Anyone building along?


alaporte

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Just wondering if any was building? I modified the design a bit? My bookcase has 3 fixed shelfs and 4 adjusting shelfs? Well one fixed shelf is really the top. So far I have the sides compled and the 3 fixed shelfs.

Tonight I cut out the face frame and aligned everything. I'm planning on using domino's to connect the face frame together and the again to attach the face frame to the carcase.

What's everyone else doing?

AndyL

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I was clever enough to start building some built-in bookcases last year, and then put the project aside when it was only half done. I also correctly guessed that Marc would be doing this build, or at least that's what I'm telling my wife. Seems like a great time to get back to the project and put our family room back together at last!

My version will be seven cases, arranged in an "L" along a wall. The face frames will be a little fancier with beaded details, and shelves will also have a bead detail on their front edge. Base molding will be the same as the large baseboard in my older home, so that it all belnds in. The end result should be quite nice, but it's basically the same construction methods.

Of course, I may still not finish on time. Don't tell my wife, please.

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I am doing the 2 sheets version.

My wife need a bookcase, so this is a good timing even if I have a couple of project unfinished.

I did my jig and all the cuts (except the shelves, im fixing my miter saw stand) last weekend (live cam was up), my legs still hurt from going up and down all afternoon.

I got some nice plywood with wild cherry tree (merisier) rolled on it and got the same Freud blade 60T (Nothing else was available here). The blade cut really clean and smooth.

Only small issue so far with the jig is that my Milwaukee circular saw cannot go down low enough to cut 2x 3/4" sheets stacked + the jig, I had to redo the second cut (not a big deal).

No modification so far, the size is about what we need. I will see more on the finishing / molding part.

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I am not currently building because my shop is all packed up due to house renovations. I hope to get it back up and running in October, and this build might be the first project I get to. We have a nice run of open wall where I had them make a hallway a little wide, expecting to put bookcases or something there.

Aaron - pls post pics if you get a chance. I'm probably looking at 4 or 5 cases along a wall, so it sounds similar.

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I'm going to be building along, but I'm going to be building 2 out of 2 sheets of plywood. I'm building them to act as bedrails on a bed i'm building also.

They are only going to be 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 80 and are going to lay on the 80" side facing out. Just trying to decide on how to face out the ply though. I like the screening material, but if I make the shelves (dividers) flush, then there is the roundover to deal with. Any ideas other than insetting them a smidge?

Jon

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This is my first guild build and the first major project. As a result of a side business I'm starting building three dimensional cribbage boards, I've had to upgrade my table saw, and get some new tools. So I guess I should put them to work. I am also building a sewing center for my wife at the same time.

The first issue I had was with the jig. I pulled out my old cordless Craftman circular saw and made the first rip with no problem. I also started making a shorter jig, so was cutting the first part from the end of the plywood, and only got partway through the cross cut. And this was with a freshly charged battery. Guess it was time for an upgrad.

Off to the local home center and got a new "corded" Ryobi. This also has a larger blade diamter than the older cordless. Following Marc's (and other's I've seen online) advice, I also got a finer blade. Picked up a nice 120 tooth plywood base.

Long story short, I finished the jigs and made my first cuts. Man, what a difference a blade makes. No tear out at all.

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I am trying to build along, I have created three of the circular saw cutting jigs. I of course made the 8', as well as a 53" and 37". I took one of Marc's suggestions to improve on the jig. I did not find the foam strips that he suggested, but instead non-slip cabinet liners. I also planed down the 3/4" particle board to 7/16", I initially planned on going to 3/8", but the board started to bend a little more than I hoped. I am doing 2 of the two sheet bookcases, both for the living room, using red oak plywood and contemplating hickory trim, to match the rest of the pieces in the room (three end tables with a checkered red oak and hickory top, as well as red oak legs). I just finished the cutting down of the plywood yesterday, as that was the soonest I could obtain the plywood. The three jigs worked great. The non-slip liner did an excellent job of keeping the jig from sliding around, even with the smaller jigs. I was surprised to find how much of the plywood came off with the initial cut, here I always assumed the factory's edge was straight. I am hoping that I will catch up with build on my next day off. The diablo plywood bade did a great job. Looking forward to making more progress.

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I haven't seen any of the build videos, but if you are needing a rabbet for the back, I'm assuming a rabbeting bit will work for you. They are bearing-guided and will cut a rabbet of a certain width based on the bearing; depth is set by your plunge depth. If the rabbet is wider than the 'plan' calls for, verify the wider rabbet will work (i.e., has room!) and cut the back larger to fit the wider rabbet. I quoted 'plan' because I dunno if there's a plan or just what the video shows.

Here are rabbeting bits from Eagle America for reference, but they are available everywhere.

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Sbrooks,

This is my first post and I am a novice as well but having just built some closet cabinets, I think I can offer another option.

