G&G Inspired Bookcase

[glenn bradley]

I have a dresser in mind but wanted to try out some of the design elements together first. I have books stacked up on the floor here and there so . . . a bookcase; what a brilliant idea :rolleyes:. I'll try to get through this one quick enough to not put everyone to sleep.

Here's the SketchUp:

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Marking out parts:

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Got most of it broken down, milled and a couple of the panel pieces glued up:

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Here's an x-ray of the joinery just for fun:

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I hope to have the other panel in the clamps and the joinery started this weekend.

[Jacob Mac]

That's going to be really nice. Do you have the G&G punches from Lee Valley? If not, I highly recommend them, they make seating plugs so easy and fast. It takes a lot of drudgery out of the G&G style.

One question: how do you build the bottom detail? I have done lots of G&G furniture, but I never figured out how to do the bottom board you have on your design. I am working on a G&G dresser for my wife, and I would like to incorporate that into my design. Any help would be most appreciated.

[James Phillips]

That's going to be really nice. Do you have the G&G punches from Lee Valley? If not, I highly recommend them, they make seating plugs so easy and fast. It takes a lot of drudgery out of the G&G style.

One question: how do you build the bottom detail? I have done lots of G&G furniture, but I never figured out how to do the bottom board you have on your design. I am working on a G&G dresser for my wife, and I would like to incorporate that into my design. Any help would be most appreciated.

For that bottom board I see two ways. One is to start with a thick board and use a dado blade to hog away material and then smooth it. This means that the grain is perfectly matched. Two (which is how I would do it) is to build the raised sections with wood that is carefully grain matched. If you sue rift sawn lumber (or QS) you would never notice they were separate pieces

[gary Zimmel]

She's going to be a beauty when done Glenn.
I want to see how the vertical cloud lifts on the sides look in real life.

Good too see you do another build thread. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks all. The bottom trim features I think we are talking about are the "straps". These are attachments and purposely have the grain running perpendicular to the horizontal lower frame pieces. Like most of my stuff this is a design rendered down from many pieces from many sources.

The "straps" are a wonderful design element first brought to my attention through Darrell Peart's excellent book Greene & Greene : Design Elements for the Woodshop (http://www.furnituremaker.com/purchase.htm). Through research and discussions with other G&G fans I found that these are simply glued on as the large area of long grain surface acts as an adequate binding surface for these non-structural pieces.

Gary, I fussed with the cloud-lift/tsuba-ish proportions created by the shaping of the vertical members till I was dizzy. I too am anxious to see how they translate into the real world ;-)

[Jacob Mac]

How do you attach the straps? Sorry if that is a remedial question. I have the book you referenced, but I am just a little lost.

[glenn bradley]

How do you attach the straps? Sorry if that is a remedial question. I have the book you referenced, but I am just a little lost.

Not remedial at all. I struggled with this one too. I had come up with a sliding dovetail solution only to find out it is done without mechanical fastening. I guess I just sometimes over think things :o.

As stated above "Through research and discussions with other G&G fans I found that these are simply glued on as the large area of long grain surface acts as an adequate binding surface for these non-structural pieces."

[Bill Huber]

Ok, I know I am a newbie at woodworking but what is G&G?

Oh yes that does look like a neat bookcase.

[Jacob Mac]

Ok, I know I am a newbie at woodworking but what is G&G?

Oh yes that does look like a neat bookcase.

Greene and Greene. Here is a neat link that has a lot of info: http://furnituremaker.com/

[Jacob Mac]

Not remedial at all. I struggled with this one too. I had come up with a sliding dovetail solution only to find out it is done without mechanical fastening. I guess I just sometimes over think things :o.

As stated above "Through research and discussions with other G&G fans I found that these are simply glued on as the large area of long grain surface acts as an adequate binding surface for these non-structural pieces."

Doh, I totally missed that, sorry for the redundancy. I am looking forward to following along.

