Shop Ply and Scrap Maple Bookcase

glenn bradley

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I need to re-model my office. I need to get the books outta there so I can change desks, etc. etc. Finally knocked together a bookcase out of some chi-ply and some scrap maple. It is sized to hold the avalanche of paperbacks, CD's, DVD's and hardbacks that have snow-drifted into a corner of the office. It is also sized to stand behind a door that is always open into the spare room/den. That way it can serve a purpose and not be seen at the same time :thumb:.

I used 3/8" dados in the sides and rabbets on the shelf ends. This ply was so irregular this was a good way to "fake" a good fit. I still have a bit of the maple LOML found on the side of the road a few years ago. Milled it down and made the trim. The toe-kick base allows access to adjustable feet to level the tall skinny critter. It will fasten to the wall when leveled.

Bookcase Ply (2).jpgBookcase Ply (1).jpgBookcase Ply (3).jpgBookcase Ply (4).jpgBookcase Ply (5).jpgBookcase Ply (6).jpgBookcase Ply (7).jpg

I taped off the areas that would take glue with blue painter's tape and sprayed rattle-can poly on it. Pull the tape, apply the glue and clamp away. The bottom shelf is adjustable via shelf pins. Just goes to show you, if you need something quick-n-dirty, some cheap ply and leftovers can do the trick till you have time to build something nice.
 
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Agreed with Vaughn, that looks pretty darn good for scrap wood and cheap plywood. I had a set of much worse looking bookcases I built and used for ~10 years. Quick and dirty sometimes works pretty darn good.
 
yup good use of the left overs,, now tell us the rest of the story of this lost and found maple????

Probably 4 or 5 years ago, LOML and her carpool partner were on their way to work. They saw a truck pulled over and a couple guys who had just decided that "the rest" of the load of maple they had dumped on the freeway wasn't worth their time. Debbie and Sonia whipped the car over and asked "hey, can we have the rest of that stuff you're leaving behind?". They said yes and so the girls jammed a bunch of 10' sticks of 5/4 maple in 2" to 3" widths into their car, sticking out the windows and all that as you can imagine. Then they brought it all the way back to my house after work the same way. I've been chiseling that stack down for years.

Maybe I should mention that the hardboard back is made of sheets that the truckers use to divide up stacked loads in the trucks. When they unload, they get dumped . . . well, they would if LOML wasn't watching for them ;-)
 
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