Quick, Sturdy Bookcase

7/30/2019 Quick, Sturdy Bookcase

1/6

Learn to taper

sliding dovetails

for easier assem

B y M a r t i n

M i l k o v i t s

In my hme, bkcases shw

evey m, sevin nt nly aes t ste u win cllect

bks, but als as places t display a

the items f inteest. This buttenu

maple bkcase is a vesatile piec

enuh t hl a numbe f

an/ cllectibles while small en

fit in almst any m.

The esin is unestate, with b

feet and gentle cuves alng the tps

sies, an maple back bas cnt

sftly with buttenut sies an shel

But yu can use this cnstuctin

t buil a bkcase in any stylshelves ae attache t the sies wit

in vetails, which pvie a me

cal cnnectin that will neve pull

Sliin vetails als ae use t c

cabinet tps t bttms, t jin v

patitins t shelves, t attach ml

case sies, t cnnect beaba e

tabletps, an t attach awe f

sies. In this case, I stppe the

f a clean lk n the fnt f the

The back bas ae shiplappe t

f w mvement.

Why taper the dovetail?A sliin vetail has tw pats: th

an the vetail key. Hee the sl

uted int the case sides, and the k

cut n the ends f the shelf. When y

this jint in wie stck, binin is a

mn heaache uin lue-up. Th

es halfway hme, then the lue

Quick, Stuy Bkcas

Phts: Thmas McKenna; awins: Jhn

COPYRIGHT 2007 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.


2/6

Bac38 in

are

to swithfinis

Shelves,

in. thick by10 in. wide by

34 in. long,shoulder to

shoulder

SIMPLE BUT STRONG ANATOMY

This butternut-and-maple bookcase can hold a heavy load of books. The ta

sliding dovetails that connect the shelves to the sides create a powerful w

joint and el iminate the need for clamps during assembly. All of the parts a

made of -in.-thick stock, except for the back boards (see detail).

Top shelf,

10 in. wide

Botto914 i

2 in.

1 in.

1 in.

Apron, in. thick

by 4 in. wide by34 in. long, is

glued to shelf and

screwed to sides.

DOVETAIL

14

Shelf

Key shorterthan slot

depth

516 in.

Glue block,

1 in. by 1 in.by 3 in. long

36 in.

64 in.

4 in.

12 in.

11 in.

10 in.

9 in.

8 in.

6 in.

10 in.

SIDERABBET

Back of

side

38 in.

in.

34 in.

STOPPEDDOVETAIL

58 in.

Pocke

GLUE BLOCK

Glueblock

addsstrength.

in.

GROOVE FORBACK BOARD

Top shelf

in.

38 in.

Cove

Back

boardSides, in.

thick by 10 in.wide by 64 in.

long

316 in.

SHIPLAP

132-in. gap

38 in.516 in.

N o V E M B E r / d E C E M B E r 2 0 0 7www.f inewoodwor k ing. com



3/6

Rout the slot. Holding the router tight a

the fence for control, cut until you reach

stop. Let the bit stop spinning before bac

out of the slot, or you could ruin the cut.

Attach a cleat to each

case side. Screw the

plywood cleat to the top

of the inside case sides

and perfectly square tothe edges. Place screws

in areas that will be

wasted away when you

profile the ends.Clamp the fence to the workpiece.Align the front edge of the fence

flush with the back of the case side and tight against the cleat at the top.

Tapered slots in two stepsTo ensure consistent results, the slots for each shelf are routed using a long fence and

a plywood cleat. After the first pass, add a shim between the fence and cleat, then use

the same router setup to taper the s lot.

FIRST PASS

the w swell an the jint seizes.

why I tape the jint slihtly twa

fnt f the case. The tapecut

sie f the slt an n the cesp

face f the keymakes it easy t sli

shelf in fm the back withut bi

an ceates a wein actin in f

the shelf is tappe hme.

The amunt f tape is nt that ci

ln as it is cnsistent. I keep it t132 in. (abut as thick as thee bu

cas) pe 10 in. f ba with. W

tape like this, the jint can be alms

pletely assemble f tial fittin, an

be iven hme with a few mallet b

Router method simplifies complexTapee sliin vetails can be

hand, using saws and chisels, but this

can be impecise an time-cnsu

I pefe t use a ute an a few s

jigs t d the jb. The methd is cle

allws yu t ial in the fit f each

T avid cnfusin, be sue t label mpats as yu wk.

Cut slots with a handheld route

stength, the slt shuld be n deepe

half the thickness f the side. Likewi

thin pat f the key shul be at lea

Case

side

Screw cleat to waste

area of case side.

The width of the fence determines the

position of the stop and depends on thesize of your router base.

SIDE VIEW

Case side

Fence

Align fence flush

with back of case.

38 in.

Stop

Attach a plywood

cleat to the top of

the workpiece.Fence

Screw stop

to fence.

Dovetail bit, in., 14

516 in.

Router base ridesalong fence.

Stop

F I N E W o o d W o r K I N g44



4/6

the thickness f the shelf, and the length at

least ne-thi the thickness f the shelf.

Fist, scew a 34-in.-thick plyw cleat

t the tp f the case sies. Mak the shelf

lcatins n each side, then make a 34-in.-

thick plyw fence t lcate the slts in

bth sies. Cut the fence t a lenth that

alins the ute bit with the lwe shelf

lcatin, an ip it t a with that will

place the ute bit 38 in. fm the fnt f

the sie. Scew a stp t the business en

f the fence, an clamp the assembly in

place (see awin, facin pae).

