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Thread: solid walnut bookcase

  1. #1

    solid walnut bookcase

    I'm looking at building a small bookcase. Somewhere in the range of 3 ft wide with a total of 3 shelves; bottom, middle, and upper shelves and then I suppose the top could be considered a forth shelf depending on how you look at it. Dimensions are yet to be finalized.

    This is the first project that I'll be using entirely solid wood. No plywood at all. So I have a couple questions; The sides and shelves aren't particularly wide (about 12") can I use one solid piece of walnut and get by without it warping, or should I rip and glue 2-3" pieces together? What sort of joinery should I be using to allow for expansion and contraction?

    Right now I'm thinking standard dados for the shelves with the face frame glued on and rabbeting the sides for the back to be glued in place.

    Also any tips for making the back on a bookcase like this? I'll still be using solid walnut but the planer I'm getting (dewalt 735) is only 13" wide. How should I go about making a solid back approx 3' x 3'?

    Thanks,
    Stephen

  2. #2
    Also, what do you recommend for a finish on walnut?

  3. #3
    Can you get get enough good walnut over 12" wide? It would be fairly uncommon around here and extremely expensive if it was available. I'd be figuring on using stuff that is between 4 and 6 inches wide which would would require gluing. remember you'll want to glue up to slightly over the required width and rip to the final width.

    Your construction sounds alright except for the back. You won't want to glue a 3 foot wide panel of solid walnut into the case unless you want to see it destroy the case. Unlike the plywood you're used to, that panel will expand and contract substantially. The top, bottom and shelves won't so the back will try to push the sides out and it'll likely succeed. Instead leave the back as separate slats with half laps and leave gaps between them so they can move with seasonal humidity changes without pushing out the sides. The half laps will prevent light for showing through.

  4. #4
    I lucked into several walnut trees that we had milled into lumber a couple years ago. So, now I have about 1700 bdft up to 24" wide. Most of it is about 15/16" thick but there is also a number of thicker slabs. I figure it should be dry by now and thought this would be a good small project to try using it. I think using solid pieces for the sides would look nicer than a glued up piece but if it won't stay flat than I won't waste my time.

    Thanks for the advice for the back. Is there anyway to guess the amount of expansion from a piece of wood or are there standard construction practices when using solid wood?

  5. #5
    Does your 24" include the core of the tree? I would be expecting some changes in a shape over a 12" width.

    As to the amount of expansion/contraction, you can try this: http://www.woodworkerssource.com/movement.php

    Standard practices are to use narrow pieces glued up and for room to be left to allow for seasonal movement. It's common in cases with solid wood backs to leave the back pieces separate as I described. This provides room for each piece to move distributing the entire width change within the space of the case and preventing the back from forcing the sides away from the top and bottom.

  6. #6
    The 24" boards were not from the middle of the tree. The couple of the trees were real close to 36" across so a 24" board would get close, but not right through the center. Not sure how big you consider the core. Anyway I wasn't planning on using any of those boards full width. I know that going from straight grain on the edges to flat sawn in the middle will lead to a considerable amount of warp. My point was that I do have plenty of straight 12" wide walnut board to work with, including quarter-sawn.

    If I use solid one-piece sides and top do you think I have a reasonable chance of keeping them flat and stable?

    Thanks for all your help

  7. #7
    It's hard to say. I'd be cautious. The only way to find out if the piece will stay flat is to try it.

  8. #8
    There is no good reason not to use the wide material you have. The idea of ripping into smaller pieces and gluing back together become popular as furniture manufacturers sought to value engineer by using material that wasn't as good as what was once widely available. The widest possible pieces have traditionally been used for centuries, wood didn't change the way it behaves when the machinery that made it possible to use cheap, narrow stock was invented. Cut the material for your project several inches longer and an inch or so wider than you need, and watch it for a week or two. If it doesn't warp, bend or twist right away you likely did a good job drying it and don't have to worry. Dave is right about the back, there is enough movement across the accumulated width to cause problems.

    I'd be happy to test it for you, so you can send the entire lot of it to me. I'll check it by cutting it into smaller pieces and making furniture out of it. In a hundred years or so, your great-grandson can check with my great-grandson to see if any of it warped.

    Bob Lang

  9. #9
    If you use sliding dovetails for the joints between the shelves and the sides, and the sides and the top, the carcase will effectively help hold itself straight and prevent cupping.

  10. #10
    How do you make sliding dovetail joints? I can see using a router with a dovetail bit on the sides but what's the best way to handle the ends of the shelves?

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Lang View Post
    The widest possible pieces have traditionally been used for centuries, wood didn't change the way it behaves when the machinery that made it possible to use cheap, narrow stock was invented
    Did "the ancients" use the widest possible pieces of wood because it was a labor saving device, given the technology of the time? Was it the "cheap" way of doing things? I think that structural parts (well) made of narrower stock are stronger and more dimensionally stable that big solid pieces of wood.

    I don't know if the bookcase is intended as an functional piece. The varied heights of books make it hard to select a good shelf spacing. You could put an off-center divider and have a different number of shelves on either side of it. One side could have shelves for tall books and the other for the average kind. It would be worth taking some measurements of your book collection if the bookcase is really going to hold books.

  12. #12
    I would save the wide slabs to use on a project wherein the beauty of the solid slab is more evident than on the sides of a bookcase. Tabletops come to mind, tops of cabinets such as credenzas, chests of drawers, even a set of drawer fronts. With careful selection and meticulous joinery you can make up a board of the desired width with nary a seam to be seen. Especially that this is your first solid-wood project, save the premium boards for a more-visible use. I know I've made, and continue to make, mistakes that sometimes cause me to relegate a board to scrap or cut it up into smaller pieces to be used elsewhere and it would be a shame to have to do that on a premium piece.
    "Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions"- Pascal, 1623-1662

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    Stephen,

    IMO, your first instinct is correct -- attractive solid single boards for the sides and top will just about always look better than several narrow boards glued up; it's a fallacy that three boards glued up to 12" will necessarily be more stable than a single 12" board, and it certainly wouldn't be stronger.

    The shelves themselves, though, can be just about anything since they'll hardly show beyond the front edge once they're filled with books.

    Dave is absolutely right that a 3' solid glued-up back would move too much for this application. You could do some version of tongue-and-groove boarding, though, leaving allowance for expansion/contraction. Or a frame and panel back.

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