[glenn bradley]

No worries Jacob. I re-made a few pieces due to some unexpected stress release :eek:

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and got the last panel glued up. Time to cut to length so off to the sled. I saw some guy use these clamps on a video and thought I would try them as they were on sale with free shipping (always a wallet opener) from somewhere(?). With my sled's fence dimensions they work great. Maybe you really can't ever have enough clamps. . . .

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I wanted to check the finger joint proportions on the base so I cut those parts to length and then switched the sled inserts over for dados. I keep saying I'll make another sled just for dados but, to be honest I don't know where I'd put it when not in use. (gratuitous shot of the height gauge; quite handy).

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I tested the finger joints on some scrap and did adjust the dimensions a bit. Now that I'm happy with these on the real base I can scale the rest of the piece off of these dimensions.

161715 (http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=49237&d=1284837567)

I had the smaller fingers at 3/4" in the SketchUp but increased them to 7/8" thereby making them square and liked this better.

[Chip Lindley]

Mahogany Glenn? G&G employed lots of mahogany in their pieces. Not a North American wood, but always nice. (when affordable) Early European settlers in America deemed cherry is "poor-man's mahogany" because of it's wide availability and working characteristics. Little did they know...

Arts & Crafts QSWO is always appreciated. Being in the Qzarks makes me really love cheap white oak! But the more even-grained mahogany probably allows more details to be added without being overpowered by all that fleck.

[glenn bradley]

African mahogany in this case. I bought a load thinking I would like it for some stuff in the house. I find I'm enjoying walnut more (but not the part where you pay for it. . . . ouch). This little bookcase will just about take care of what I had left in the rack and make some room for more walnut ;-)

The material does work really well and is (in my limited experience) quite consistent. The stress release was really unexpected. I mean, it happens of course, but my prior work out of this batch gave me no such reactions. It did seem to be restricted to one board so maybe it was just an odd duck in the batch I picked up(?).

[glenn bradley]

Delays, delays . . . I had to make 9 parts to get 4 that would work. That one board of mahogany I had was really lively. Made a template for the sides and shaped those boards.

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Had my first experience with over-doing it on the cyclone bin:

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So between re-making parts and cleaning up the DC, I have pretty well killed my day. With luck I will get the verticals glued up before bed :).

[gary Zimmel]

Upside is you did get some shop time Glenn...:D

[glenn bradley]

Upside is you did get some shop time Glenn...:D

True, true, as I always tell my dad "Hey, its a hobby. Whatever you're doing is part of it. Have fun." Cleaning the cyclone filter, lying on my back with a vac extension wand and brush was not fun.

I did. however, get a couple vertical assemblies in the clamps. ;)

[Jim C Bradley]

Hi,

I really enjoyed the sawdust in the cyclone duct bit. I suppose I better go to the outhouse (my room attached to the garage) and see how mine is doing one of these months. I have not checked it since rebuilding the bag support rod.

The rod flexed enough that the bag was not supported. This caused the bad to fall, pulling out of the band that keeps it attached to the DC. This, in turn, allowed all of my dust collecting to spew all over the inside of the Outhouse...I mean the dust was covered with dust. If I had sneezed in there it would have raised enough dust so I could not see the other side of the room.

Enjoy,

Jim

[glenn bradley]

Moving right along . . .

Glue up the verticals, clean 'em up with a plane and they look like so:

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I used the tablesaw to place a clean shoulder for the large rabbets. Bandsaw off the cheeks and clean them up with a block and shoulder plane:

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Worked late tonight so that's it for now. Tomorrow's shop-time is just a workday away.

[Dave MacArthur]

Good progress, I look forward to the next installment!

[glenn bradley]

I am getting a pile of parts at various stages on completion. I am trying to do all my rips, all my crosscut, all my edge treatments and so forth in one run to see how that works out for me. So far I have back tracked a few times but, practice makes perfect (or at lest passable).

