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Bookcases II


jaxenro

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Ok this is the plan for the base molding. The first picture gives the overall profile and the second shows how I plan to make it up in parts. Essentially each base will be made of of three sections assembled into 6" strips, laminated together, then cut using a miter saw to make the base as you would with regular molding. The curved section will be made by soaking a strip of veneer in water and clamping to a 1/4" rod to make the shape then glued in and sanded to fit

Molding 01.jpg

Molding 02.jpg

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Boiling water helps. When I used to make balsa models I would soak the strips in ammonia which turns balsa really flexible. They also make a veneer softener which works

the longer you soak, within reason, also helps. I found soaking burl walnut overnight I could wrap it around a screwdriver shaft without any issues and dry it is brittle stuff

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The other thing I am doing is for the 1/4" band I am going with a packaged veneer inlay strip. These are made for inlaying as borders in larger pieces but I think will add a decorative touch to the base. I am only doing the one strip so it accents but doesn't overpower it

Bookcase Body Construction 22.jpg

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This is the bottom part of the molding. I didn't have any 3/16" x 1/4" mahogany so I laminated two 3/32" by 1/4" strips The top one is trimmed but not sanded the bottom one not yet trimmed. Both have a heavy coat of my home made saffron oil on them I find that soaking the veneer in oil before cutting keeps it from chipping. I think the saffron oil will give a nice color without being overpowering. You can see the oil is really thick and hasn't soaked in yet when I did the photo

Molding 06.jpg

Molding 07.jpg

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I have also started veneering the cases I will post some "how to" photos but it is fairly simple. Cut oversize, glue and clamp, soak in some oil to soften and trim to size, then sand. You can see that top one is glued and soaking some oil up but not trimmed. The grain looks a little better than the plan mahogany one on the bottom

Bookcase Body Construction 12.jpg

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Did the shelf fronts and uprights. Still some trimming and sanding to to. The first picture they are untrimmed the second trimmed some but not sanded yet. Funny the perspective in the photo as both pieces are the same size. Still need to veneer the second case. The veneer for the curved portion of the base is soaking in water prior to forming up

Bookcase Body Construction 14.jpg

Bookcase Body Construction 15.jpg

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Veneer is thin sheets of wood you glue over base wood. In this case it is a mahogany veneer over mahogany. Usually after gluing but before trimming I soak some oil on to reduce chipping. Normally I use linseed oil but here I used artists linseed oil that has had saffron soaking in it for a few years. Gives it a yellow-red tint and darkens the wood but not as much as alkanet root oil

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1 hour ago, Medieval said:

Is veneer a type of stain? I thought it was a type of wood overlay?

I use iron-on wood veneer edging I find in the hardware store to make wood floors in my  dollhouses; I cut it into "board" lengths and split it into "board widths and spot-glue the strips into place, then iron the entire floor to glue it to the subfloor before sanding and staining.

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