If you build the circular saw jig that Marc showed in the second video or just have a long straight piece of scrap, you should be able to clamp it to the work piece using it as a router guide similar to the method he showed for the fixed shelf dado in the middle. If you've watched the videos remember to test this on a piece of scrap first using the backing of your choice to get the exact distance the straight edged needs to be clamped from the back. I did this recently and just used my adjustable square to remember my guide offset to make sure I could repeat this for both sides perfectly. With this method, you shouldn't need a straight cut router bit perfectly sized either. Just as long as it is at least the thickness of your ply backing although even that isn't a necessity with multiple passes.

It worked for me but I now I wish I would have looked for the guide that probably came with my router.

Hope I'm not giving some bad advice first thing :)

-Richard

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am going to start on a bookcase build today.

It will be a "built in" as I need to renovate a built in bookcase in my living room.

Mine will be quite a bit more work as the unit is over 4' wide requiring me to somehow connect 2 sheets of plywood together and make it look nice. I have no idea if I could manage it with 1/4" so I will probably use 1/2" for the back.

In addition, the case will run right to a cathedral ceiling requiring the top of the bookcase to be at an angle. Also, I am making it into a TV ready bookcase likely with 2 doors at the base. And I will be doing a face frame that cover's the gaps between the bookcase and walls.

The good thing is that almost all of the techniques and procedures Mark is going through will be really helpful to apply to my design. I love the pre-finishing as I am relatively new to finishes.

I am excited to get started.

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I am going to start on a bookcase build today.

It will be a "built in" as I need to renovate a built in bookcase in my living room.

Mine will be quite a bit more work as the unit is over 4' wide requiring me to somehow connect 2 sheets of plywood together and make it look nice. I have no idea if I could manage it with 1/4" so I will probably use 1/2" for the back.

In addition, the case will run right to a cathedral ceiling requiring the top of the bookcase to be at an angle. Also, I am making it into a TV ready bookcase likely with 2 doors at the base. And I will be doing a face frame that cover's the gaps between the bookcase and walls.

The good thing is that almost all of the techniques and procedures Mark is going through will be really helpful to apply to my design. I love the pre-finishing as I am relatively new to finishes.

I am excited to get started.

You might consider running the back seam horizontally and hiding it with the fixed shelf.

Tom

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You might consider running the back seam horizontally and hiding it with the fixed shelf.

Tom

That is a great idea I did not think of!! Although the grain would not match the sides of the piece.

I have bigger problems though... Nothing is ever square but this is much worse than normal.

This piece is between a fireplace and a wall in an alcove. The top is 1 1/2" narrower depth wise and the width is 1/2 inch narrower at the top. The base which is a tiled raised section which is part of the fireplace is not level either. It appears the fireplace settled backwards over time.

Even the back wall is not completely level.

I am going to have one heck of a time making this one look good.

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  • 3 weeks later...

At the face frame stage. A bit concerned since I promised myself I would use only wood in the shop already - no new purchases allowed. Means I'm working with a face frame 1/2" rather than 3/4" deep. A little worried about using my biscuit joiner on this thin material - never did this before. Also, my no-new-material rule means that I'm using 1/4" backing in two pieces with a wide lap joint down the center (since did not have a single piece big enough). I suppose if this looks too kludgy, I can replace with a single piece after the fact. Being extra careful in the glue-up to get 90 degree corners since working without the help of a single, square back piece.

All-in-all, a really fun and useful build for a novice like me. Inspires me to put some time into learning Sketch-up since my bookcase is more horizontal. It sure would have been nice to manipulate Skecth-up to exactly fit my intentions from the start. Appreciate the forum discussion of the books on Sketch-up. Next on my purchase list.

Was very surprised how much the new higher-grade blade improved over the out-of-the-box blade that comes with my new SawStop. I spoke to the SawStop Technical guys (very helpful folks) about why I was getting significant burning on the offcut. They sent me the new higher-grade blade after trying to correct for all else. It was the blade. Much appreciated their efforts and really appreciate the extra safety (in the background) with the SawStop.

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  • 1 month later...

I made the 2 'shorties' 36"h x 48"w x 14"d for the office.

Originally I was going to make it simple, but I was concerned that a 47" shelf would bow so I divided the space into two. Not only does this add more stability, but also allows for varying shelf spacing.

I have the following comments after finishing my 2 bookcases:

The plywood wasn't from a big box store, but it also wasn't from my hardwood lumber supplier. On the whole it was pretty good, except for the 1/4" is warped. I didn't have much choice because of selection... So beware of really warped 1/4 ply. You have to push on the back to allow the shelf on the right side to drop into place.

I liked your idea of using dowels to attach the face frame to the carcass. I had a doweling jig and drilled the dowels into the plywood first. Then used the centering pins as you showed. Working with one hole at a time, with dowels dry fit into place after drilling in the face frame kept everything in place. It worked great! I think this worked because this set the dowel holes perfectly perpendicular to the surface and the holes in the face frame only needed to 3/8" deep.

I've done edge-banding in the past, but I think edging with solid wood allows for more edge treatment options for a softer feel.

Doweling jig similar to what I have: (mine only opens up to about 1")

http://www.woodcraft...weling-jig.aspx

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