Book Shelf Project for Moi! Update

Carol Reed

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Coolidge, AZ
First piece for myself in longer than I can remember, but I am falling over books here.

First, I need to make some decisions.

Materials will be basically 3/4" BB plywood. The reason is it is dimensionally stable, relatively inexpensive, cost effective in that there is little waste with careful planning, can be colored to match almost anything, and makes strong shelves (with ledgers).

Trim will be I don't know yet. How's that for definitive? :)

Shelf depth will be ~10". Enough to handle three ring binders.

Style will be standard library, meaning no particular style. Modified face frame, standing on a deck, with the top to be decided.

Height will be 5 feet, determined by the longest length on the BB plywood.

Width will be 3 feet, determined by the longest shelf length without undue sagging problems. Books are heavy. Additional units can be added as needed and the entire project remains esthetically pleasing.

One shelf will be fixed for sure. I detest adjustable shelves, so likely will fix all of them.

Joinery will mostly be rabbets and dadoes.

Finish is intended to match cabinet in the office - sort of pale cherry in color, colored shellac, and protective finish in lacquer. Reasoning is that sprayed colored shellac is super easy with no serious blotching or even coverage problems. Lacquer as a final finish is easily renewed down the road, as it burns in and I spray lacquer really well!

SketchUp drawing tonight.

For any who want to follow along. Now you have my thinking process and having posted this makes you my accountability team so I get it done.
 
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...Width will be 3 feet, determined by the longest shelf length without undue sagging problems...

Carol,
Aa minor suggestion: If you limit the shelves to a 30" width, you'll save a bit of material, since you could make six 10" (9-7/8" with saw kerf allowance) wide shelves from a half sheet of BB, and the case back from the other half. If it were me, though, I'd use quarter inch BB for the back, and then you could still build the whole thing with one full sheet of ¾" and a half sheet of ¼".
 
Good thought, Jim. I did plan on a 1/4" back. I think I may stay with the three foot width though. I have wall space for a 2 foot section as well. That should even things out a bit. Though I have not optimized cuts yet. BTW, anyone using sheet cut optimizer software. There used to be one for a PC. I now have a Mac.
 
Sounds like you have a fun project. I'll make some comments because I just had some oatmeal, and some fresh coffee, and my German Shepherds have already done their morning business and are napping right now.

Just for the record, I don't use software for any part of the process. Why you ask? Well it's simple. When I started out there was no "computers" per se used by just common human beings, and hence no "software". I guess you could call it "traditional times". :D I do this every day, and I've ground a system into my thinking process that works 100% of the time...even when the power goes off. Basically, I draw out the project (plan view) on some cheapo substrate. This is of course after I've made shop drawings, which don't have to be that elaborate. But, I feel closer to the work when I'm at my bench or assembly tables with drawings.

I just posted a thread which is a general overview of my madness:
http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?26967-Laying-Out-Cabinetwork&p=325873#post325873

So, if I may make some suggestions about your project, they are intended to give you something to think about.

First, if a 4x8 sheet will part out better, you can buy Appleply, which is like BB. I've had very good luck with the quality...plys and color of the face veneers.

Second, you may want to consider making a loose toe kick. That way, a continuous one can support multiple cabinets and could make leveling easier. It would also be less of a hassle cutting out the step on the ends.

Third, I use a router to do most all dadoes and rabbets. I find using a stack dadoe on the TS can be difficult holding down the sheet, while guiding the fence. Also if done with a RAS, most stack sets don't give a good clean cut, and very flat bottoms. There's also the fact that with both of those methods, the machining is done to the face. I suggest a shop made jig for routing dadoes. It's fast and very accurate. You can see mine here:
http://www.woodworkstuff.net/CabManRteDadoJig.html

Fourth, depending on the actual thickness of the substrate, I like to leave exactly 1/2" thickness after the dadoe or rabbet. That means the depth is about 1/4"+/-. The reason for that, is overall widths may be important and easier to figure if each cabinet can be figured for 1" in width added onto the length of the shelves/tops/bottoms.


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from the picture of the side it looks like no adjustable shelves. Of the 3 book cases I have made i did all of the shelves adjustable except for one particularly tall one (over 8 feet) that had the one center shelf set to make the case ridged and stay square.

But I was wondering why you avoid adjustable shelves. I know some people cant stand all the little holes. drilling them or looking at them

and the space you have for the 2 foot section. is it along the same wall, like, you could put a 5 foot case but you don't want one that wide?
 
Apple ply is not an option. Not readily available. BB ply is easily available. There is also the issue that I have a lot of cut-offs from a previous job that yielded a ton of 'waste' because of the client's wishes.

Separate deck is still an option. I do have a vacuum template jig for the notch however, so it goes quick. First, a quick rough cut out with the Bosch jig saw, then the jig is vacuum clamped on and a flush trim router bit cleans everything up perfectly.

I have set up my RAS to do rabbets and dadoes. Workpieces are clamped in and down so depth of cut is controlled. That was the purpose of acquiring that machine and it is dedicated to the task. Works very well and much quicker that routing them. I know most folks only go 1/4" deep for dadoes and rabbets. I go 3/8" deep and the width matched that which goes into it. The backs are 1/4" B ply. The rabbet is 1/4" deep and 3/8" wide. Much easier to located fasteners.

Three foot vs. 2 foot wide units are not intended to be along the same wall. I have a jig for doing the holes for adjustable shelves. However, it is my experience that once the space is set, it almost never is changed. So I figured out what the spacing would be and will do fixed shelves. Much quicker.

I had to work a very long day today, so haven't even looked in the shop. Tomorrow I need to do the next set of complex glue-ups for a pulpit project. When it is in the clamps, I will mill the sides of the bookcase.

