DIY wood triangle bookends

DIY wood triangle bookends

Wood triangle bookends

Although I don’t do many woodworking projects, I’ve somehow gathered many spare bits of timber that now float around the house waiting for their moment to shine. The pieces are too nice to throw away (they really are, I’m not a hoarder I swear!) so I came up with a way to use those pretty offcuts and create a stylish way to house my books at the same time. Follow along for this very easy geometric bookend DIY!

Wood triangle bookends

Materials

Step 1

Measure and mark out three pieces of wood with a ruler and pencil, then cut out the pieces with a handsaw.

Wood triangle bookends

The size of the pieces will vary depending on the thickness of your timber and how tall you’d like your bookends to stand. As a guide, my bookends measured 100mm tall by 100mm wide (3.94 by 3.94 inches), and my timber was 8mm (0.31 inches) thick.

Wood triangle bookends

If you’re going to make your bookends the same size as mine, the size of the pieces will be as follows:

  • Piece A: 92mm tall (3.62 inches)
  • Piece B: 100mm tall (3.94 inches)
  • Piece C: 130mm tall (5.12 inches)

Note: All my pieces measured 65mm wide (2.56 inches), but you can change this up to suit your needs – the triangle shape should still assemble properly with the lengths listed above regardless of how wide the pieces are (just make sure your pieces are all the same width as each other or else you’ll have a very odd looking bookend!)

If you’re making your bookends to a custom size, once you’ve worked out how long you’d like Pieces A and B to be, use a right triangle side calculator to calculate how long you should cut Piece C so it fits snugly. Or you can do some simple algebra if that takes your fancy. 😉

Step 2

When you’re cutting your pieces out with a saw, Pieces A and B will be straight cuts (easy!), but Piece C (the longest piece in the picture above) needs to be cut at a 45° angle on both ends.

I used a large miter box for this, but if you have a miter saw to work with, even better!

Wood triangle bookends

Step 3

Apply wood glue to the end of Piece A (your shortest piece) and attach it to Piece B so that the two form a right angle.

Wood triangle bookends

Wood triangle bookends

Step 4

Once the glue binding Pieces A and B has dried, attach Piece C (the longest piece with the mitered edges) with more glue.

Wood triangle bookends

Wood triangle bookends

Step 5

Use painter’s tape to section off the edges of the assembled bookends. This will protect the rest of the wood while you’re painting. Then paint the edges in the colour of your choice.

Wood triangle bookends

Remove the tape once the paint has dried and smugly gloat over your newest creation! 😉

Wood triangle bookends

Wood triangle bookends

Wood triangle bookends

Wood triangle bookends

While I realise this is very basic woodworking for most people, it’s something I’m super new to, so I understand if you also have questions! Feel free to hit me up in the comments below with anything that isn’t clear. And most importantly, happy making!

xx Steph

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.