The Big Think

I’ve been going nuts not being able to spend time in my shop lately. Normally I’d spend a month or so building a big piece of furniture, but between the end of the Sing season and mixing the movie, I never got into a big shop project this year before the heat hit. I’ve been scratching the construction itch lately by making smaller indoor projects (see my post of a few months ago called “Tiny Things”). However, a few weeks ago I got up early and decided to just stick it out and start tackling the book case I’ve been wanting to build for a while.

It’s going to be a 6′ tall by 30″ wide case of oak and oak plywood. It’ll fit in our “library” (aka, the extra room upstairs) and will relieve the pressure of the books that have been piled on the floor for a few years, as well as the overflow from the other bookshelves that have been double stacked for quite a while now. I think after this one is done, it’ll be completely full, but at least there won’t be two rows of books on all the other shelves.

I got the 4′x8′ piece of oak ply cut down into all of the necessary pieces and I routed out the grooves and dadoes for the shelves. I bought a 1/4″ piece of ply from the hardware store for the back, and once that’s done I’ll be gluing the whole thing together start cutting the oak for the face frame. Then it’s a coat of stain and a few coats of shellac and we’ll have ourselves a new book shelf.

*Update* Done! The case is now installed and filled with about fifty books. It’s my “Maker Shelf” and contains only my Maker-type books (Make magazine (of course), woodworking books, modeling, miscellaneous hobby books, etc). Believe it or not… we need another one. Sheesh.