A commission to shelve books
A couple years ago someone inquired about me building a bookshelf. She wanted it to be freestanding, about 4' tall, between 30"-36" wide, and gray.
I'm a fan of Scandinavian design, so I thought legs might be a nice way to bring character to an otherwise pretty simple and utilitarian design. I also wanted to use a wooden mechanism for the adjustable shelves instead of metal brackets.
However, she wasn't a fan of the legs, due to having to clean under the bookshelf. I replaced the legs with a very simple baseplate which ran around the perimeter of the base.
I had a design, so I just needed some plans. For me, drawing up plans has multiple advantages.
The client (or I) gets to see a better representation of the design compared to a rough sketch
I often discover problems and can create solutions during the design phase, which is much easier than doing so during the building phase
I make fewer errors during the building phase if I have plans to work from
Since I knew I would be staining it gray, I figured Red Oak would be a great choice. It's very strong, I had rough-cut Oak on-hand, and I don't mind covering up Red Oak with stain (in fact, I prefer it!). After pulling out boards and cutting to length, I had a stack.
After thickness planing, I had a slightly nicer stack.
At this point, I could begin cutting boards to size and building the box for the bookshelf. I used countersunk screws with plugs for a balance of appearance, strength, and ease-of-construction.
While the adjustable shelf brackets look pretty simple, they're a bit labor intensive to finish, especially if you're brushing on finish.
The shelves were fairly straightforward as well, with some cutting, gluing, screwing, and hole-plugging.
I used a stain and poly combo finish on this, which was my first time using that kind of finish. The idea is great because you get to do two steps in one, and it's water-based to boot. It's a little tricky to apply to a project like this because of all the corners and nooks and crannies. Runs are particularly problematic when stain is included. But it went on OK.
The directions recommend a single coat, however, I wasn't happy with the results after one coat (not surprising; when is a single coat of anything sufficient?). The tricky part comes when applying a second coat. Now you're putting more stain on with the second coat, so the second coat has to be very even (and even more-so without drips or runs), else you'll get very dark patches.
The finish took over a week to fully cure, but it finished up pretty well, and I do like the stain/poly combo overall. The second coat had a much better feel and smoother appearance, so it was worth it.
She was very happy with the result, and specifically liked the no-metal adjustable shelf brackets! Unless it gets dropped out of a 2nd story window, it should hold books for many years to come.
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