G&G Inspired Bookcase - Assembled Pics

glenn bradley

Member
Messages
11,515
Location
SoCal
I have the "wants" to make a dresser for the bedroom. My usual anxiety over my design ideas has me making a bookcase using many of the G&G elements I plan for the dresser. Sort of a trial run that can go in the study ;-) I figure by posting this early I will give myself some momentum to get things moving along instead of moving at my usual snail pace.

I'm thinkin' walnut for the dresser but, I've got some mahogany that needs sawing so that will do for the bookcase. Here's the general idea at about 30" x 33" or thereabouts.

1-GnG-Bookcase-1-9-2D.jpg

I roughly mark out parts to look over the grain patterns and get an idea of how one part will play with others once assembled.

2-GnG-BC-1-marking-out-stock.jpg

I sometimes use the jigsaw to cross cut pieces to rough length. The cuts are quick and the sawdust is minimal.

3-GnG BC-1-mill-verts.jpg

This is the first project I have done with the new planer. The extra care in setting up is paying off as I am getting nice surfaces with no snipe.

4-GnG BC-1-mill-verts.jpg

By rough milling to whole dimensions in prep for resaw I can quickly setup the bandsaw using blocks and story sticks.

5-GnG BC-1-mill-verts.jpg

These four pieces will become the eight pieces used to make the vertical corner pieces.

6-GnG-BC-1-mill-verts.jpg

I'll spend the rest of the evening breaking down boards and rough milling to oversize. There will be three panel glue-ups and I would like to get those in the clamps before the weekend if I can.
 
Last edited:
Glenn has a tendency to worry about things that he can control (not the junk he can't control). Anyway that makes him think it out, spend time choosing the exact boards that he wants, make models and/or mock-ups. That is why his work is so good. Let's face it, I have several larger tables I would be glad to sell in the price range of his itsy-bitsy table.

Aren't you glad you had such a great dad?

Enjoy,

Jim
 
Aren't you glad you had such a great dad?

You're killin' me dad. No matter how old you get, your parents still stick your "A" papers to the fridge :rofl:. Meanwhile, back to the project at hand . . . Here's an x-ray view of one of the corner assemblies. Its not as complex as it looks and will supply a good deal of surface contact at the stress points.
 

Attachments

  • GnG-Bookcase-xray-detail.jpg
    GnG-Bookcase-xray-detail.jpg
    107.8 KB · Views: 62
Am I seeing things right it looks like maybe a single board or 2 boards together to make the corner rabbited at the top to set into a mortise. Is there a way to show this exploded to make it clearer to us that are having a problem seeing or is that understanding.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for looking guys. Yes, two pieces with a long vertical rabbet to make each corner post. That assembly then has two wide rabbets that wrap around the outer faces at each end to accept the upper and lower frame assemblies. No mortises at these joints but, lots of long grain gluing surface.
 

Attachments

  • GnG-Bookcase-1-9-corner-exp.jpg
    GnG-Bookcase-1-9-corner-exp.jpg
    106.4 KB · Views: 61
Last edited:
Moving right along but, with a hitch. The parts don't take up near as much room once they are crosscut to milling size:

7-GnG BC-1-size-parts.jpg

Talk about your stress release . . . This lumber has been in my gara . . . er, shop for probably a year or more. Face jointed and planed to 7/8" thick and stayed flat as . . . well . .. a board. Ripped to width and lookie there!

8-GnG BC-1-size-parts.jpg

Not to be distracted I forged ahead with the rest of that batch. No other problems(?). I use a bit of tape to avoid having to ask how to get glue off of my Besseys ;).

9-GnG BC-1-size-parts.jpg

Got the top and bottom panels in the clamps.

a-GnG BC-1-size-parts.jpg

The stress release puts me to a re-think on my remaining material. I can probably get the shelf trim and straps out of the sprung pieces. My concern is that the board I have to make the remaining pieces out of is the 6/4 brother of the piece that "relaxed". This may call for a lumber run after all . . . I know; any excuse :D.

