Bookcases...finally

[Michael Panis]

Some pictures of my first BIG woodworking project.

These bookcases are constructed from cherry and cherry-ply. The finish is BLO, garnet shellac, and blond shellac. The bookcases are comprised of 6 separate carcasses that come apart (hopefully, you can't tell by looking at them). Even when a shelf side, or piece of trim had to be constructed from multiple pieces, I made sure they were from the same piece of wood and cut in the correct order so that it would look continuous. You can see this in the picture of the left side. I was able to try lots of fun, new things on this project, such as the stopped flutes.

Two notes of Thanks:
1) I wouldn't be able to count the number of techniques I learned reading this forum! Best $6 I'll keep spending.
2) I highly recommend John Holland's finishing class at the Woburn, MA Woodcraft. The bookcases would have looked very different if I hadn't taken his class.

One final note...I only get to play in the shop every few weekends, so this project took just under two years. I think my next project will be a little smaller

---Mike

[Gary Lange]

Very Nice work. I hope too someday do as well!

[Dewey Torres]

Man that looks great! Thanks for posting.
Dewey

[Steve Mellott]

Mike:

Your shelves are very nice! What type of joint/fastener did you use to connect the shelves to the sides? Thanks.

Steve

[Jerry Olexa]

Good job.. Well done. Cherry has a nice warmth to it. Nice finishing also....

[Vince Shriver]

Great job. How did you connect the side by side carcasses to each other with both sides behind the fluted stile? Is it built to knock down into 6 pieces? Are the shelves adjustable/removeable? Again, very nice work.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Those are nice looking shelving. Did they pass the feline inspection?

[Dave Hale]

2 years? Definitely worth the wait.
Very nice job.

[Jim Becker]

Beautiful work!

[gary Zimmel]

Great job on the bookcase Michael...

[John Thompson]

Very nicely done Michael.. and I see the cat obviously loves all the nooks and crannies with such a large book-case.

Well done...

Sarge..

[Michael Panis]

Great job. How did you connect the side by side carcasses to each other with both sides behind the fluted stile? Is it built to knock down into 6 pieces? Are the shelves adjustable/removeable? Again, very nice work.

Thanks!

The fluted stiles are glued to one carcass, and the other carcass just sits tight up against it. The bookcases can easily be knocked down into 6 carcasses (no screws). In addition to the 6 carcasses, there are 3 additional pieces. There's a base, which keeps the 3 lower carcasses nice and tight against each other. There's the large table-top shelf in the middle. It has stopped dados which the 3 upper carcasses fit into. Finally, there's the top, which also holds the 3 upper carcasses together.

I attached the shelves with stopped dadoes. I was willing to give up adjustability to avoid holes. Each shelf is composed of 3 pieces: the main cherry ply shelf, and then a front and rear trim piece. These pieces hide the plywood edge and reinforce it so it doesn't bend under the weight of the books. The front trim is routed with an ogee and cove.

---Mike

[Joe Cunningham]

Wow those bookcases look fantastic. There was a thread in the finishing forum about 'what does shellac do for you', and I think these are a perfect example of what a fine finish shellac is.

Great job, look forward to your next project. Any ideas?

[Larry James]

Beautiful. Great workmanship, and the finish makes it show!

Larry