Art Mulder
Member
- Messages
- 3,383
- Location
- London, Ontario
This one is for my daughter. It is a solid black cherry bookshelf -- no sheet goods at all. It was sized to go at the foot of her bed, so it is fairly low, but will still hold a fair assortment of books. Strong enough to sit on, though I doubt she will.
This one probably leans more to the Shaker end of the spectrum. I try to let the grain and the natural beauty of the wood speak for itself. This project is the one where I put into use my recent experiment with using lye to accelerate the natural colour change of cherry over time. Details on that here: http://www.wordsnwood.com/2013/lye/
Now, on to the photos. (I know that is what you really are here for...)
Oh yeah, more photos and more detailed explanation on my webpage.
First: Here is the design I came up with. I used a sketchup model that I had of the actual bed that I built for my daughter last year. I sized the shelf to fit at the foot of the bed. The challenge there is that it is quite low, and books can be quite tall. The solution I chose, (I got the gem of that idea by googling all kinds of book cases, I admit) was to design in a tall section on the left. On the right, the shelf sits on pins and is adjustable.
The back fits in a rabbet, and the (fixed) shelves are fitted into stopped dados. I used a woodsmith plan for a dado jig to route the stopped dados.
Resawed the cherry to make 3/8" boards which were shiplapped for the back:
I took the time to bookmatch the boards and sort them in a pleasing arrangement.
Here is the first dry test fit. It looks okay, but it looked a lot better once I got to adding the top and bottom trim pieces
Quick and simple jig to drill holes for brass shelf pins
Full sanded and assembled and ready for finish. (outdoor for safety!)
This photo is about 5 minutes after the previous photo, partway through applying the first wash coat of lye solution.
And here is the final product, finished, varathaned, polished, cured, and installed in my daughter's room
thanks for reading.
This one probably leans more to the Shaker end of the spectrum. I try to let the grain and the natural beauty of the wood speak for itself. This project is the one where I put into use my recent experiment with using lye to accelerate the natural colour change of cherry over time. Details on that here: http://www.wordsnwood.com/2013/lye/
Now, on to the photos. (I know that is what you really are here for...)
Oh yeah, more photos and more detailed explanation on my webpage.
First: Here is the design I came up with. I used a sketchup model that I had of the actual bed that I built for my daughter last year. I sized the shelf to fit at the foot of the bed. The challenge there is that it is quite low, and books can be quite tall. The solution I chose, (I got the gem of that idea by googling all kinds of book cases, I admit) was to design in a tall section on the left. On the right, the shelf sits on pins and is adjustable.
The back fits in a rabbet, and the (fixed) shelves are fitted into stopped dados. I used a woodsmith plan for a dado jig to route the stopped dados.
Resawed the cherry to make 3/8" boards which were shiplapped for the back:
I took the time to bookmatch the boards and sort them in a pleasing arrangement.
Here is the first dry test fit. It looks okay, but it looked a lot better once I got to adding the top and bottom trim pieces
Quick and simple jig to drill holes for brass shelf pins
Full sanded and assembled and ready for finish. (outdoor for safety!)
This photo is about 5 minutes after the previous photo, partway through applying the first wash coat of lye solution.
And here is the final product, finished, varathaned, polished, cured, and installed in my daughter's room
thanks for reading.