Need sketch up help Update Bookcase built

Bob Gibson

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Merrimack, New Hampshire
My mother in law asked for a bookcase to fit under her window to hold picture albums. She says that the albums are a little less than 12" high so she would like the shelves to be 12"
This is the design she would like. It has to be 36" tall, 33" wide, and 12" deep.
I'll either use maple or cherry.

Can anyone help me with plans or design this ?

Thanks

bookcase.jpg
 
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Wow. my coffee wasn't even cold yet :D

Looks good Dave:thumb:
I think that she wants the shelves to be 12" wide which would make the top a little bigger.
What would be the best way to attach the shelves to the posts?
How do you see the top being attached to the posts?
 
Hi Bob,

I figured we'd need to go a bit deeper but I didn't know which dimension needed to be 12" I can fix that.

The top could be attached to the legs with the horizontal rails at the top of the spindles.

The shelves can sit on shelf pins or you could use pocket screws (makes me shudder) or some little L-brackets underneath.
 
Hi Bob,

I figured we'd need to go a bit deeper but I didn't know which dimension needed to be 12" I can fix that.

The top could be attached to the legs with the horizontal rails at the top of the spindles.

The shelves can sit on shelf pins or you could use pocket screws (makes me shudder) or some little L-brackets underneath.


I was thinking about notching them into the legs or using shelf pins. No pocket screws or brackets. I promise :rofl:
I was also thinking about making the sides (rails and spindles) a separate assembly then installing it ??

I had a senior moment on attaching the top. A little foggy this morning even though I went to bed at 9:00 :eek:
 


I guess you could notch the shelves in but I'd leave them on pins. Maybe put in three pin holes on each post for each shelf to allow a little bit of adjustments.

I added a detail of what I'm thinking of for the top of the sides. I didn't show the holes for screwing down the top but two screws each side should work. I also realize I forgot to show the back panel rabbeted into the posts.
 
Dave, this is great of you to help others this way!

I occasionally wish I could get motivated to learn SketchUp. Looks like a great tool, however I really need to do more woodworking on "significant" projects to justify the time on lessons. Seems like I've gotten too lazy/impatient to spend the time learning.
 
Dave, this is great of you to help others this way!

I occasionally wish I could get motivated to learn SketchUp. Looks like a great tool, however I really need to do more woodworking on "significant" projects to justify the time on lessons. Seems like I've gotten too lazy/impatient to spend the time learning.

I felt the same way a few years ago. I had been using a 2D program or pencil and paper for so long that I had some kind of mental block being comfortable with SketchUp. I just couldn't "get it", even going through several of the video tutorials. Dave spent some time on the phone with me and that's all I needed. The way he led me through some startup steps kicked my brain into gear. I'm certainly not as proficient as I'd like to be, but I can use SU for fairly complex projects as well as small things now. Sometimes, I draw up something in SU just to confirm the way it will fit together, even when I could just work through it at the workbench.
 
That looks great Dave. Thank you :thumb:

I have sketch up on my computer. Can I import your drawing into it?? Not that it would do me much good. I have the same problem that Al and Bill had. I just can't seem to get my head into the program.I ordered the FWW shetchup guide but haven't really got into it as well as I want.

Any chance that you could put the dimensions of individule parts on it. ?
 
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