About an hour later . . . Not to beat a dead horse but, this is some lively material:
 

Attachments

  • b-GnG-BC-1-stress-released.jpg
    b-GnG-BC-1-stress-released.jpg
    106.5 KB · Views: 46
  • c-GnG-BC-1-stress-released.jpg
    c-GnG-BC-1-stress-released.jpg
    107.6 KB · Views: 42
Last edited:
I re-made a few pieces and got the last panel glued up. Time to cut to length so off to the sled. I saw some guy use these clamps on a video and thought I would try them as they were on sale with free shipping (always a wallet opener) from somewhere(?). With my sled's fence dimensions they work great. Maybe you really can't ever have enough clamps. . . .

d-GnG BC-1-sled-cuts.jpg

I wanted to check the finger joint proportions on the base so I cut those parts to length and then switched the sled inserts over for dados. I keep saying I'll make another sled just for dados but, to be honest I don't know where I'd put it when not in use. (gratuitous shot of the height gauge; quite handy).

e-GnG BC-1-sled-cuts.jpg

I tested the finger joints on some scrap and did adjust the dimensions a bit. Now that I'm happy with these on the real base I can scale the rest of the piece off of these dimensions.

f-GnG BC-1-sled-cuts.jpg

I had the smaller fingers at 3/4" in the SketchUp but increased them to 7/8" thereby making them square and liked this better.
 
Last edited:
Looking good, Glenn. I really like your hidden corner details. :thumb:

Ya know, only a poor woodworker blames some imaginary wood "stress" when he makes a crooked cut. :rolleyes: Just sayin'. :rofl:
 
one bit of caution glenn,, on those corner rabbets,, the remaining piece appears to be real thin,, its gonna want to break off on you and can if bumped to hard before glue up..nice looking project and again well portrayed threw out the process..
 
Ya know, only a poor woodworker blames some imaginary wood "stress" when he makes a crooked cut. :rolleyes: Just sayin'. :rofl:

Dang, you caught me. I have been secretly developing a tablesaw blade that can be used on Queen Anne furniture ;).

one bit of caution glenn,, on those corner rabbets,, the remaining piece appears to be real thin,, its gonna want to break off on you and can if bumped to hard before glue up..nice looking project and again well portrayed threw out the process..

I've though about bringing the remaining material to a thickness of 3/8" up from 1/4". This would only make the horizontal parts 1/4" shorter so I wouldn't need a board-stretcher to make this happen. Thanks for your thoughts on that. :thumb:.

Another idea is to pocket-hole from under the lower shelf (that is in a fixed position) but that kinda feels like a 'bolt-on' solution. I'm still pondering and this is one of the reasons I am testing out the basic design of the planned dresser on this bookcase.

Usually I would make a mock-up out of old pallet wood or something. At least this way if it comes out well I can put books in it :).
 

Attachments

  • GnG-Bookcase-1-9-PH-base.jpg
    GnG-Bookcase-1-9-PH-base.jpg
    69.6 KB · Views: 29
Last edited:
Well I am not as far along as I thought I would be. Ever heard that one? I ended up having to make 9 parts to get 4 usable ones due to that lively lumber. Here's the productive part of my morning (about an hour :rolleyes:).

Take yourself a few drawing aids and an appropriate sized piece of template material. I use 1/4" MDF:

g-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpg

Using the spacing from your conceptual drawing, roughly mark out your cloud lift start/end-points at both ends:

h-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpgi-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpg

Mark your lift height at the center point and take your handy-dandy shop made fairing stick:

j-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpg

Get a bend that ties the cloud lift start/end-points to your desired depth and mark it:

k-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpgl-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpg

Why you should keep your small bandsaw when you upgrade . . . I sold mine and ended up going out and buying one to replace it . . . doh! Cut as close to the line as you can without hitting it:

m-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpg

A little file work followed by some light sanding and a spoke shave to get a nice smooth arch and its lunchtime:

n-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpg

After lunch I put the template jig to use:

o-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpg

And I get my first real look at how the stretched tsuba shapes will play out on the sides:

p-GnG BC-1-vert-template.jpg
 
Last edited:
Top