Different approaches for different folks. These will get moved multiple times and there are subtle design features to mitigate the rigors of moving.
 
Carol;
Your point about the shelves never moving from their set height is a real fact. the largest book case I made was a 15' wide built in. lots of adjustable shelves. almost none of them ever moved again (though its only been 2 years but I doubt it will change because its just to much work)

but for me and my wife, we can't figure out how we want everything placed on the case until we are loading it. thats when the adjustable shelves come in handy.

Though I do like the look of the set shelves much better.

Sounds like you have everything well in hand:thumb: I can't wait until I find the time too get my ras set up like you have.
 
Progress today. But it did take as long to prepare this post! :huh:

I had drawn a side. Decided the space between shelves. Decided on a separate deck. Looked at wood on hand. Hmmm...couple sheets of 3/4' BB ply. Some half sheets but the short grain orientation. Well, I'll do the sides first.

First, select a sheet. It travels from storage via my panel trolley. The panel trolley is made up of 4 HF 10" pneumatic wheels and two pieces of plywood and inch apart. Long 5/8" bolts make up the axles. Have had it for years. Inspired by a door holding jig I saw on a job site one day. The plywood sheet is clear. You are seeing the shadow of the wood storage trailer.

1 select sheet.jpg

Then transfer to the tilter. This plan came out of Wood magazine and is a little modified to fit my saw table set up. Works fine. It replace my electric hoist. I can't use th hoist because this garage has no trusses and I didn't want to pull down the roof! I'm renting. :rolleyes:

2 panel tilter.jpg

Set up the saw table.

3 saw table.jpg

Then transfer the sheet onto the saw table.

4 sheet tranfer.jpg

Of course these 5x5 sheets need a little extra outboard support.

5 sheet outboard support.jpg

Now measure for the width of the sides to rip with the circular saw on my own track system. No longer being manufactured. Sorry. It was much beefier than what came out after I came to market with this, but I was underfunded and couldn't defend my idea. I made my bucks while I could. Did recover the extrusion molds and such. Barely. :doh:

6 sheet measure.jpg

OK, now the test. Are the ends square to the sides? Oh, yeah! Only have to measure the ends of one piece. See the next step.

7 side square check.jpg

Next test. Is each side exactly the same shape and size? Lay them on top of one another and run the fingers around the stack. These two pieces are flush all the way around. Perfect! If I were doing more than one set, I would mill all the ends at one time and test them all in one stack.

8 sides match check.jpg

The next thing I do is select the outside faces and orient the top end, and the front and back edges. I pasted a piece of masking tape on each side near the top and on the outside face. It is properly labeled and will stay there until the outside face is sanded. By then the base will be glued together.

9 tape marks.jpg

Ready for milling. See the next post.
 
Part two.

Before milling, I marked one side with the location of the rabbets and dadoes. That one side is the marker piece for subsequent pieces. The idea is to have each piece exactly alike. Now to just remember tape label down!

I will use the RAS for milling the end rabbets and shelf dadoes. The dado stack on the RAS is already set for 3/4" BB plywood. I use a lot of it, so keeping a dado stack on there is handy. The next is to set the depth of the rabbets and dadoes. I use gauge blocks. Here I wanted ~3/8" so I stacked a 1/4" piece with a 1/8" piece and brought the dado stack to rest on top of it.

A set RAS depth.jpg

Of course the cut needs to be perfectly perpendicular. I had already determined the ends to be square to the edges so it is easy to swing the arm until the stacks brushes the end of the piece and tighten up the arm.

B squaring RAS.jpg

First I set up to cut the bottom rabbet. Stops are set. The piece is locked down and into the fence. The stops stay put until each piece has this cut made. In this case there are only two pieces, but I could do a room full if I needed to.

C end rabbet cut.jpg

Now the stops are moved and locked in for the next dado.

D cut dadoes.jpg

And so on and so forth. Now to match up the cuts. I use small pieces of 3/4" BB ply in put them in place. Whadyaknow? All fits perfectly.

E sides matched up.jpg

Last, the table saw is set up with a dado stack (yes, I have more than one) and a rabbet is run down the back inside edge. It will house the back snuggly, giving the case structural integrity.

F Back Rabbet set up.jpg

Looky here, the sides are all milled. They will be set aside and some decisions about shelf lengths need to be made based on the wood on hand. No time to chase 150 miles round trip to get more wood.

G sides milled.jpg

Thursday is a work day. Maybe more on Friday.
 
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I made a similar set of shelves (Sorry, no pix) a while back, but used a tablesaw for the milling procedure. I cut all the rabbets and dados before cutting the sides in two. That way, I was absolutely sure that the dados would be perfectly aligned.

BTW, I made a plywood mover very similar to yours - and using the same hardware and parts supplier - several years back. Sure makes it easier, doesn't it? I hadn't seen anything like your "panel tilter" though. I may just make one of those later today! :D
 
No heavy lifting with this set up, Jim. If I had not made these items, I'd have to give up furniture building. As it is, when it is time to wrestle them around for finishing, I have to get more innovative. But when it is time to move them in place, I have to find help.

And today is i-be-broken day. A couple every few hours to keep from locking up all together. :D
 
nice project carol.

It would be interesting to see how many people choose a TS, a crosscut saw, or the router to cut dados for shelving.

Kinda suprised you chose the crosscut instead of the router.

I find laying out the cabinet sides and cutting the dados all at once eliminates any problems for me.
 
Chose the RAS because I can better control the accuracy of the cut and because the dado stack stays sharper longer than the router bit. I also can cut them in less time. And I don't have to think as much in the changeover set-ups.

Also the linear actuator will control the saw head, relieving my neck and shoulders. Remember, this is the saw I restored for the sole purpose of cutting dadoes. I cross cut on one of two SCMS's.
 
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