First big project!

[tyb525]

This Red Oak bookcase was my biggest project yet. I built it for me dad's neighbor, who wanted me to build her a bookcase when she heard I was a woodworker. 

It is 5' tall, 31 1/2" wide, 11" deep. The sides are red oak plywood (not the rotary cut kind ), the back is 1/4" oak plywood, and the shelves are oak plywood with 1" solid oak edging, and the face frame is solid oak. You can't really see it in the picture, but I had the perfect piece of oak for it. The grain follows the curves just right. It would've been a firewood piece for anything else.

The top and bottom shelves are adjustable. I just drilled evenly spaced 3/8" holes down the sides so short 3/8" dowel hold the shelves up. It's nothing fancy, but I think it looks better than adjustable shelf hardware.

I put Varathane Summer Oak gel stain on, then 2 coats of poly on the top, sides, and shelve bottoms. I put 3 coats on the face frame and shelve tops.



IMO it turned out better than I expected, I'm delivering it tomorrow. I hope she likes it!  8)

[beenthere]

tyb
That looks great.
Hope she likes it. You'll have to let us know.

I envision the neighbor girl who lived next door to me (my age of 15, but she was my Dad's neighbor, and I built her a closet in her bedroom  8) 8) ). ;D ;D ;D

[tyb525]

Thanks beenthere. The neighbor lady is my dad's age  :D

[DanG]

The neighbor lady is my dad's age  :D

Hmmph!  Too young for me, then. : :D

That's a great looking bookcase.  I'll bet she will be tickled pink with it!

[Radar67]

That's a nice project Ty. Keep up the good work.

Stew

[Jeff]

That's outstanding.  Whats the next project you have in mind?

[Norm]

It looks great!

I'm sure she'll be thrilled with it.

[Larry]

That's a great looking bookcase tyb! 8) 8)  I like the color.

[Burlkraft]

tyb
I envision the neighbor girl who lived next door to me (my age of 15, but she was my Dad's neighbor, and I built her a closet in her bedroom  8) 8) ). ;D ;D ;D

              I know there's more to that story....... ;D   ;D   ;D

Nice job on the bookshelf tyb  8)   8)   8)

She's gonna love it  ;)  ;)

[pigman]

Way to go tyb525. 8)  I was about 55 before I finished my first woodworking project.  I don't live too far away from you so if the neighbor lady doesn't like the bookcase my wife sure will. ;D

[scsmith42]

Ty, that looks great!  I too prefer the "natural" looking plywood as opposed to the rotary cut kind.

BT - from your comments it sounds like you were a hard worker....   ;D

[blaze83]

Ty,

real nice job on the bookcase, stain is still light enough for the oak grain to show.... what kind of a shop do you have?


steve

[srt]

Tyb,

Very nice job.  Big projects are just a lot of little projects put together!

I like that you used plain sliced instead of rotary cut.

Did you find the planer you were looking for yet?

srt

[thedeeredude]

Very nice! 

[metalspinner]

Good job! 8)

How did delivery go?

[Lud]

Nice looking work.  Poly's a good choice for that kind of furniture.

Try oil and wax on something that will take wear as it can be fed and buffed easier than poly can be repaired.  More enjoyable to apply too.

Good job!

[SwampDonkey]

Looks great Tyb. The neighbor will be getting a great piece of work. 

[thecfarm]

If she don't like it,I'll take it.  :D

[tyb525]

Thanks for all the comments guys! I really appreciate it.

See, my dad lives in between Terre Haute and Brazil (Indiana). I live about 2 1/2 hours away. We put it in the back of the truck on a blanket. Delivery went fine.
The lady (and her husband) really liked it! I got a picture of them with the bookcase. I'll put it up soon.

..real nice job on the bookcase, stain is still light enough for the oak grain to show.... what kind of a shop do you have?

This was the first time I'd used gel stain, and I like the way it turned out. It helped reduce the color difference between the plywood and solid wood. The goal was to get it as close as possible to the color of their oak floors, and it was.

Right now my shop is in our 70 x 40 pole barn. Half of it has cement floor and a ceiling, and my shop (including various stacks of lumber) is on the cemented half.
I have:
-a Craftsman tablesaw handed down from my dad, which works just fine after a new blade and a good adjustment and alignment.
-a 10" Craftsman miter saw, which I don't use very much since I built a crosscut sled for my table saw.
-an older floor drill press, 17 speeds, 3/4 hp, that I bought at an auction for real cheap. I made a drill press table w/ fence for it, so  it is pretty accurate.
-a big old (70's) Rockwell lathe (1 hp, 8 speeds, 7" from spindle to base, 36" long) that is mounted on a tube steel  frame with drawers. I got it at the same auction as the drill press, along with several sets of turning tools.
- a10" Craftsman bandsaw that was handed down from my uncle when he bought a bigger bandsaw.
-an older Sears/Craftsman belt/disc sander that works just fine.
-New Ridgid 18v drill, circular saw, jigsaw, recip. saw, and screwdriver.
-Tool Shop (Menards) sander that is about to bite the dust after only a year.
-Several old hand planes, all stanley, various models. I picked most of these up cheap at a garage sale.
-various clamps (bar, pipe, etc.)
-A lot of other misc. tools that were either bought or handed down (mostly handed down)

Lumber-wise, I am lucky, because our other barn has quite a bit of old lumber, from who knows when. A friend of my grandpa's gave me some cherry (which I thanked him very much for!) Also since I now have a small chainsaw mill I've cut some lumber with it, although it is still drying. My hope is to get a bandsaw mill in the future.

...Did you find the planer you were looking for yet?

srt

Yes, I am about to get a Grizzly 12 1/2" planer, the 2hp one (G0505). I have seen quite a few good reviews about it, and I have read good reviews about Grizzly products in general. I realize it isn't a heavy-duty thickness planer, but it seems to be better than similar planers from other brands, and it is cheaper. Maybe later in life, or if I run into some money somehow, I'll look at a heavier-duty planer, but right now I don't need heavy-duty and I can't afford it, but I still need a planer.

That's outstanding.  Whats the next project you have in mind?

I don't know yet, but I was thinking something along the lines of matching end tables, or a coffee table. I like making small things, like clocks, too. We'll see what projects the future brings  I am always making bowls though.

Once again guys thank you for the compliments  . I had a great time building it! I'm looking forward to my next project.

[WDH]

Way yo go Tyb!  Soon, the word will get out and your request list will grow long ;D.

[Don K]

That is a good looking project. At your age by the time you get my age you'll be as good as Norm Abrams. ;D

Don

[pigman]

-a Craftsman tablesaw handed down from my dad, ..... -an older floor drill press, .... -a big old (70's) Rockwell lathe .... - a10" Craftsman bandsaw that was handed down from my uncle. ..
-an older Sears/Craftsman belt/disc sander that works just fine.
  -Several old hand planes, all stanley, various models.

When you mention those older tools you should put in a  8) to show everyone how proud you are of them. All the older Chraftsman power tools are better than the newer models. I have some newer tools I will trade you for your older tools. ;D

[tyb525]

 8) for the old Crafstman tools! Pigman is right, they are good. The tablesaw is a contractor style, but it has more power than any today I think. I can cut just about any wood at whatever thickness and it'll do just fine. Same goes for the others.