Popular Post Marcus Hand Posted June 30, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 My wife writes novels and this year her 10th book was published. She asked if I could build her a bookcase with a sliding ladder. I picked up the Rockler ladder kit when it was on sale and started building this monster at the beginning of the year. It feels like it took forever and I'm so happy to be done with it and moving onto the next (smaller) project. It was built where it looks sort of like a built-in, but it is stand-alone. She does not want to leave it when we move next. Some details: Baltic birch plywood with poplar hardwood I built it in 6 pieces and then moved those into the house. It can be disassembled relatively easily. It is 12 feet wide by 9 feet high. Painted to match the rooms trim with the back beadboard painted to match the wall. I ended up spraying latex using my Earlex 5500. I was expecting disaster, but it worked out so much better than expected. I realize that HVLPs aren't made for this, but what I discovered through research is that some latex paints (partically 100% acrylic) spray pretty well. The paint was the Sherwin Williams Pro Classic. Can't say enough good things about the Earlex. Undermount drawer slides. First time installing them for me and what a pain. Not sure I will ever use them again. I did not buy the Blum ones because of cost, but I also didn't get the absolute cheapos. The LED lights were really cool and I got to work on my soldering technique (A LOT!). Now I want to put these up in the kitchen. My wife is super happy with and as always a lot of good advice came from reading this forum. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Nicely done!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Beautiful! Fantastic work. That thing is certainly a beast. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Absolutely fantastic job. Congrats to your wife on the new book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 damn! very nice!! How long did all the wiring of the LEDs take? Are they all on 1 line plugged into the wall or what? What types of novels does she right? Curious if I have read anything by her and not known. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Super nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phinds Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Wow ! Fantastic. No wonder it took a while to complete. Great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Very nice, man. That's awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonR Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 That is absolutely gorgeous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pondhockey Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Wow! Great job by you and the wife for getting her latest book published! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Damn nice, ya done good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 That is some superb work Marcus. Looks amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klappco Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Lovely awesome! I really like using the beadboard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassAct Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 First of all, congrats to your wife on her 10th novel! IMO writers, artists, and craftspeople of all varieties are tragically undervalued by society. Anyone who can publish ten books has made it past all the mountains society puts in the way. Kudos to her and to you for supporting her in her work! Great work on the bookcase. That is an heirloom piece that should go with you and stay in the family. Well done! Bushwacked, I've added LED strip lights to built-in bookcases and the results are great -- my wife loves them. It's pretty easy to do the math and figure out how large a wall wart you'll need to power the lights. The biggest problem I had was voltage drop over a long run of under-gaged wire; it was small but noticeable if you knew what to look for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Hand Posted June 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 4 hours ago, bushwacked said: damn! very nice!! How long did all the wiring of the LEDs take? Are they all on 1 line plugged into the wall or what? What types of novels does she right? Curious if I have read anything by her and not known. For the wiring, I bought 16 foot roles from Amazon (I think they were only $11 a role). They are made to be cut every 2 feet or so. I cut them into strips that fit on the back of the shelf overhang. To connect the individual strips, I soldered them together with 22 gauge wire. I ran the wire through a small hole between each shelf. On the ends, I drilled a hole in the bottom of the shelf to run down to the next level of shelves. They are all end up being connected together in one REALLY long line that gets connected to one plug. I think it took me about 3 nights to do it. Once I got the hang of soldering, it went fast. It probably took me 75% of the time to do the first set of shelves. My wife writes historical romance. Here is her latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Trust-Pirate-Playful-Brides/dp/1250121698/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498847661&sr=8-1&keywords=valerie+bowman She's actually working on a book where the hero is going to be a woodworker! ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Eric. Posted June 30, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 That's me on the cover. I'm blushing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chet Posted June 30, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 23 minutes ago, Eric. said: That's me on the cover. I'm blushing. ! You do look good in blue, I'll give you that. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 23 minutes ago, Eric. said: That's me on the cover. I'm blushing. You look good in blue! [couldn't resist] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Looks fantastic! If you are, by any chance near D.C., or Southern Maryland, PM me if you would be interested in doing about 60 lineal feet (maybe more) of these again for pay. I have a friend that's been after me for years to build some for him, but don't have the time, and it's too far from home for me. Details only by PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Cabinets look great. Are those novels still as smutty as the ones my mom read? I still crack up thinking about reading the phrase "throbbing manhood" when I was 13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Turned out great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankstick Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Outstanding build! My complements on your wife's literary career. I recall doing term papers in college in the mid 60s on a Sears typewriter with the cartridges that insert in the side. Now we have word processors and send manuscripts by email or on a disk. Heard an interview with an author who writes romance novels- cranks out one a month! She said all she does is change the names and places, juggles some other stuff and off to the publisher! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 Excellent work on the cabnetry, Marcus! I love the library ladder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted July 1, 2017 Report Share Posted July 1, 2017 8 hours ago, Eric. said: That's me on the cover. I'm blushing. Which one? Great work on the bookshelf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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