I moved about 2 months
ago, and my shop is gradually getting "there." There are still a dozen or so
boxes to unpack, and I do that concurrent with doing woodworking projects.
BUT, my inside office is a mess. No boxes have yet been unpacked. Magazines,
books, videos — literally 18 years of woodworking media, wait to be released from
captivity.
So this week, I started building some book shelves — they are a bit
different from the usual square cases. They are pyramid book cases. After all, I have
narrow videos and CD's, wider books, wider still magazines — and very large
woodworking newspapers (Wood Shop News).
The picture at the right is the first of three units that I am building. I am
"making my mistakes on this one". Fact is, except for a few holes drilled on the
wrong side (you can't see them) this "prototype is sturdy and square. When it is
stained dark and joined with two others, it will be a great storage area for wood working
publications — and there are lots.
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I have no plans for this project, but that doesn't mean that it is an
original. This design idea came from a local store that had this type.
Fortunately I was able to visit the store with a tape measure right before
they removed them from the display. I will make them out of pine and stain them
dark, just like they were.
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I started by attempting to
create plans in my draw program, but quickly abandoned that idea. I realized that sooner
or later I would want to make a full size layout — so I moved to the shop and
started.
I found a piece of glued up pine that was exactly the dimensions of the shelf
end standard — 18" wide by 6' tall. You have seen this board draped across the
horses for the last couple of years. I simply sanded the surface so that my new marks
could be clearer.
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I started by drawing the diagonal line. All the wood uprights are 1
1/2" square, so I draw those in as well.
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I measure the angle that
the diagonal joins with the back upright. It is 15o. I noted on the original
that the slanted piece went the full length and the upright was cut on an angle to join it
— this is different than I would have guessed. It does give a longer joint and maybe
that is why it was done that way. I will have to figure out how to cut that angle (90o
- 15o).
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I
have now added the 4 shelves exactly where they were in the original. The shelves are
1" thick boards. The total width of the unit is 18", but the shelf itself is
15". These shelves sit between 1" X 3" rails that join the front and back
uprights.
This is a good point to figure out how everything will be fastened together.
I will use screws throughout. I will counterbore and add plugs. As I said earlier, this
unit will be finished in a dark wood stain — the plugs will "disappear."
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I have setup
the table saw to rip boards 1 5/8" thick from 1" X 12"s. I have unpacked
the GripTites. It is a joy to have them back in use. I have 8 boards to rip, and they will
help make this task safer — I like that idea.
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Here are the ripped boards
from the first two larger boards. I am rolling on yellow glue to one of them.
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As I finish applying glue
to one board, I mate it with the next. I will use clamps to hold them all together. Here,
I am shooting pins in them at a few points to align each one to its mate. By the way, I
can see the shelf marks on the board below and use that to guide my pinning. I am careful
to pin where I will not be cutting or drilling later on (maybe I am catching on.)
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With each
of the pairs glued and bradded together, I lay them all on some clamps. I particularly
want to clamp the near end where the top diagonal will be — I was not able to put
pins in this section
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Before I tighten the end
clamp, I tap the boards until they are all closely aligned. When these new pieces have
dried, I will cut them down to the final dimension.
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