Matched Book Cases

[unclecritic]

Very, very nice job. On the bookcases as well as the writeup. Thanks for taking the time to post

[schloff]

I really like that. Fantastic craftsmanship.

I might incorporate some of that for a TV stand in the future, thanks for posting it all.

Since your projects are done, why not send that tenon jig to me as a birthday gift? Christmas?

[Mr__Bill]

Very nice work, both in the build and documenting it. I liked your idea of using blue tape to layout the cuts on the sheet goods. Having cut too far too many times I have to wonder why I didn't think of it, must be old age creeping up on me.

Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

Bill
On the left coast

[Brian G]

Thank you all for the comments and compliments. I appreciate the feedback.

I don't have a good estimate of the time involved. There was a stretch of time where I stopped and switched to refurbishing/remodeling our guest bedroom. I also had the bit break in the mortiser and a backorder on the replacement. I didn't mention a stripped gear on the motor that drives the feedbelt on my drum sander, and the replacement gear wasn't a perfect match. Such is the woodworker's life, huh?

Some days "Muse" perched himself on the filter of the dust collector, flashed two middle fingers, and I turned around and walked away. Other days "Muse" was impatiently tapping his foot, eager to get going.

I've made it a habit to keep a handwritten log of major projects as I go along. One of the boys gave me a ruled notebook a few years ago, so I use that to keep track of what I did, when. I think taking time to write out steps or thoughts forces me to slow down and think things through before taking the next step. It also helps with staging milling operations and planning ahead.

Even with that, unexplained problems happen. For example, even though I took care to crosscut the laterals on the lower case all in the same operation, one of them somehow ended up 1/8" shorter than the other five. I didn't discover this until after I cut the dados for the top drawer dividers. Thankfully, I made sure to register the dados off of the same end on the four pieces that required center cut dados. All I had to do to fix the missing 1/8" was add a strip to the end of the lateral. It ended up hidden in the dado of the side of the lower case. Personally, I think "Muse" hid the 1/8" in the same place he hid my missing utility knife. That Jerk!

I looked back at my log, and found out that I had applied four coats of gel polyurethane, not three. I've had very good luck with the General Finishes brand of satin gel polyurethane. This wasn't the first time I used the Transtint dye, but this time finding the right color intensity was tricky.

I think the most stressful part came after I had them mostly done and needed to move them frequently to do the finishing. There is always the fear of dropping, denting, or dinging something. I only had a few minor issues with that.

Again, thanks for the comments. I need to remind myself to return the comments when projects are posted. I haven't been very good about doing that.

[Crockett]

Brian,
as others have said - beautiful work and an equally amazing pictorial and write up!! Very inspiring....

[cwsmith]

Thanks so much for posting this great project.

You pictures were terrific and well illustrate your skills and the beauty of this wonderful project!

Thanks for the great post,

CWS

[BadeMillsap]

Very fine work indeed!

[Two Much]

Your bookcases are lovely. You should be proud of this
build. It makes the whole room.