Stacking Plyo Boxes – My Workshop

I recently decided to get into calisthenics, and one of the items that can be quite useful is a plyo box

The typical box is 20x24x30″ giving you three different heights to use, they range in price from £60.00 to £130.00 or more.

You can make one of these from a single sheet of 19mm plywood, including an internal strengthening ‘shelf’.

I was all set to make one, when I learned about stacking plyo boxes and thought this a much more interesting idea.

A typical set uses 4″, 6″, 8″ and 12″ boxes that you can stack in various combinations to make different heights, the next height is usually 16″.

With just the first 4 boxes it is possible to create every combination from 4″ to 30″ in 2″ increments except for 28″.

Adding the 16″ box allows all combinations from 4″ to 46″ in 2″ increments except for 44″.

Unfortunately when using an extra layer of plywood as the means of securing the stack, the maths don’t work out the same when you stack them as when used individually.

I chose to make all the boxes 3/4″ taller than they should be, although the 4″ box could be made exactly 4″ as it would always be at the top of the stack.

4″ (101.6mm) – 3/4″ (19mm) = 3 1/4″ (82.6mm – rounded to 83mm) (make at 64mm if 4″ exact required)

6″ (152.4mm) – 3/4″ (19mm) = 5 1/4″ (133.4mm rounded to 133mm)

8″ (203.2mm) – 3/4″ (19mm) = 7 1/4″ (184.2mm rounded to 184mm)

12″ (304.6mm) – 3/4″ (19mm) = 11 1/4″ (285.8 rounded to 286mm)

16″ (406.6mm) – 3/4″ (19mm) = 15 1/4″ (387.4mm rounded to 388mm)

The actual heights are fairly arbitrary as the need to jump exactly X inches/mm is never going to be a requirement, being able to increase it by a small amount (2″ 50mm) is more relevant than the actual height.

Additionally 3/4″ plywood in the UK is actually 18mm which throws the maths out even more.

I chose a size of 480mm (nearly 19″) square as it felt about right, which would make the inner stacking square 480 – 2 x 19mm = 442mm

These measurements would also be used for the lengths of the side pieces of each height with 2 at 480mm and 2 at 442mm.

I worked out that I could cut most of the pieces for the first 4 boxes from a single sheet of 19mm plywood

and if I wanted to add the 16″ box, then that would just be another half sheet.

Pieces for the first 4 boxes cut, I opted to go with a 4 3/4″ top box so I cut the sides for this box from a separate off-cut piece of plywood, hence the different colour.

Tops of boxes screwed together

In order to ensure the sides were square when assembled, I used a top piece above and below the sides making an enclosed box while screwing them together.

Sides glued and screwed together