The Oak Bookcase

Craigslist is a beautiful thing. Why? Because it is a GOLD MINE! I will never (if I can manage it) buy retail ever again. Since the adventure with the spice rack of destiny, my "workshop" has expanded a bit (and by workshop I mean a meager excuse for a basement), with Craigslist as a God-send. The new additions have been of pretty decent quality; although the compound miter saw wasn't/isn't necessarily square...

Cutting boards with a not-so square saw and using an old compound square that turned out to be crap also, was like using your parrot to tune a backward-strung guitar. ..uuuhh well ok maybe it's not like that at all, but it was still maddening. So henceforth ensued the battle to find which one of my tools was crap. To my embarrassment I figured out that the problem was with both tools...and equally embarrassing was the length of time it took me to come to that conclusion.

So the combo square is scrap but the saw...I just need to square up...which I am too lazy to do....right now.

Even with my new saw and some other misc. things, it wouldn't get me even close to what I needed to use in order to build my second (ever!) project: the Oak Bookcase.

Due to our education (or the lack thereof) Tess and I have accumulated quite a few books (some of which we have actually read!).  The shear mass of these volumes put into flimsy particle board cases that bowed and teetered precariously didn't make us feel all that warm and fuzzy. Therefore the wife commissioned me to build a bookcase out of solid wood. I decided to make it 6ft high, 2 3/4ft. wide, and 12in. deep. Yet seeing how I have never made anything to this scale before, I decided to Google "How to build a bookcase." There I found a Popular Mechanics page that gives you a step by step procedure. (Remember once upon a time, that is lost in legend, where if people wanted to know something, they would have to actually ask another breathing human being....?  ...yeah neither do I).

As it is the wonders of the inter-webs never cease and I got what I needed. So I figured out the dimensions, calculated the the length of wood and how much I needed; and decided on the kind of wood - "It shall be Oak!" I announced. Red Oak to be precise...  *knock* *knock*   .....no one told me that Oak was so darned expensive. We spent more money than I care to say. And I just bought the boards! The case wasn't even built yet! So if I screw up....I'm sleeping in the bathtub (which I hear isn't all that bad; but I wasn't going to take that chance). Once I got everything home, the revelation of not being able to really cut these things dawned on me. My saw can only cut 6 in. wide boards. I bought 12 in. boards. Dead in the water already. I decided to ask for some help.

In the parish that Tess and I go to there is a very nice gentleman that said he could help me cut what I needed and then I could handle the rest (sweet). I get to his house and his out-building that contains his shop is just as big as his house. I get inside and (cue excited frolicking music) he has EVERYTHING!: A bandsaw, a Jet Table saw (big), a scroll saw, a compound miter saw with freakin' lasers!, a joiner, a dust collection system, a router table...you name it (clamps, clamps and more clamps!! I was a kid in a candy store! After I got a hold of myself, we got down to business. Once we had everything cut and ready to go, I brought it all home and went at it like Oprah on a baked ham.

I encountered a few hiccups here and there but nothing that affected it too much. Overall, it took about 10 hours (I think) to complete.

Have a look:

The shelves are held in a fixed position by using a tenon and mortise technique called a dado. It is a cutting of the thickness of the shelf into the sides. this means a lot more strength than what I originally had in mind. The strips of wood called fascia (ooooh) on the side cover up the dados and the top and bottom are capped with a single piece where I routed the edge to make it look fancy.

I stained it with a red oak stain to match the rest of the furniture and then used a Wipe-on Poly (which is an amazing product) to give it a subtle satin sheen.

Dado hid by fascia board = awesome.

Header board with kick-a** routed edge. Yeah.

Kick board with same (but different) kick-a** routed edge. Uhuh.

So here it is in all its book-casing splendor. Notice its obvious properties of a non-precarious, un-flimsy, and teeterishless nature! And it will be as is for ages to come!

There you have it! Thank you for reading about my adventures in making this Bookcase. Please join me next time with the multi-parter making of .....................the Baby Bunk.

word out.