Formal Bookcase in Jarrah

[Redgy]

G’day all
Some years ago I was reading a woodworking book that had a formal bookshelf in it and I thought one day when I have acquired a few tools and skills I will build that. Well that day has come and I started this project back in May.

1. A 10hr round trip to Mathews timber in Melbourne for some Jarrah boards

2. The moveable shelves will be made from some Sydney bluegum flooring from Studley and Jarrah

3. Dryfit of the lower and top case, sides joined with locked rabbet joints

4. Groove rebated around the inside edge of top and bottom assembly to accept top and bottom shelf panels.

5. Top and bottom shelf panels glueup.

[Redgy]

1. Another dry assembly with the panels in place. The panels also have a rebate to accommodate some bead moulding.

2.Glue up of top assembly

3. Cleaning up the rebates

4. Made 4 blocks to screw on the front as part of the shape and to hide the end grain of the top/bottom case sides. I cut a relief in the back so they with pull up tight with screws

5.Fitting the blocks

[Redgy]

1. In both top/bottom cases I glued and screwed some support blocks in the back to strengthen and make each assembly more rigid

2. On the bottom case assembly I fitted some adjustable feet to level the thing up on an uneven floor

3.Run a chamfer bit around the outside edges of each case for looks

4.Then I thicknessed some strips down to 10mm and made a rounded bullnose profile along 1 edge of each strip on the router table.

5.Test fit to see how the mouldings would look against the chamfer

[Redgy]

1. Then I had lots of fiddly miter joints to do and glue the strips in place on the “ledge” created in the early stages.
2. Round mouldings finished
3. Then I started on the top case assembly “formal” work. First I glued and screwed some mouldings to the top case assembly
4. Then I glued and screwed another set of cleats to the mouldings. This “ledge” will hold the top assembly pieces.
5. The front top piece has an oval hole in it that’s open at the top

[Redgy]

1. Cut the hole out with a jigsaw
2. Then I cut the angle with the jigsaw and planed it flat trying to get the edges of the oval as thin as possible near the hole at the top
3. Then I mitred the ends to match up with side pieces
4. Then I made some cove moulding on the router table (with a shiny new CMT ½ inch cove? bit…my first orange bit!)
5. This cove moulding was then glued and screwed to the top of the whole assembly and thankfully the top was complete.

[Redgy]

Time to make the sides which are double walled with a cavity. Sides are held together with ribs and the top and bottom ones have ¼ inch T-nuts embedded in them to bolt the top/bottom cases to at final assembly.

1. Glue up the 4 side panels
2. Cut them to length. I did them all at once to get the lengths exactly the same. 300mm wide, 80mm thick jarrah….no probs for the big Mak and at times like these I’m glad I spent the money on it
3. Then I routed some trenches for the ribs that hold the side pieces together
4. Dry test fit to make sure everything was lining up properly
5. Then the glue up of the sides and the first time I had the whole bookcase sort of together…satisfaction level high

[Redgy]

To cover the front cavities I needed to make some caps. These caps would fit to the front edges of each side by tounge and groove. In keeping with the formal look the front sides of each cap would have stopped flutes which I had to make a jig for the router to get each groove parallel.

1. Router jig, replaced base of router with this home made one. The blocks underneath are so it can be indexed after each pass and keep the next groove equally distanced and parallel to the previous groove. This took me ages too make because the cap had to have a final width of 75mm with 5 flutes and the 2 outside flutes would be ripped in half when final sizing of the caps was done on the table saw….
2. Router jig in action
3. Final result of fluting although board isn't cut to final size yet
   
4. Another pic of the flutes
5. Fancy caps being glued to the front edge of the sides…I need more clamps….as usual.

[Redgy]

1. Next I glued up some shelf panels. I made some edge support strip/trim for the front to stop sagging (not that I think jarrah/bluegum will sag much over 900mm) and make the shelves look thicker. I glued these on with a tounge in the shelf and trim then fitted some full length splines for a bit of extra strength.
2. Last bit of construction was to glue and screw some guide blocks onto the upper and lower case assembly’s to make fitting the sides a bit easier. Holes are for the bolts to come through into the T-nuts in the sides.
3. Next was finishing…sanding through to 400, sanding sealer and another 400 light sand. Then 3 coats of Feast Watson scandanavian oil wiped on with a light sand between coats. Then sit around waiting for 2 weeks for that to go hard. Then yesterday a light going over with 1200 wet and dry before a good buffing with EEE.
4. The sides…
5. FINISHED…yep it's tall, I've got a spare 3 inches to the ceiling.

Cheers
Redgy

[m2c1Iw]

Nice work Redgy, great job on the pics and expanations as well.

Mike

[Harry72]

Very nice Redgy, good WIP too

[Chipman]

Redgy, that is one fine looking bookcase... love the wood, the style and they way you presented your project

A question... being made out of Jarrah, how much do you reckon it weighs? Two person move?


Regards,

Chipman

[Redgy]

Chipman...bloody heavy !

It's a knockdown design with the top and bottom bolting to the sides with 1/4 inch bolts into t-nuts inside the side cavities. At that point it's too big and heavy for 2 people to lift and carry. The sides are a bit under 30kg each, just on my limit Then with the back screwed on and shelves in I would reckon about 80-90kg. I put it together where it stands in the loungeroom and 2 of us wriggled back into the wall

Thanks for the feedback guys

Redgy

[Wongo]

Redgy, that is a nice looking bookcase. I really like it.

[Tex B]

Great work Redgy, and a good WIP. Looks fantastic.

Tex

[Ironwood]

Looks good Redgy. Top job mate!!