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The leg joint is starting to look like I want it. I am at the stage of shaping the parts at the joinery details. This is something I enjoy more than I would have thought.

I used the dado stack on the 7/8" thick base frames but just chopped out the waste on the 5/8" thick top frames.

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I'm starting to "feel" it come together . . .

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[glenn bradley]

OK, some progress but visually its a little unexciting. A glue up looks pretty much like a dry fit. This is a dry fit, the rest are the glue-up.

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I'm attaching the verticals and will attach the top frame after a few hours. Since the last post I have fine tuned the joinery, glued up the top and bottom frames, drilled the shelf pin holes and started the current glue up stage. I left the rabbet faces rough so I could tune them with a plane to assure 90* after the frames were glued up . . .. not that wood moves or anything . . .

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I plan to get the bottom plate shaped to fit the various elevations at the corners and get the shelf trim template shaped today.

[John Harden]

Glen,

That's a wonderful design you put together there. What are the dimensions of the piece?

Regards,

John

[glenn bradley]

Its about 30"w x 32"h x 13"d.

[Sean Troy]

I love watching the progress of such a beautiful piece. A newbie question. Why do you do the glue ups in the verticle position?

[glenn bradley]

I love watching the progress of such a beautiful piece. A newbie question. Why do you do the glue ups in the verticle position?

Thanks Sean. Not necessarily a newbie question. The corner joint presents some odd surfaces:

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It just so happens that to glue-up all four verticals, the best way for me was in the position that the case will stand in when complete.

I also did not glue on the top frame yet but, I do clamp it in place to use it as support while the lower ends glue to the base frame. If the verticals are not prallel to each other in all directions the movable shelf could bind.

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I need to fit the lower base panel which is a bit fussy and will glue-up the top frame, trim and top panel once the bottom panel is in place;).

[Sean Troy]

Thanks for the explanation. Can't wait to see this one finished.

[glenn bradley]

I started this about 20 days ago so I am moving along pretty good for me :rolleyes:. I used a tenoning jig to make the bridle joints and then the router table to cut the grooves in the trim frame pieces. The RT also did the rough panel profiling.

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This gives you an idea of the scale of the piece:

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On to the shelf, straps and of course, lots-o-ebony plugs.

P.s. I am not wearing approved foot wear. I had quit for the day and just went back out to snap some pics. Thongs and sandals have been scientifically proven to attract falling chisels.

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[gary Zimmel]

Looks like this one is just about in the bag Glenn. Nicely done as always.
Quick question. Does the base sit on the floor or are you going to have anything under the four corners?

[glenn bradley]

Good question Gary. :confused: It will set on carpet and I have had better luck as far as stability goes with feet in the corners vs. long bearing frames. It will be full of books but I am pondering some blocks on the inside under/behind the frame corners with adjustable feet.

I would like the frame to just touch the carpet without a generous gap. An appearance of setting on the frame without the rocking that so often goes with that approach is what I am after I guess. I'll drop a line in here as to how that works out.

[Dave Cav]

Nice looking bookshelf, Glen; can't wait to see it finished.

What kind of African Mahogany? Sapele, or some kind of "real" mahogany? It doesn't look dark enough for sapele, which I've been using a lot lately.

Are you going to use ebony for the ebony plugs? I know, stupid sounding question, but the ebonized walnut trick sounds pretty good and a lot easier and cheaper to work, too.....I have a big chunk of wenge I have been using to make cabinet pulls, but no plugs, yet.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks Dave. African mahogany. Not my favorite material and I have used almost all that I had on this. Makes room for more walnut :). I'll be using ebony for the plugs.

[Walt Caza]

Hi Glenn,
Terrific design and your usual excellent pics and thread.
I enjoyed watching this bookshelf unfold, and can't wait to see
what you're up to with this dresser build.

