Bookshelf
 

Alright. So I'll catch up to the present on my bookshelf construction. Unfortunately, it's sort of late in the game, so I won't be able to show all of the steps in progress, but here goes.

We bought most of the wood rough, 4/4 cherry, at least 11 1/2 inches wide. (This was not cheap.) For the top, we got some planed poplar and cherry. We then spent one weekend putting the rough wood through our planer. We brought the bottom piece down to about an inch, and the verticals to about 3/4 inch.

We used a router against a guard to straighten one side, then used a square to draw square ends, and routed them square. We marked off the desired width at intervals along the board, and routered that off. We could have used a tablesaw, but they make a big mess and are unwieldy for long boards. We don't have a roller table or a bandsaw, either of which would make this part easier.

Here's the wood for the basic framework. It has already been shaped, but you can get an idea of the dimensions.

The next step was to start shaping the boards. This is the top of one of the verticals. The cuts into the grain were made with a dovetail saw. The cuts across the grain were made with a crosscut saw. The crossgrain cut in the middle was done by repeatedly scoring and chipping it out with a chisel. We used a router to thin down the tongues, and a chisel to clean it up.

The holes are obviously drilled, and the bottoms squared by chisel.

Here's the bottom of the sides. The same methods were used as at the top, but it is obviously much simpler. I'll get back to those holes in a bit.

The bottom of the center vertical is a shorter version of the top and is not pictured.

Here's the other side of that joint. The board on top is the bottom, upside down, and the board on the bottom is a side, inside up. :)

The jig was used to drill the holes for the screw and insert shown. I'll get back to that after a quick sidestep.

These are placed every 10 to 12 inches around the back of the frame. They are to hold the plywood backing on. I didn't purchase the specialty screwdriver bit for these brass inserts, so I improvised. The two nuts are tightened against each other, and the insert placed on the tip. The whole thing is put inside a small block of wood with a hole drilled through, which is clamped in place over the predrilled hole. I used a power screwdriver to drive the insert in. Sometimes when I tried to screw it out, the insert wanted to come with it. In that case, I loosened the nuts from one another, and it came out easily.

The inserts are about 3/8 inch deep, because I will be routering a lip into the edge of the wood, for the plywood to rest in.

The center vertical has the same tonge joint on the bottom as all three verticals have at the top. Here are the holes for those tongues. They were drilled, then squared with a chisel. The same was done at the top.

Ah, back to the jig. When in use, it was clamped in place, and the boards were clamped in position, but this is easier to see. The thick drill bit is for an insert which is essentially a steel cylinder with a threaded hole through it. A long bolt goes in where the thin drill bit is, and through the threaded hole in the insert. When tightened, the joint is pulled together.

I wanted this to be a "knockdown" bookcase which could come apart easily. Otherwise these joints would be dovetails with pins.

And here's the joint, all put together. You can see the inserts peeking out a bit.

OK, finally a glimpse of the top. 13-inch-wide cherry is quite expensive, and hard to find, and this is above eye level, so I decided to have a poplar board edged with cherry. The front cherry is just glued on. For the sides, I had to put a thin strip
of walnut in the joint, because glue doesn't work well on endgrain. I did the same for part of the diagonal joint at the corner.

Cross Section:
_ = air C = cherry, W = walnut, P = poplar
__CCCCCPPPPPPP
__CCCWWWWPPP
__CCCCCPPPPPPP

The pins throuh the tongues need to be shaved down a bit, so they can go further in.

Here are the patterns for my walnut feet. I drew a schematic of the existing framework of the corner, and put that on a light table. I then drew each pattern over it, using a French curve, and cut them out.

These are the shelves, cut to roughly the final length. I lost one shelf, due to measurement error. Here's the biggest tip in woodworking: Measure twice, cut once.

And here's a portrait of the proud craftsmen with the assembled frame. Sorry it's cut off - it's hard to get the whole thing in one shot in the room it's in.

Windsor Chair
 

My dad has begun working on the straight pieces of the next project - a Windsor chair. He starts from square stock, and shaves it round with a plane.

And here's where he is so far.

:)


wow.

I gotta get to a REAL lumber yard. I'm making stuff out of shitty home depot pine planks. Nice work, monkey and monkey's dad. Your dad looks like a wood shop teacher.

keep the pics coming! i love it!