Building a tall bookcase can stretch the limits of a small shop. We all know that big boards can be a bear to handle and glue up, so I’ve taken an old Scandinavian design and sliced it up into bite-size pieces. My solution is to break the bookcase into two interlocking sections that require only short and narrow stuff. Not to mention, that’s the only way I could get it out of my shop and up the basement stairs!

Biscuits join the shelves and sides. It’s a snap to put together wide boards at right angles with a plate joiner. But biscuits alone aren’t enough to make a stiff case, so I’ve added backboards that lock the whole bookcase into a rigid unit.

Rather than splurge on the best quality lumber simply to make shelves, you can save money on this project by using a lower grade of hardwood, No. 1 Common. You’ll find many good boards that are too short or narrow to make the best grade but are perfect for this bookcase. I used No. 1 Common birch because it’s inexpensive (about $1.75 per bd. ft.), a light color (the case looks less massive) and stiff enough to support heavy books. You’ll need about 75 bd. ft. for a total cost of $130.

As an alternative you can use 3/4-in.-thick boards from a home center. Pick straight ones, glue them together and plane them to 5/8 in. I built a prototype bookcase this way and it worked just fine. To tell the truth, I preferred its slim look to one made of thicker wood. However, I found that 5/8-in. thick shelves bend under a lot of weight, so they wouldn’t be suitable for a set of encyclopedias. (For more on designing strong shelves, see Practical Design, AW #75, October 1999, page 75.)

You’ll need the three basic machines for processing solid wood to make this bookcase from rough lumber: a tablesaw, a jointer and a planer.

Feature Article • Two-Part Bookcase • Page 57 • October 2000
© 2000 American Woodworker Magazine®