I’ve got a wall in my front room, maybe 15 feet wide and ceiling height. I’d like to convert the entire wall into a bookshelf/entertainment center, but there’s some issues.
Issue 1 - I’d like to keep it around 400 or 500 dollars, total project cost. Feasible? Would clear pine be a suitable building material?
Issue 2 - The hinges of my front door are prox 4 inches away from where this wall meets the outside wall, nd the door opens in, which means that I have to slope the shelfy thing into the corner, so the door can open (which I don’t want to do), or, build it into the studs. It’s just veneer tacked into the studs on the side facing my front room, so I can just rip that off and build into the cavity… but can I? Obviously I’ll check with the proper folks before actually starting this, but would that be likely to violate building code?
Issue 3 - Obviously I’ve never attempted a project like this - I’ve got basic tools (cordless drill, skillsaw, jigsaw, belt sander), will I need anything else?
Any good books out there that address this kind of undertaking?
You’d have to make sure there isn’t anything using the cavities between the studs, like wires, pipes, or ductwork. Also, the studs aren’t necessarily evenly spaced and straight, and it might look bad. Option 3 would be to just not have the shelving where the door swings to the wall.
Think plywood…birch veneered 3/4" plywood for the carcass and shelves and you will use trim pieces or press/heat-on veneers to cover the plywood edges.
MDF is a possibility.
You need to read up on building bookcases. Plywood IS the preferred material. It is stable, takes paint and stains well and is the choice cabinet makers (master carpenters) use for cabinets, cases and other structures.
There’s an electrical outlet and a cable jack that I have vague ideas of integrating into my design, but I can’t imagine any plumbing or ductwork in there. It’s a single story house, and the wall is well away from the furnace and plumbing.
I hadn’t thought about the studs being uneven, though, thats a good point.
Really? Iron-on veneer? How cool.
Agreed that I need to read up, I want to go browse the bookshelf at the Woodcrafters. Any particular suggestions, in terms of books?
I built a full-wall bookshelf in our family room. I designed it to use 3/4 plywood (oak) with solid oak fascia. I built sandwhich columns…plywood+ spacer + plywood that would be the width of a 1x4 solid oak board. I cut the shelves from plywood and put a solid piece on the leading edge to look good and provide strength.
I just drilled holes inthe verticals for pins for the adjustable shelves.
I did not put in a back…just tthe painted wall behind. That way I didn’t have to allow for the electrical outlet to poke through.
I didn’t tie it into the wall at all. I screwed a board on top of the shelf and put that behind a board I screwed into the ceiling. Keeps the thing from falling forward.
Total cost: $400. I stained the oak…it looks very nice.
Shelves are pretty simple. Any basic furniture book will tell you what you need to know. A couple of random thoughts:
As others have said, plywood is an excellent material - strong, dimensionally stable, available with nice veneer. MDF is tricky - it machines easily and is very smooth however it dents (especially the edges) and any application where part of it will be under tension (such as using it for shelves) it will sag a lot. Hide the edges with strips of a matching wood.
If you want to build 15 feet of shelving I’d recommend building it in a couple of independent sections that can be fastened together. Much easier to build and move.
I would suggest that you try building a simple workshop cabinet first, this will get you familiar with the basics and if something is a little raggedy it’s OK.
Smooth, straight cuts with a circular saw can be challenging. If you don’t have access to a tablesaw, make sure to use a good-quality, new carbide-tipped blade, a quality saw guide (straightedge that clamps down and your saw rides against it to guide the cut), have the good side of the wood facing down (that way you’ll keep most splintering on the backside of the wood), I would also score the cutline beforehand with a straightedge and a sharp exacto knife. It’s extra work but the results are worth it. If you’re breaking down big panels (i.e. 4x8 sheets of plywood) you can get a 4x8 sheet of rigid pink foam insulation and put the wood on top of that - it lets you cut the sheet while supporting the entire wood surface.
Measure twice, cut once. Trite but true.
