Joinery and Construction

Since I don't own a biscuit joiner, I went with a more traditional cleat under the top and the bottom shelf. This is simple a small block of oak, about 3/4 inch square, screwed into the side wall and the bottom of the shelf or top. Two screws in each direction provide enough strength. The overall design is very forgiving, with the back (a full 3/4 inch thick) providing effective prevention against racking.

In this picture, you can see the carcass going together with the cleats in place. Note the use of corner clamps to keep things in alignment. The roofing square on the inside is keeping things nicely square. In the end, my "every project is an excuse to buy a new tool" acquisition was a speed square. Until I read Bob Lang's article, I had never even heard of one, but it's ability to stand on its own wide edge makes it an extremely useful addition to the shop. I didn't have one at this point, though. Note also that the sides and top have rabbets to receive the back.

After the carcass is built, you build the face frame to fit it (making sure the carcass is square, of course).  It's really just four sticks of wood held together with pocket screws. When you have a carcass and a face frame you glue them together.  This picture shows the "clamp forest" holding everything in place.  It's a pretty motley collection of clamps, but I threw almost everything I had at the problem.  The face frame is slightly proud of the carcass so it can be planed flush later.

While you wait for the glue to dry, you can move on to the shelves.  I use four sleeve and paddle supports that I buy from Lee Valley as shelf supports in all my projects.  This works well enough if you have the confidence to know your shelf spacing is never going to change.  The shelves themselves are just a piece of plywood with a hardwood front piece glued on.  Since the bookcases are shorter than the original, I cut down the height of the front pieces a bit to keep them to scale.  In this picture, you can pretty much see what you need to install the shelf (on which the tools are resting).  Mark the locations carefully, and be very afraid of drilling through the side of the case.   I have a flag made from blue painter's tape on the twist drill bit to tell me when to stop.  I almost always get it right.  Thinner plywood might have been a problem, though.

Since I was building two of these, I tended to alternate.  I would move a few steps forward on one bookcase, then catch up on the second. In this picture, you can see where these go.  The bookcase on the left has shelves in place, with spacing determined by the books that will go inside.  Merry Christmas, and please excuse the mess. Note that I have acquired the speed square by now, as it's on the dining room table.  Isn't that where you keep yours?

You may note that the left bookcase above has some trim pieces attached.  There is a pretty good amount of trim on these bookcases, both around the top and the bottom.  Making it is pretty conventional woodworking, and I won't go into too many details.  Some of it can be done using power tools, or all of it can be made with hand tools.  It's just a bit of a challenge.  But even with power tools, you will need to establish a straight edge first (unless you have a reliable source of S4S lumber).  That calls for good old-fashioned work with a jointer.