Basic Woodworking Part 1: A Bookcase

I've wanted to make some simple furniture for a while now, and the size of my book collection has far surpassed my storage capabilities. A simple bookcase seemed like an excellent first choice, so I headed over to Home Depot (did you know they're open until 10PM on Saturdays? Everyone becomes so much more helpful when they're trying to get you out of the store at 9:55PM.) and picked up some supplies. I have space for about a three foot by six foot bookcase in my basement, so I bought enough 1x8" boards to fit those dimensions. (Important Note: I bought 1x8's thinking that they would be wide enough to fit a standard book with plenty of wiggle room, but the finished boards are closer to 3/4x7.5, so they were narrower than I intended.) I also bought two 4x4' luan plywood pieces for backing the bookcase and providing support, as well as wood glue and nails (of the pneumatic nail-gun variety) for connecting all the planks. The total cost came to about $100, though it could be cheaper or more expensive depending on the quality of wood you buy.

My plan called for four shelves (five levels for books) built into a rectangular case that would sit on top of a base. As is often the case, I modified that design several times while actually making it. For example, at the suggestion of a friend, I ripped an extra 1x8 board down to make some simple molding for the edges, about an inch wide.

To begin, I set up shop in my garage with a miter saw, a nail-gun, and a table saw. What followed was four hours of measuring, remeasuring, cutting, triple remeasuring, recutting, gluing, nailing, and more remeasuring. I apologize now for the poor quality of these pictures, as I only thought to take some with my phone halfway through the project.

Here I've put together the frame of the case and started nailing down the luan to keep the frame square when I add shelves later. Note that the top and bottom shelves will go inside the vertical supports, because it'll be easier to hide the nail holes through the side than to sand and hide the exposed edge of the horizontal shelf.

I've now nailed down the second piece of luan and inserted the middle shelf that will cover the seam of the backing. When nailing, it's very important to shoot the gun straight down into the wood, otherwise the nails will come through the front of the thin pieces. Pulling out and hiding the marks from the nails I misfired was not easy and made for a less professional work. You can also see here the base for the bookcase. The front piece serves as a kickplate and is set back an inch and a half, and the two side supports end an inch from the back of the bookcase. This is so that the bookcase is above any baseboard molding and can lean flush against the wall. I have to return to Home Depot later to pick up some L-brackets to mount the base to the bookcase, as it's currently only held in place by a few nails.

Here is the rough finished bookcase placed in its temporary home, until I find more time to sand and stain it. Part of me wants to leave it as is, only putting on a clear coat after I sand it, but I know it'll look better with the other furniture with a dark stain. That's all for now!