Set the ute t make a 516-in.-eep cut

an ut the slt acss the sie until yu

each the stp. Next, emve the fence and

place a shim between the ea ee f

the cleat an the ea ee f the fence.

reclamp the fence in place, then pass the

ute thuh the slt t ceate the tape

aln the bttm ee. repeat this pea-

tin in the ppsite sie f the case. once

yu have bth slts f the bttm shelf

ute an tapee, tim the fence t cut

slts f the next hihe shelf an epeat

all f the pevius steps.

Nw is a time t cut the backet

feet n the bttm f the sies, as well as

the pfile n tp. Clean up thse ees

befe pceein.

Cut keys on the router tablePlace

the same bit yu use t cut the slts int

the ute table, an set the epth s that

its a hai less (0.005 in. s) than the

epth f the slts. This will ceate

ap t make the sliin actin easi

in a test piece the same thickness

shelves, adjust the fence and take lig

n bth sies until the test piece fits

halfway me int a slt with hand

sue. once yuve eache that pin

ae eay t ut the actual shelves

Fist, a a shim t the bttm

each shelf. The shim shul be the

thickness as the shim use t tap

slts. rut the tp sie f the key

en f each shelf. Then flip each s

cut the bttm f the keys. At this

each shelf shul slie feely abu

way hme but tiht afte that. T

shelves iniviually, make hailine

Shim out the back side. Place the shim between the fence

and the cleat. Veneer tape is the perfect thickness (132 in.) to

create the desired taper.

Reclamp and rerout. With the shim in place and the fence reclamped, run the

through the slot to add the taper.

SECOND PASS

Trim the fence.

After routing

both slots for

the bottom

shelf, cut the

fence down

to repeat the

process on the

next set of slots.Shim

Router

Taper

ADD A SHIM TO TAPER THE SLOTS

Back of case




5/6

Straightedge of

key

Taperededge of

key

TAPER THE DOVETAIL KEYS

Shim the rear edge of the shelf

bottom and rout both sides of the

shelf end.

Shim onbottom

face ofshelf

Fine-tune the fit. Keep making hairline

es on the router table to get the key to s

closer to home. To micro-adjust the fit, us

sanding block cut to the same angle as

dovetail bit and attach adhesive-backed

grit sandpaper to it (top). The goal is to g

shelf to slide with just hand pressure un

about 1 in. from being fully home (bott

Shim out the bottom rear of the shelves.

Use a shim of the same thickness used to ta-

per the slots. Veneer tape is great because you

can iron it on and take it off easily.

Test piece gets you started. Take light pass-

es along both edges of a test piece, made from

a shelf offcut, until it slides halfway or more

into a slot with hand pressure.

acss the tp, staight side f each k

til the shelf slides t within 112 in. f

fully hme with nly han pessu

pht, bttm iht). Use a small,

sanin blck t ial in the fit.

Next, use a hansaw an a chisel 58 in. fm the fnt f the keys. ref

fit with the sanin blck if neee

ut a ve une the tp shelf,

fm the back ee, f the back b

Next, ip the lwe shelves t size

thei back ees, an tim an a34 in. ff the fnt f the bttm s

accmmate the apn. Finally, c

abbets that hl the back bas.

Glue in shelves, then add back boonce yu have all the shelves fitte

sies, the haest wk is ne. Nw

Taper the keysThe keys are cut and tapered at the router table using the same bit that cut the slots, adjusted

so that its height is a hair under the slot depth. Use a tall auxiliary fence to keep the long

workpieces stable.

Front of

shelf



6/6

time t lue up the case an cut an fit

the back bas an apn.

The maple back bas ae ippe t

anm withs n wie than 312 in.

once the bads ae cut t final size, use aaise-panel cve cutte t ut a 14-in.

tnue aln thei tps. Then ut the

abbets aln thei sies t ceate the

shiplap.

T lue in the shelves, stan the sies

ea-ee up n an assembly bench. Place

a spt f lue insie the cespnin

slts nea the fnt ee, slie in the shelf

as fa as yu can with han pessue, then

tap the shelf hme with a mallet.

Afte installing the apn and glue blcks,

the piece is eay f finishin (the back

bas ae finishe befe final installa-

tin). F this bkcase, I spaye n deft

clea lacque.

Afte yu have the back bas in place,

the bkcase is eay f yu cllectin

f russian nestin lls.

Martin Milkovits is a furniture maker

in Mason, N.H.

Nail in the back boards in order. Slide the top edges of the boards into the groove under t

shelf. To avoid misses, mark the shelf locations across the back, then nail each board to eac

with 15-ga. finish nails.

Trim 58 in.from the front of the

key. Use a handsaw to remove most

of the waste, and clean up the cut

with a sharp chisel.

Once the shelves are fitted, mill

up the back boards and the apron.

Cut the shelves at the back to

their final widths, then cut the

groove under the top shelf for the

back boards. Finally, after youve

rabbeted the sides for the back

boards, you can break out the glue.

Push and pound. Stand the sides rear-ed

up on an assembly bench. To install each

place a spot of glue inside the correspond

slots near the front edge. Push in the she

far as you can by hand and fist, then rap t

shelf home with a mallet. When installing

bottom shelf, put the apron in place to se

a stop. Later you can screw the apron into

Assembly: no clamps required

For a full finishing recipe for this project,

go to FineWoodworking.com/extras.

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Quick, Sturdy Bookcase

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