Thread: bookcase help.

Hi Clarke,

And welcome to the forums.

It may be easier if you post up a piccy of what you are trying to achieve. Bookcases come in all shapes and sizes so it will be pretty hard to give anything but the most general advice without having an idea of what the end product is going to look like.

regards

Wongdai

G'day Clarke and welcome to the forums.

Can't answer your CAD question. I stick with pencils and straight edges.

If you post your desing here some of the fair dinkum cabinet people will help you out.

Why Stain? You could build from a good quality dark timber, say Walnut, and save yourself the trouble. You will also have an heirloom piece to pass on.

Staining can be a touchy job if you haven't gone it before,

Most timber yards will charge you for each cut, then miss cut the lot. Usually (maybe I've been lucky) they cut the bits a bit long, so you can then trim them to the correct length. Also they don't try to avoid damaged boards, loose knots etc.

If you can find someone with a Sliding Compound Mitre Saw (SCMS) or a table saw then buy your timber from someone like Lazarides, Trend Timber, Annagote etc. as S2S (Surfaced 2 Sides) and cut it correct length yourself - get 10-20% more than you think you'll need to allow for grain matching, minor mistakes or cutting around knots & similar defects.

Any 'left overs' can become cutting boards, jewellery boxes, step stools or whatever.

When you design bookcases, you need to take into account skirting boards if fitted in the room, or if there is wall to wall carpet, then there is usually a 6mm thick strip around the walls that will cause the case to tilt over away from the wall unless you either cut a small recess for it at the back, or chamfer the entire side so the back edge is about 6mm shorter than the front edge - I think the chamfer looks more elegant, and the case can be used in a room without the carpet strip as the bookshelf will just fit snugly against the wall without a particularly noticeable gap.

These blokes will cut to order and send
lumberbunker.com.au

What part of Brisbane are you in? Do you require any assistance?