Unique Book Case – Project of the Week
This week’s project comes from Steve in Chandler, AZ. Here’s what Steve had to say:
“My brother-in-law always has reference books sitting out for easy access. Atlases, dictionaries, etc. He has always wanted a library book-stand to display and read them on. So, I sketched out some ideas and the attached photos are the result. I used solid cherry and MDF-core cherry ply. There is a small drawer and a pull-out writing surface. A “secret” compartment hides below the drawer. The doors below are fitted with patterned glass. The pulls were made from walnut with an in-laid cherry strip. Finish was Danish oil and wipe-on poly. The finish on the top surface was rubbed out using pumice and rottenstone powders with paraffin oil.”
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Well Done. I especially like how the drawer front wraps the dovetails. excellent idea… I think I might use it :)
keep them coming!
Todd
The project is very nicely done. The drawer fronts two middle pins appear shorter than the outer pins. A very interesting feature . I am impressed with atention to deail. A profesional effort. One of the best projects so far, in my opinio of course.
Keep it going on Steve very nice
Sweet! I especially like the offset knife hinges and the inlaid walnut pulls. Nice detailing. I’m not as sure about the inset half-blind dovetails on the drawer. It’s a novel feature, but what was the rationale for this design? To my eye, the half pins seem like an oversight, but that’s just my opinion. Very nice craftsmanship and design! Congratulations.
Wow, super nice work, very professional looking projecct. Congrats on this accomplishment.
I think that is a great looking piece. best i have seen on here.
Awesome piece. I love the dovetails, why did you leave the front stick out past the sides?
Sometimes, getting people to ask “why” is justification enough for doing it. :)
What an excellent gift for your brother-in-law. He’s really lucky to receive such a well-designed and well-crafted piece. I especially like the attention to details and the unexpected design elements that you have incorporated into this piece.
I was thinking about building something to display “coffee table books” and this clearly fits that bill. Would you mind posting some dimensions?
Very cool, and thanks for sharing! I especially like the secret compartment.
That is a beauty,nicely done!
Nice piece Steve! I’ve been mulling a project similar to this for my brother…hope you don’t mind me stealing your design:)
Thats really nice! I like the homemade pulls! How did you go about making the mullions in the doors?
Nice piece. Like others I wonder about the dovetail layout, but each to his own as they say. I would say – why try and hide the end grain of the dovetails on the drawer side? (that’s what the picture seems to show) Let the wood be the wood – if you know what I mean.
A big difference I notice from this side of the pond is the amount of dye, stain and colouring you guys use – not just on TWW, but also in Fine Woodworking and “Norm”.
I only use a German citrus based oil which enhances the colour without staining, and it gives amazing results
Not a criticism, just an observation.
Keep up the good work.
Very nice project. One thought – when I saw the full pic I thought: “that’s not a book case – it’s a standup desk.!” People with bad backs will often resort to standing desks to alleviate the pain. The former CEO at a bank I worked at used one. Thomas Jefferson used a stand up desk.
http://www.standupdesks.com/thomas_jefferson.shtml
What is nice about this one is the storage. Nice job.
Great work. I would love to duplicate it. Can you send me some plans of it? Thanks!
Thanks for the comments.
My brother-in-law is quite tall, so I made a full-scale template from cardboard to get the height correct for him. It ended up being 46 inches high to the lower edge with a slope of 19 degrees. The base is roughly 21 deep by 26 wide. The pulls are walnut, slightly concave on the top and bottom, with a strip of cherry laid into a shallow groove. The drawer sides were slightly inset to accomodate the way I constructed the guides, so in order for the drawer face to fill the opening (it’s flush to the cabinet front), I just trimmed the pins flush to the side so that I could leave the front full width. I picked up the glass at a local stained glass supplier. It has a subtle pattern to it so that it looks old and it slightly obscures your view of what’s inside.
Finish was a coat of Watco Natural Oil, and three coats of Watco Wipe-on Gloss Poly. I rubbed out the writing surface and applied a coat of wax for a satin smooth feel. (He loves it.)
The mullions were half-lapped at the intersections. After routing out the back of the groove cut by the rail and stile bits, I set the ends of the mullions into the rabbet. Then filler strips were pieced in to provide an even base for the glass to lay into.
Thanks.
That’s what I’m talking about, Real furniture. That’s beautiful man. More inspiration for the days after I finish this old house of mine and I too can get to work. Thanks for sharing.
I’m the brother-in-law lucky enough to be the happy recipient of this stand. I probably don’t understand some of the technical details of the piece — that’s Steve’s department (hey, I thought a mullion was a bad ’80’s haircut).
All I know for sure is that the stand is truly functional, beautiful to look at, and sensual to the touch; “store-bought” furniture rarely rates any of those descriptions. This is a piece that I’ll be proud to own, use and show for a long, long time. (And I love the secret compartment. I’ve shown everyone. Oops.)
I’m glad there are still craftsmen like Steve and all of you out there who care about real quality.
I’ve been looking for ideas for a lecture room stand and have not had much luck since they all have a factory look to them. This one looks excellent- I hope you’ll consider it a complement if I use some of the design details.
Thanks