Chris Spann Posted December 23, 2017 Report Share Posted December 23, 2017 im starting a cherry bookcase for my son and I’m having a heck of a time getting some of my boards straight. I’m at 3/4 now which is where I wanted to be but I’ve got a couple that still need some work. My bar napkin plans are 4’ high x 30” wide x 10” deep. What do you think? I was hoping to get away with no face frame. Thanks and Merry Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 23, 2017 Report Share Posted December 23, 2017 You can get away with a little shy of 3/4 but, not too much. if you did sliding dovetails in the shelves, that would really help out your situation. Also, adding some stiffeners to the shelves will help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wdwerker Posted December 23, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 23, 2017 A 5/8" solid cherry shelf fixed (not adjustable) 30" wide x 10" deep can handle about 30 lbs per foot without appreciable sag. Like Kev mentioned good solid joints like sliding dovetails for the center shelves and ridgid joints on all 4 corners as well as a sturdy back . Dovetails, finger joints , dominos or even a row of dowels would make good joints for the outside corners. A 1/4 ply back set in a dado would work or you could use tongue & groove solid wood for the back , but allow for wood movement in width or suffer the consequences. Half lapped solid wood back is another possibility, again allow for expansion & contraction with the seasons. 30" of solid cherry could move 3/8 to 1/2" from the widest in times of high humidity to the narrowest when the air is dry. A 1/4" gap on both sides of the back would be my approach. The height of the back won't change but the width definitely will. You can only fix the back at the center (top & bottom) , the rest of the back needs to be able to slide in the dado. So try and save the thickest boards for the sides . 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Spann Posted December 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2017 Thank you gentlemen. Hopefully I can get my current stock straight without losing too much. Wdwerker, I had planned on a dovetailed case and at least one sliding dovetail shelf. I will adjust that if I have to. Thank you again and Merry Christmas 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 23, 2017 Report Share Posted December 23, 2017 A 5/8 adjustable shelf in cherry 30"x 10" can hold about 60 lbs without sagging, same shelf fixed can hold around 75 lbs. if you are going to fill it up with college textbooks add a 5/8 x 1 1/4 strip to the front to stiffen the shelf, 1 1/4 vertical glued to the edge of the floating shelf. You could do this to all the shelves & top & bottom but that might make the bottom dovetails tricky. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted December 24, 2017 Report Share Posted December 24, 2017 Post some pics as you go ( a journal) so we can live vicariously through you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Spann Posted December 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2017 On 12/23/2017 at 8:00 PM, Ronn W said: Post some pics as you go ( a journal) so we can live vicariously through you. I’ll try to do that! I wound up flattening one side of a 5’ board by hand tonight to try and save as much thickness as I could. It’s just proud of 11/16 now. I’m hoping it’ll stay that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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