Building my Bookshelf Part 2!

I’m sure everyone has been on pins and needles since my last post about the bookshelf, well fret not, the conclusion is forthcoming! I left my last bookshelf post having gotten the basic shape of the cabinet section completed. From there I moved on to putting a base around the lower portion of the cabinet with a basic design feature, which I used my router for. Using my router and routing table, I was able to run the design along the top portion of the base board, though I did have to clean up some of the rough edges with a bit of sanding. As a side note, I would ultimately put the same design across the top of the bookshelf, as you’ll see in pictures. As mentioned in my previous post about the bookshelf, I also put a frame inside the cabinet section. This will ultimately serve as the mounting point for the doors I intend to install (but have not started yet). I made the frame using corner clamps and wood glue, then I secured them using a staple gun on each corner for added strength and stability.

In my previous post I mentioned some trouble I had with mounting the top portion onto the cabinet, and I’ll explain why. The wood I used for the top section was comprised of two pieces of 1×8 inch pieces of wood that I glued together and then cut to size. By doing that I gave myself a little split in the wood grain, which I thought would make the top portion look a little more interesting similar to my thoughts on using the 1×4’s for the backing. I like the idea of having many different wood grains popping out of the whole piece. What I found after I glued and cut the top portion was that the top shelf wasn’t sitting flush with my cabinet. I had a fairly significant amount of play or wiggle room when I set the top onto the cabinet. This kind of stumped me at first, I mean I used a table saw to cut everything to size (with a fence), so how could my top piece be that far off? Ultimately I think it was a result of slightly bowed wood on the top shelf, but ultimately I tried to sand down the back wall to make it even. As you can imagine this wasn’t the most accurate way of doing things, and I ultimately ended up putting a shim along the back to level everything out. Now you can’t see it, because it’s on the backside, but that definitely annoyed me bit! I used the Kregg joiner to secure the top to the bottom and I ended up with a level platform for the bookshelf.


The bookshelf portion was actually fairly easy to put together. Basically just using my Kregg joiner to make a box, and using the same style as I did for the top shelf on the cabinet to make a top shelf on the bookshelf, with an added design feature using my router. I also made a frame for the bookshelf, because without it, it just didn’t look right at all. I think the hardest part of the bookshelf section was making sure my shelving holes lined up perfectly! I used another Kregg product, which is basically just a jig to help you set up the cabinet holes to get even spacing and accurate depth. I used the same plywood I had for the cabinet shelf but it was here that I discovered another issue.


When I set my finished bookshelf on top of the cabinet, I noticed that the bottom was slightly bulging out. Now the reason for this was fairly obvious, I didn’t have a base on the bookshelf, I wanted the top of the cabinet to serve as the bottom of the bookshelf. This problem was solved once I put the frame in. I used two “L brackets” on each side of the side walls, just under the shelving mounts (to hide them), and I secured the side walls to the frame from the mid point of the side walls down to the base. The effectively pulled everything back into alignment, solving the bulging issue I had.

Above are the shots of the bookshelf with and without frame, you can see the difference it made! Finally I moved onto staining and polyurethane, which was a bit of a hassle, just because I did everything after it was all put together. I’m glad I did it that way, because as I made adjustments to the project, I didn’t have to worry about screwing up parts I may of stained individually as I finished them. That being said, it took me a while to get everything stained, making sure I got every little crevice on the unit. I put a coat of polyeurethane on the next day, and sanded the whole unit with 400 grit sand paper.


I think the final product came out really nice. Of course there are little imperfections here and there (I’m probably the only one who even notices it), but over all I’m really happy with it, learned a LOT, and most importantly my WIFE is happy with it! As always, I’d love to know your thoughts on the process and finished product. So feel free to comment. If anyone is curious about the Kregg joiner/jig I used, they can be found on the link for my amazon store on my main page. Next time I’ll be posting about the wall clock I’m almost done with. More to come!