Category: CABINETS. AND BOOKCASES

FACE FRAMES

Because they completely cover the edges of side panels, face frames are ideally suited for plywood bookcase construction. Made from a contrasting wood, they can also provide a decora­tive detail. Cutting and assembling a face frame demands precision; the joints must be tight and the frame square if it is to fit properly and provide […]

EDGE TREATMENTS FOR SHELVES

Edge treatments are strips of solid wood, veneer, or commercial band­ing applied to the visible edges of ply­wood shelves; they conceal the panels’ plies, creating the illusion that the shelv­ing is made of solid wood. Commercial edge banding is available by the roll in a wide variety of wood types, colors, and widths. To install, […]

FIXED SHELVES

Fixed shelves bolster the structural integrity of a bookcase, but since they cannot be moved once they are installed, you need to give careful thought to their location. You can mount fixed shelves quite simply by screwing them to cleats that are fastened to the back and side panels. Your book­case will be stronger and […]

ADJUSTABLE SHELVING

Although adjustable shelves do not contribute to the strength of a bookcase, they do give it greater flexi­bility, allowing you to adapt to changing needs and organize space most effi­ciently. It is unwise to make a bookcase without providing at least one fixed shelf for structural rigidity. Adjustable shelves are commonly held in place with […]

BOOKCASE ACCESSORIES

B ooks are not the only items com­monly stored in a bookcase. With the commercial accessories shown below, you can easily organize record albums, compact discs, audio tapes, and video­cassettes. If you intend your bookcase to house a stereo system, television or VCR, wire clips and cord-hole plugs can tame the tangle of wires and […]

BOOKCASE

Whether it is a simple plywood structure or a custom-made wall unit crafted from fine hard­wood, a bookcase serves two func­tions at once: It is an efficient storage system, accommodating books and other items that accu­mulate in most homes, and a fine piece of furniture in its own right, as handsome as the freestanding unit […]

CABINETMAKING JOINERY

This section introduces some stan­dard joinery techniques common to the building of virtually any style of cabinet or bookcase. If you are using sol­id lumber for your project, you will make up the wide panels for the carcase or the panel of a ffame-and-panel assembly by gluing boards together edge-to-edge, as shown below. This technique […]

PREPARING STOCK

Once you have designed a project and purchased the lumber, you must prepare the stock, jointing and planing it smooth and square, cutting it to the proper dimensions and sanding any sur­faces that will be difficult to reach when the work is assembled. The procedures you follow depend on how the wood was surfaced before […]

LUMBER DEFECTS

L umber defects may reduce a board’s strength or workability or mar its appearance. Or, in the hands of a cre­ative woodworker, some defects may in fact become visual assets, transforming an ordinary piece into a work of art. Most defects, however, are undimin­ished trouble. Although some may result from damage to the standing tree […]