Thanks for the peek,
Walt

ps sounds like you've got walnut fever?
hmm

[glenn bradley]

The hand shaping and detail work seem to take sooo long. I enjoy it but, the forward motion becomes very hard to detect. 40 plugs on this piece in 1/4", 5/16" and 3/8". Just finished the last dozen:

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Once they're set in I will final sand and start the finishing regime.

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One more gratuitous "almost there" shot :)

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[Eric McCune]

Looks great Glenn. What technique did you use to make the plugs? Did you round them over and then cut to depth using a band saw? Look forward to seeing the finish.

[glenn bradley]

What technique did you use to make the plugs?

Correct. Create the blanks (sticks) to square and precise dimensions, round the ends working through grits and ending up on a buffing wheel. Bandsaw cut to length (depth).

[glenn bradley]

And now the steps that really test my patience; finishing. I use the first coat to get the color I'm after and correct any boo-boos that suddenly make themselves known. The piece is finished mostly disassembled. This is a wipe on, leave and then wipe off method with a 24hour wait after the first coat as seen here:

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The second coat evens things out and after a wait, it too gets wiped off as if I've changed my mind. There is not much film built up yet but I have an idea of where I'm headed.

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The second coat cures for 48 hours and then I repeat this sequence for 5 or 6 coats. This should have me finished up sometime next weekend. After that there is a long cure period of 10 days to "who knows", depending on the weather. Once cured I can assemble the parts and give it a nice wax job. I've got a stack of books in the corner waiting for a home.

[Paul Murphy]

It looks great Glenn, I can't believe you have only a couple coats wiped on. My wipe on finish doesn't look even for the first few coats. What is your finish and procedure?

I don't much enjoy finishing either (it always worries me), but I'm trying to be more systamatic in my finishing these days.

[glenn bradley]

What is your finish and procedure?

It's an oil varnish blend that I mix up as required. This batch has a bit of TransTint Mahogany Brown in it as I often find mahogany too orange for my taste. On walnut and others (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=155207&d=1278434615)I don't add any color.


I don't much enjoy finishing either (it always worries me),

Amen to that. I always say there are only two stages that can really ruin your efforts; the glue-up and the finishing. A goof on either one results in a lot of recovery work.


but I'm trying to be more systamatic in my finishing these days

I too am trying to be even more diligent as to my mixes, surface preparation and application protocol. Not surprisingly the more I do this and the more careful I am about recording what I am doing, the more predictable things get ;-)

[Don Bullock]

Glenn,
I've been following this build very closely. You have done an exceptional job on design and execution. Thanks for sharing all the details.

[glenn bradley]

So its just under two months (good thing I don't do this for a living) and the main parts are cured enough to assemble and move into the house. My usual level of photographic skill should not be held against the poor little bookcase :o.

An overall shot, approximate dimensions are 33"H x 32"W x 14"D:

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Shots of the base, shelf trim and top frame/trim details:

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The top panel floats in the top trim which sets on the top frame:

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The top and base frame joinery to the legs provides the bulk of the strength in this piece:

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Here's a shot of the base piercings, straps and base panel elevation hopefully all working together:

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After a couple weeks I'll buff it out and wax it to get that satin sheen that I am currently drawn to. Thanks for tagging along.

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[dan grant]

very nice joineryhttp://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Dirk Lewis]

Digging through the vaults and saw this - very nicely done and thanks for sharing.

Do you have any pictures of the finished piece in its natural habitat?:)

[Bud Millis]

That looks awesome. I can't wait to see the project all finished.

[glenn bradley]

Digging through the vaults and saw this - very nicely done and thanks for sharing.

Do you have any pictures of the finished piece in its natural habitat?:)

Thanks for the compliments all. It is taking up a random spot in the living room waiting on me to re-do my office :o. Here's a couple snapshots. Funny timing on your find; this was a prototype to test a carcass construction idea. I am using the same design on a chest of drawers right now.

P.s. Please ignore the ducks. They're waiting for somewhere to go to :D

[Paul Girouard]

Nice work!

I'd guess you familiar with Darrell Peart work?