Weekend Warriors: Bookcase

It seems that most of my visits upstate to visit the family are last minute. This one was very last minute. Although, not the most last minute. There was one time I bought my ticket on a Friday night and left Saturday morning. This trip I had at least two days notice.

There is usually a reason behind each visit. Mostly, helping Aunt Nancy and Uncle Dan out. For example, the first visit was to help Aunt Nancy make all of her Christmas treats. Another time was when I went to help, let's call them N&D (Nan&Dan) rearrange the furniture in their entire house. Yes, I mean every room except the computer room. Recently I went for the planting party for the Vineyard. Well, this last time was a hidden agenda I heard about upon arrival.

Drum roll....

Making a bookcase!

So, I thought I would pass on my new handy skills.

Materials:

Carpenters Square

Circular Saw

Vibrating Sander

Table Saw - This was used very rarely to cut some pieces. But it was nice to have in case.

Pine 2 x 4

Stain

Polyurethane


Steps:

1. Decide where you want to put your bookcase.
2. Decide on a design of your bookcase. Drawing it to scale helps.
3. Make sure your measurements are exact. We were making a bookcase to fit and block off an existing doorway. Therefore, we had to be exact with each and every measurement.

4. Cut each piece of wood using the circular saw. Use the Carpenters Square to guide you. This tool helps you cut straight.

5. Sand each piece by using the vibrating sander.

7. Stain each piece. We used the Minwax Golden Oak because that is the finish that was used throughout the rest of the house.

8. Let each piece dry completely.

9. Assemble the frame by using a hammer and nails. Use two nails to hold each piece together. It can be reinforced later with more nails. Make sure each piece is level before nailing.

10. If you are making a bookcase for a particular space, make sure the frame fits.

11. Before you start your shelves, make sure what you want to put on the shelves fits on the shelves.


12. Once you have the shelves placed, nail one nail to the top side of each side of the frame . This is to make sure, before you nail the bottom side of the frame, each shelf is level.

13. Now, once each shelf is adjusted so it is level, you can add a nail to the bottom side of the frame.

Ta Da! A frame with shelves!

14. To add a back to your bookcase you can use an laminate. We used a left over piece Uncle Dan had in his magical garage. We laid the laminate out and then traced the shape of our bookcase.

15. We used the circular saw to cut out the back of our bookcase. Once it was cut, we used a hammer and nails to attach the back to the frame. We also reinforced the back by adding nails across the back of each shelf. We were lucky not have a single nail miss and stick out the front.

16. Pose with the bookcase to show all your friends.

17. Install the bookcase!

18. Sit back, relax, stare at the great job you did and enjoy.

19. Have a glass of wine.

Bookcase Warriors!
(sorry I have a candy in my mouth)