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Bookcases II


jaxenro

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I looked through my scrap pile and I have three sheets of old Mahogany 3 x 24 - so old the stickers are yellow and faded. They are 1/32, 1/16 (2/32), and 3/32" thick, one of each. I did some studying and decided on a pair of bookcases so I drew up some plans this time. This is a rough sketch of what I am going to make. Brown will be plain mahogany red a flame mahogany veneer

 

 

Bookcase Plans 01.jpg

Bookcase Plans 02.jpg

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I broke the plan down into sections so I can build it in sub assemblies. The main body - section 2 - will be 3/32" thick mahogany by 1" deep. This will fit a 3/4" to 7/8" deep book with a little to spare. The distance between the shelves is 1" with even spacing. Since I have everything on hand to start the main body I am beginning there. Each case requires twelve parts, two sides, four shelves, and six doublers. I am setting this up as  kit and will start by cutting the twenty-four parts and sanding them to size. I have my Dobson miter saw and recently acquired this to help keep my sanding square

https://www.micromark.com/Sand-It

Bookcase Plans 03.jpg

Bookcase Plans 04.jpg

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Thank you for sharing all the details! I will need to build several shelves in the near future and this is very helpful. If you don't mind a couple of questions?? I'm a novice at this, but what the doublers for? And what miter saw do you use? 

Thanks! I can't wait to watch this build.

Kim

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Doublers aren't standard but I am using them for two reasons:

1. Shelf Supports

2. It is easier than making thicker sides and cutting slots for the shelves to sit in plus I am using the 3/32" I have on hand, and I want the sides to total 3/16" thick so I can veneer them. The top is 3/8" thick comprised of two 3/16" thick sections, as is the base with an additional 1/4" section, and the side posts will be 3/16". I am using 3/16" as a standard to try to keep everything proportional. American Empire style was very classical order based and that often uses multiples of a standard like the drawing below. I am simplifying it though.

I use this as a miter saw

https://www.micromark.com/Miter-Rite

 

although I know some here use this (I don't have one) and seem to like them a lot

https://www.micromark.com/Miter-Master

Figure-1.jpg

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I hadn't made bookshelves with doublers.  I used a wee "V" blade carving tool to cut grooves in the sides for one, but usually I just cut bits of squared toothpicks and glue them to support the shelves.

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Kim, let me know if I am overdoing it on the steps. I wanted to be detailed for you but I don't want to get redundant

Anyway I stripped the 3/32 x 3 x 24 into three 1 x 24 pieces and cut the two end ones into 1 x 12's. This gave me four 1 x 12's which I then squared up the front and end and taped into a bundle. This gives me a nice set 4 pieces thick I can then use to cut almost identical pieces from

Bookcase Body Construction 01.jpg

Bookcase Body Construction 02.jpg

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All the little bundles cut out and ready to sand. I will sand them square on all four edges using the Sand-It tool. Each bundle has four identical parts so the six bundles contain the twenty-four parts we need to make the body part of two bookcases. I leave them bundled together until they are squared up

Bookcase Body Construction 04.jpg

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On 10/2/2019, 8:33:01, Miniatures in Marble said:

Kim, let me know if I am overdoing it on the steps. I wanted to be detailed for you but I don't want to get redundant

Anyway I stripped the 3/32 x 3 x 24 into three 1 x 24 pieces and cut the two end ones into 1 x 12's. This gave me four 1 x 12's which I then squared up the front and end and taped into a bundle. This gives me a nice set 4 pieces thick I can then use to cut almost identical pieces from

Bookcase Body Construction 01.jpg

Bookcase Body Construction 02.jpg

You are not overdoing it at all! I like seeing all the steps. Thank you for doing this. 

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For that part? Just a generic Scotch type tape nothing special. It doesn't stick to the wood all that well, which is fine, but sticks to itself so after the first wrap it is really taping itself. No real residue to clean off just wrap it tight and it will work

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I hadn't thought of that tape. My wife has adhesive sensitivity and I was using it to keep her Parkinson's medication patch from coming off. It would probably be perfect for this type of application.

Anyway here are some shots of using the Sand-It tool to sand the edges square. I am only concerned about the cut edges at this point will show why later

Bookcase Body Construction 05.jpg

Bookcase Body Construction 06.jpg

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And here we begin gluing. I use enough glue so a little creeps out when clamping but not so much so it gushes out. I used a scrap of 3/32 as a spacer and clamped up the first doubler, making sure the front edge is square. If the sides are sanded square to the front edge and th front edge square to the shelf side then everything will line up correctly and the shelves will be level. If the back edge is slightly off we can clean it up by sanding later on. 

One thing to watch for is that the doubler can twist when tightening the clamp down. Go slow with the clamp until it is tight and watch that nothing gets out of alignment. Then clean up any excess glue that squeezed out the side and use the spacer to add the next piece. Keep the spacer in place until the second doubler is clamped down then remove the spacer so it doesn't get glued in and clean up any excess glue. Repeat for the third doubler.

I lined up the spacer with the bottom edge, then the doubler, then the spacer, the second doubler, etc. If there is any excess on the side (I cut it a tad over long) I will clean it up at the top after assembly.

Bookcase Body Construction 07.jpg

Bookcase Body Construction 08.jpg

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Notice I haven't sanded the flat sides yet. Personally I think the glue grips a little better on an unsanded surface as it is less slick and has more grain to grab ahold of. Once the doublers are in place we will sand the inside flat surfaces as they would be near impossible to sand when it is assembled. The outside flat surfaces will be veneered so very little sanding is required

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I have had no problem whatsoever with wood glue adhering to sanded surfaces as well as to unsanded ones; so long as it's bare wood to bare wood and I clean the sanded surface really well with a tack cloth I'm good to go.  I really like the nylon spring clamps for working in mini.

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Neither have I with gluing sanded wood. Clean and dry are probably the two biggest concerns when gluing. Your tack cloth is perfect for removing sanding dust because we don't want to glue dust to dust.

BTW I am using Titebond III. 

Miniatures are a bit different in that they don't get the stress of a full size piece and they don't weigh that much. One reason I like mahogany and walnut over basswood is basswood doesn't weigh anything, but there is nothing wrong with basswood just a personal preference. Also when gluing edge grain I usually put a layer of glue on and let it dry on the edge, then put another on and clamp the join, but with a miniature is it worth it? Probably overkill but I often do it anyway. My way is definitely not the only way, or the best way, it is just my way :)

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39 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

 I really like the nylon spring clamps for working in mini.

I bought a pile of those there is a HF near me. When I am making miniature longbows (1:3 scale) I laminate three layers of wood (This one is Satinwood, Ebony, and Lemonwood with Ebony Tips) and found they didn't provide enough force to make a tight glue joint. The bow would come apart when drawing and tillering it. So I switched to C clamps. Now the bow's have a lot more stress on them than miniature furniture

bow 1.jpg

bow 2.jpg

bow 3.jpg

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The doublers are all glued. I did a quick mock up assembly to see how it looked. Not perfect but acceptable I guess. Then I sanded the shelf faces and inside faces of the doublers, places that would be near impossible to sand when it is assembled, and glued up and clamped the first one. Meanwhile I am starting the same process on the second one

Bookcase Body Construction 09.jpg

Bookcase Body Construction 10.jpg

Bookcase Body Construction 11.jpg

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