Finishing is the most time-consuming portion of any project. There’s no way to rush it. Sand things carefully (starting with a coarse grit and working down to a fine grit), stain and seal following all the directions. The time spent is well worth it. You mentioned using pine - that wood is notorious for blotching when stained; it can be done beautifully but it takes a bunch of steps. Something like nice birch plywood is inexpensive and takes on a gorgeous golden sheen with a light stain and topcoat. Shellac is a great topcoat - it brushes on easily, gives a light tint to the wood and best of all it dries in less than an hour so you can do multiple coats, I use it on a lot of projects.
Drilling holes for shelf pins can be challenging - you might consider using shelf standards which are those strips of metal with little notches every inch or so. You screw them to the sides of the carcase, put little clips into the slots and that’s what your shelves rest on. You don’t have to worry about aligning a bunch of holes.
If you’ve never built something like this then you need to understand bracing. The easiest way to brace a wall unit is to cover the back with a thin board that ties top, sides, and bottom together. The 2nd thing you should consider is adding a front piece to each shelf to keep them from warping.
Sunset’s “Basic Woodworking.” I’ve had one for years. You can buy a used copy in good condition from abebooks.com for a buck plus shipping. Don’t be intimidated by the fancy-schmancy photo on the cover – that stuff comes later. But there’s a great section on basic tools, and it even has a pretty basic bookcase plan you can modify to suit your needs.
And, I have to say, you’ve been given some really good advice up above. Familiarize, go slow – woodworking isn’t an instant gratification kind of thing.
Great advice, all, thanks. I shall take it to heart.
I pulled the trim and popped a bit of the veneer today… this wall isn’t original. The studs run between 2x4’s nailed to the floor and ceiling. So I figure I can probably tear the whole thing out and move the wall back a tidge, giving me the room I need. Woohoo!
Regarding the skillsaw - will I thank myself if I just buy a tablesaw? I’ve seen them for around $100, so it wouldn’t kill me I suppose…
If you are serious about it I wouldn’t recommend a cheap tabletop saw, I would suggest getting yourself a good quality contractor’s saw. My first stationary power tool was a JET 10" contractor’s saw which run flawlessly for years, was extremely accurate and solidly built (after replacing the standard v-belt with a link belt I could balance a nickel on edge on the table surface, turn the saw on and the nickel wouldn’t move or tip over). That kind of saw will let you do virtually anything that a big cabinet saw (such as a Delta Unisaw - you’re talking about $1500+ tools there) will do and it will handle any woodworking projects you want to through at it. Brand new a 1.5HP 10" contractor’s saw with a 30" fence is around $700 however if you shop around you should be able to find a nice used one for hundreds less. Talk to your local woodworking shop, they can probably give you some leads.
There are some nice benchtop saws out there (a friend of mine was a professional remodeller and used one, don’t know the model) but it looks like they’re more in the $400+ range. For that price I think that a used contractor’s saw would be far superior in terms of power, accuracy, capacity, etc. Unless size and portability are deciding factors, then the benchtop has the advantage.
Whatever you get, do some research and buy a quality tool - a tablesaw (of any size) is a big powerful tool and it would be a big mistake to buy a crappy one.
I’d reconsider that budget as well. a Decent sheet of 4x8 3/4" paint grade plywood will set you back at least 35 bucks.At 12" deep, you get only three 8’ runs out of a full sheet. You can try to squeeze four but you want to give yourself some wiggle room. You want 12", 9" will be too skinny.
I’d recommend making it modular, in 36" sections and free standing. You want to pitch the toekick area so they cant backwards against the wall. You also want to get a dado bit and let the shelves into the sides of the cabinet making them part of the structure. If you need adjustable ones, at least have one or tow permanently attached.
Then you can join them togther, move them around, etc. Check out 57th St. Bookcases for some ideas. I own a couple of their bookcases and they really do it right. They make them cheaper than I can buy the raw materials too!
Taunton books publishes very reputable woodworking books. If Taunton is the publisher, that should be a decent indicator you’re getting a good woodworking book.
Rockler.com is an incredible resource for all things ‘carpentry’ from materials and hardware to plans and tools.
They have iron-on veneers and believe me, when woodglue dries, it AIN’T coming off! Although I much prefer to cover ply edges with hardwood trim. It gives ‘depth’ to the structures.