from the acrylic and enjoy my finished magazine rack!