Before committing myself to a set of bookcase plans, I first decided to shop colse to for a pre-fab bookshelf, both online and at a few discount furniture shop in town. My plan was to look at a wide range of styles and prices before choosing what to buy. It didn't take me long to inspect that I no ifs ands or buts had only two choices in the matter; buy somewhat expensive crappy particle board bookcases with fake wood laminate, or buy very expensive wood bookcases that will stay in my house for the next 100 years. The good stuff would be nice, but since I can't afford to spend 0 at Ethan Allen right now, I'm no ifs ands or buts left with just one option: the somewhat expensive crappy bookcases. It's disappointing to think this is my only choice.
So now I'm finding at some bookcase plans, which means I'd have to take on the job of building something from scratch. I'm starting to like the idea, though. First, it's the only other choice I can find to buying expensive crappy bookcases, and second, I like the idea of choosing for myself what level of capability (and expense) I want to put into the project. I don't want a bookcase made from the cheapest materials around, but I don't need the most expensive either. building my own bookcase will let me create something in the middle of these two extremes.
Drill Press Accessories
I've done a fair whole of researching on the Web, and I've come up with some pretty uncomplicated guidelines for approaching this kind of wood project. Overall, the good news is that you don't have to be a hard-core woodworker to pull this thing off. In fact, a bookcase is a exquisite starter project for man just getting into building stuff from wood. Maybe it's a slight more thoughprovoking than making a sawhorse (which is also a good plan to start with), but I think it's leading for beginners to make something they can be excited about when it's all said and done. So let's get started with some of the basics of building a bookcase.
Three Tools - I assume that most habitancy attempting their first bookcase project will not have a perfect set of woodworking power tools in their shop - things like a table saw, drill press, router table, planer, and all that. What I do think first-time builders might (and should) have is a circular saw, a router, and a power drill. It's pretty amazing what you can build with just a few reasonably-priced tools.
#1 Circular Saw - A circular saw will cut just about whatever you can throw at it, and with a few accessories, some fairly involved joinery. Even if you decree later to upgrade to more expensive tools, your circular saw will all the time get used in the shop. For a uncomplicated bookcase, you'll be using the circular saw to cut all the boards to length, and to help make the dado cuts that hold your bookcase shelves. You'll also use the saw to cut down a 4x8 sheet of plywood for the bookcase back.
#2 Router - I'm sure there are fullness of wood projects being built without the help of a router, but my question is, why go to the trouble? Sometimes you can pick up a decent router for under 0, and considering the extra work you'll save yourself in the long run, that's a good investment. A router will make easy work of cutting the dadoes for your bookcase shelves, and with a few accessories, let you try out a whole load of professional-style woodworking techniques.
#3 Power Drill - everyone has a power drill of some sort sitting colse to in the basement or garage. You already know how much use (and abuse) this tool gets for no ifs ands or buts hundreds of jobs colse to the house. Although it's inherent to build a uncomplicated bookcase without ever picking up a power drill, the no-screws arrival to building a bookcase requires that you own an insanely large whole of clamps to hold all together while the glue dries. Really, we're talking about 20 clamps or more at about each. Ouch. At a fraction of the cost, you can unleash the same clamping power on wood joints by using wood screws (or even nails) to hold pieces together while the glue sets up. Of course, you'll have holes all over everywhere, but most habitancy just fill them in with putty and they look fine.
Plywood vs Solid Wood Shelves - choosing the right wood for a bookcase plan can be a big topic to get your arms around, especially if you start reading the zillions of articles online about wood species and wood grades, plywood construction, shelving span calculators, etc., etc. This is all good stuff, but for now, let me narrow down the choices for a first-time bookcase project.
Hold off on plywood shelves...this time around - Sure, plywood is nice for bookcase shelves because it doesn't have the warping problems that plague solid wood. But plywood comes in 4x8 sheets, which means you'll be doing a Lot of cutting to make all the pieces for a uncomplicated bookcase. For experienced woodworkers, this isn't no ifs ands or buts a problem. They'll first cut down the sheet into more manageable pieces (usually with a circular saw) and then head over to an 0 table saw to get things perfectly quadrilateral and perfectly sized for the bookcase plan they're following. Not that you can't do all this with an additional one tool (like a circular saw or jigsaw), but at some point it just becomes too much work to make a zillion cuts in plywood without the bigger, beefy tools.
Solid Pine Shelves - For first-time projects, I like to use off-the-shelf dimensional lumber from the big box shop like Home Depot. Pine is relatively cheap (compared to hardwood) and is precut to standard-size widths and lengths. That means a Lot less cutting for me to get the basic pieces of my bookcase ready for assembly. Woodworkers might point out that dimensional lumber is inconsistent in width and thickness, which makes less-than-perfect woodworking joints without first planning and/or squaring the boards on a table saw. They're right. Dimensional lumber is not perfectly quadrilateral and consistent from one board to the next. But that doesn't mean you can't build a decent-looking bookcase otherwise. Sure, you might have some small gaps in the joinery, and maybe the case isn't no ifs ands or buts quadrilateral and plumb. But more often than not, you'll be the only one who knows any different. Save the more exacting work for nicer bookcase you'll build next year.
Setting up to Cut Boards - It's a slight frightening to think about how precarious and unorganized a workspace can be when we start cutting boards. No one wants to spend time thoughprovoking colse to tables, setting up sawhorses, adjusting work clamps...just to cut off the end of a board. Unfortunately, any less establishment than what I just mentioned will put you in a perilous situation. Power tools can be evil...and I mean no ifs ands or buts evil. And it's not about how much feel you have. Go online and search woodworking accidents. The most horrific stuff happens to habitancy who have been building for 20-30 years without a scratch. Then out of nowhere things suddenly go wrong...boards go flying over the room, arms and fingers get cut, and worse.
Cutting Dadoes for Bookcase Shelves - By far the trickiest step in following bookcase plans is cutting the dadoes (that hold the book shelf ends). No need to be intimidated with this part of the project, though. If you're no ifs ands or buts true about setting up for the cut (that means using the right clamps and cutting guides for your router) this can be the most fun you'll have with bookcase plans. I like to cut my dadoes assembly-line style. That is, I clamp down both sides of the bookcase side by side...so that each pass with my circular saw (and router) cuts both boards at the same time. This not only saves you tons of time and headache, it also makes sure that your shelves are perfectly aligned when you glue all together.
Bookcase Plans - How to Build a Bookcase With 3 Tools