3½ Hour Bookcase

[Todd Burch]

Yup, from sheet goods and S4S poplar to this bookcase in 3½ hours.

Sides and shelves are 3/4" MDF. Face frame and shelf front edgings are poplar. Back is 1/4" birch beadboard, glued and stapled.

Bottom shelf, mid shelf and top of case are dadoed, glued and nailed into case sides. Other 4 shelves are adjustable. 1/4" Holes were drilled, one @ a time, with Veritas drilling jig. Worked great. Face frame is held together with pocket screws - Kreg "Foreman" drilling machine. 90" tall, 32" wide, 10" deep.

Primed with 1 coat of Clawlock, a catalyzed primer. After I install it on Wednesday morning, customer will paint it in place. Crown will be cut ahead of time, and the wall-sides of the crown will be trimmed to length onsite.

The customer originally ordered 2 of these, but called to cancel 1 since she is not sure what she'll be doing with the space to the right of the doors.

Customer will paint it (yawn...) white.

No big deal - but it did go together fast. I think I could shave 20-25 minutes off and keep it the same quality. If I didn't have to sand it - I could shave over an hour off!

[Dick Parr]

Very nice Todd! The last one took me 2 months.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Todd, Looks great. I bet that baby was heavy with all that MDF. I hope you had some help moving it to save your back. Alan in Md.

[Ian Barley]

Todd

Very nice work as always. Isn't it interesting how familiarity with the materials and tools helps you to build the same or better quality in less time. When I first started making chairs it took me about a day to make one with final assembly taking about 2 hours. I now make about three a day and final assembly is about 20 minutes. Quality has gone up very significantly in the same time.

I know that most of your work is custom but the repeated use of similar techniques (things like drilling shelf adjustment holes etc.) just gets quicker and easier every time you do it.

Thanks for posting this. I always look forward to the chance to see your work.

[Bob Marino]

Todd,

Great job, nice clean lines and ditto what Ian said.

Bob

[Tyler Howell]

Oh Great Sen Sae! We're not worthy. We're not worth!;)

[Kelly C. Hanna]

That's fast Todd! I'd be hard pressed (no pun on the MDF) to get it done that fast!

[John Miliunas]

Sheeeesh...If I tried to do it that fast, I *would* have two of them! Sadly, BOTH would be candidates for the bonfire! :( Nice job, Todd! Way to kick it out! :cool:

[Jason Tuinstra]

Tood, you're the man! Looks great.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Todd
Ah!, Yes!
This is what we have come to expect from the "bookcase master" - very nice.
Say are you going to write a book or produce a video entitled "quick bookcases"?
Well, you ought to!
Really great - all kidding aside.
Daniel :D

[Jim Becker]

Ya know, you could start a new TV program patterned after "Iron Chef". Two woodworkers battle to produce a finished product in a fixed amount of time with a secret surprise "material of the day" that is not revealed until they have the table saw powered up and ready to go...:D

[Jerry Olexa]

And very FAST too! Humbly yours, Jerry

[Todd Burch]

Jim, you can read my mind. You can read my mind! Did I say you can read my mind?

There are logging competitions, pie eating competitions, all kinds of competitions. But, I've never seen a "live" furniture competition.

Warehouse Warriors on DIY is a crude interpretation of what I've been thinking about. With three skilled woodworkers, a full shop / finishing room / a fully stocked wharehouse... it could get pretty interesting! Design time would have to be cut out to speed it up some, but that could be fun too. It could even be reproduction contest. Oh, what a way to make a living!!

[Jim Becker]

Yea, the caffine from my latte finally kicked in...brain cells are now on line...sort of...

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Todd, How do you attach the molding at the top? Did you make the top rail wider so you can attach it there? Do you use any other supports on the case top for the molding? I always wondered how this is done as I had to do it for a wall clock I made and wasn't sure exactly how to go about it. Thanks Alan in Md.

[Byron Trantham]

Hey Todd, I have one of the Veritas hole jigs. I love the darned thing. I have drilled literally hundreds of holes and never miss.

I like you book case. Clean and functional AND fast! :D

I am using melamine to build out an entire sewing room for SWMBO. Though melamine is persnickety to work with, you don't have to finish it. I am finishing installing a 12' long [two 6' sections] wall hanging cabinet for SWMBO. I used euro hinges for the doors. I've ironed on so much edge banding she thinks I know how to iron! :mad: The next step is the base cabinet, also 12' long and finally the sewing table itself, again 12' long [8' main section and two 2' hinged wings that can be lifted in place to extend the surface].

[Todd Burch]

Alan, what I usually do is nail it along the bottom, where there is full wood-wood contact. On the corners, I will glue and pin nail. Where it hits the wall, it will be caulked. Since it's not visible from the top, I'll leave it open. Otherwise, I would cap it with a flat board of piece of plywood with solid wood edging. Then, I would also nail through the top of the crown into the cap.

If I were concerned with any pressure being placed on the crown, I would make some angled blocks to fit down in between the crown and the top rail, and drop them in some glue and leave it at that.

If I would have followed MY OWN PLANS I JUST MADE, the top rail would not be below the top of the stiles. Instead of seting my dado @ 6", measured from the fence to the outside of my dado, I measured to the inside of my dado and miscut. So, I cut the second side "wrong" also, and called it a design change and kept going. The client lost 3/4" of shelf space. Not critical on this piece.

[Chris Pasko]

As simple as it is, what method did you choose for attaching the face frame to the mdf?

Beautiful cabinets!

[Dennis Peacock]

Hey Todd....

All you need now is one of those multi-purpose machines...feed in the sheet goods on one side and out comes a cabinet on the other.!!!!! I bet SCM just may have what you need.!! :D

[Todd Burch]

Chris, ya gotta keep it simple - glue and 18 gauge brads.

[nic obie]

Ya know, you could start a new TV program patterned after "Iron Chef". Two woodworkers battle to produce a finished product in a fixed amount of time with a secret surprise "material of the day" that is not revealed until they have the table saw powered up and ready to go...:D


Hahahahahahaa

I love it!

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Alan, what I usually do is nail it along the bottom, where there is full wood-wood contact. On the corners, I will glue and pin nail. Where it hits the wall, it will be caulked. Since it's not visible from the top, I'll leave it open. Otherwise, I would cap it with a flat board of piece of plywood with solid wood edging. Then, I would also nail through the top of the crown into the cap.

If I were concerned with any pressure being placed on the crown, I would make some angled blocks to fit down in between the crown and the top rail, and drop them in some glue and leave it at that.

If I would have followed MY OWN PLANS I JUST MADE, the top rail would not be below the top of the stiles. Instead of seting my dado @ 6", measured from the fence to the outside of my dado, I measured to the inside of my dado and miscut. So, I cut the second side "wrong" also, and called it a design change and kept going. The client lost 3/4" of shelf space. Not critical on this piece.
Todd,

Thanks for the explanation. I have to remember to leave the top rail a little wider for crown moulding when I do some book cases in the future. Now I just have to get a power nailer to make things easier. Hope you got to relax some this weekend. All work and no play makes ..... Well you know. Alan in Md.