For the sides and backboards, select boards that don’t have a pronounced twist. Twisted wood isn’t worth the hassle. Rough cut your boards 1 in. over final length and 1/4 in. over final width. Set your jointer to remove 1/32 in. Run one face over the jointer only a couple of times. It’s OK if this doesn’t clean up the whole board.

Run the other face of the boards through a portable planer until most of the rough spots are gone and the boards are all about 7/8-in. thick. Don’t sweat it if they end up a bit thinner. Then joint one edge, rip the boards 1/32-in. over final width and joint the second edge. Pay attention to boards B and F—they’ve got to be exactly the same width. Square one end and trim the boards to exact length using a crosscut sled and a stopper arm (Photo 1).

The upper and lower sides are composed of three boards that form a tongue and notch (Fig. F). There’s no trick to getting the sides to nest together perfectly. It’s simply a matter of being careful at glue up.

Start with the upper sides. Lay out the ogee curves on boards C and the cutouts on the top end of boards B (Figs. C and D). Cut out the curves on the bandsaw (Photo 2).

Dry clamp boards A, B and C together. Boards A and B are flush at the top. Boards A and C are flush at the bottom. Check both ends with a straightedge, then draw an alignment mark across all three boards (Photo 3).

Glue the upper sides together. Getting a perfect alignment end-to-end drove me nuts until I adopted the method of rubbing the boards together first, before clamping (see Q&A, page 8). Glue the lower sides the same way. Here all three boards are flush at the bottom.

Detail of Top Cutout
It’s easier to cut this with a jigsaw than a bandsaw because it’s hard to balance the board on a bandsaw’s table.

Details of Ogee Curve and Shelf Molding
This is a 50-percent reduction. Make a copy, double its size on a photocopy machine, paste it onto an index card and cut it out.

TRIM LONG AND WIDE BOARDS on your tablesaw with a crosscut sled. A sled is easier to use and more accurate than a standard miter gauge. Clamp a hooked stick onto the fence to act as a stopper arm. This ensures that all your boards come out the same length.

RIP THE STEPPED BOARD (C) on the bandsaw. A simple fence helps you make a straight cut. Stop the cut at the top of the ogee curve and withdraw the board. Remove the fence and cut out the ogee.

GLUE THE UPPER CASE SIDES from 1-in.-thick rough boards that are planed to 7/8-in. thick. This leaves some untouched low spots, but that’s OK. Align the outside boards so their bottoms are even.

Connection Between Top and Bottom
The top half of the bookcase fits snugly onto the bottom half. The lower backboards (H) prevent the top half from shifting side-to-side, and the notched sides lock in the top, front-to-back.

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Two-Part Bookcase • Exploded View of Bookcase
Preparing & Gluing • Milling The Sides & Shelves
Fitting The Backboards & Final Assembly