Pencil holder
10 minutes to a pencil holder — the cheapest joinery practice there is
Free template · 6 presets (square / hex / octagonal / divided / brush holder / partitioned)
Pencil holder design details
What's distinctive about this template
Design highlights
What this template's algorithm handles for you
What this template builds for you
A pencil holder is the highest-ROI way to practice joinery — scrap stock under a dollar each, and you can drill on 30° / 45° / 60° miters, learn dado-housed dividers, edge-jointed panels and chamfered edges all on one piece.
This template supports 6 presets: simple square, divided desk grid, brush holder, tool tote, hexagonal tea caddy, octagonal cross-section. Each one auto-computes the miter angle, divider lengths, and the matching dado depth. Octagonal corners are 135° interior (which means a 22.5° saw-blade angle) — easy to get wrong by hand; the cut list just tells you "set the table-saw blade to 22.5° and cut 8 pieces".
Make one for yourself, gift one to a friend, sell them at a craft market — pencil holders give the best learning per dollar of any woodworking project.
Who this template suits
✓ Recommended for
- · Practicing mitered joinery
- · Using up scrap stock
- · Selling at craft markets
× Not for
- · Looking to build large storage cabinets
Parameters you can adjust
The algorithm auto-computes dimensions, joinery, and material usage.
Pencil holder common dimensions
These numbers come straight from this template's adjustable ranges and defaults, so they update whenever the template does.
| Dimension | Adjustable range | Template default |
|---|---|---|
| Length | up to 200 mm (20 cm) | 80 mm (8 cm) |
| Width (depth) | up to 200 mm (20 cm) | 80 mm (8 cm) |
| Height | up to 250 mm (25 cm) | 100 mm (10 cm) |
| Wall thickness | 5–15 mm (0.5–1.5 cm) | 8 mm (0.8 cm) |
| Bottom panel thickness | 5–15 mm (0.5–1.5 cm) | 8 mm (0.8 cm) |
Main dimensions list only the upper bound: the template has no meaningful lower limit. Values in mm with cm in brackets.
Enter sizes, get everything
Six deliverables in one pass — print A4 and walk into the shop.
Real generated output
The screens below are actually generated from the Pencil holder template — apply your sizes and they update live.
※ These regenerate live whenever you tweak size, wood, or style
When you'd build one
Got a pile of offcuts gathering dust? Ten pencil holders eats through it.
Design a pencil holder with your kid. 30 minutes from sketch to finished piece — they'll use it daily, more than any parenting blog can deliver.
Made from shop scrap (cost under $1), sold at $8–15 each — viable weekend market stall margin.
Hexagonal tea caddy is just hard enough to impress, just cheap enough to actually finish — perfect end-of-semester woodworking project.
6 preset variations
Swap styles in one click — no need to re-adjust every parameter from scratch.
FAQ
What blade angle for a hex box?+
30° (each interior corner is 120°, so 180 − 120 = 60, and blade tilt is 60 / 2 = 30°). Octagonal is 22.5°. The cut list spells it out for each preset.
What wood works best?+
Use scrap. Cypress for aroma, oak for grain, pine for cheap — pencil holders aren't picky.
Can I build a bigger pencil holder?+
Free plan caps at 20 × 20 × 25 cm (anything bigger really becomes a vase or a storage tote). Upgrade to Personal for any size.
How do I glue mitered corners without slipping?+
Lay all 6 or 8 sides flat-edge-to-flat-edge on a strip of masking tape, glue, then fold up like a hinge — every corner closes simultaneously.
How deep should the divider dado be?+
Dado depth = 1/3 of divider thickness (9 mm divider → 3 mm dado). Too shallow rattles, too deep blows out the outside. The algorithm computes from your board thickness.
How to unlock "Pencil holder"
Free template — start building now
Pencil holder is a beginner-practice template — on the house from Wooden Ren
- ✓No signup, no payment, unlimited builds
- ✓3D, joinery, 3-views, cut list and PDF — same as paid users
- ✓Only limit: a size cap (fits small practice builds)
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Start designing your Pencil holder
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