low cherry

bookcase

© 2013 August Home Publishing Co.


Plywood Layout. All you’ll need for this project is
a single sheet of plywood. Careful attention during
layout will help you accurately size the pieces and
maintain the grain orientation.
1 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
Weekend Project
low cherry
Bookcase
When you think of a plywood
bookcase one of the first things
that usually comes to mind is
something you bring home in a
cardboard box and slap together
— cheaply built, not very sturdy,
and barely functional.
Well, this design changes all
that. Using basic joinery tech-
niques, one sheet of 3⁄4" plywood,
and some cherry facing, it’s
pretty simple to build. The ply-
wood material keeps the expense
down but the cherry face frame
gives the bookcase an elegant
and classic look.
Layout. As I mentioned you can
build this bookcase using just one
sheet of plywood. But to keep the
project to only one sheet you’ll
want to spend some time laying
out all of the plywood parts before
you start (see drawing at left). It’s
easier to lay out each piece a bit
larger than is called for and make
your final cuts as needed.
OVERALL DIMENSIONS:
59”W x 141/4”D x 333/4"H

Optional Change
Of Face
With a few minor changes you can
give the low bookcase an exciting
new look. So it’ll work, you’ll need
to change some of the molding
and alter the base construction,
as shown in the illustration and
details on the right.
The drawings and construction
details you’ll need to help you
make these changes can be found
on pages 7 and 8.

2 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
 a.

b.

c.

making the
Case
This bookcase is essentially a
box made up of interlocking
plywood panels. Then a face
frame, base, top, and back are
added to dress up the appear-
ance of the case.
The Panels. Begin by cutting out
the plywood panels for the top,
bottom, sides, and dividers.
One of the unusual things
about this bookcase is the fact
that the vertical dividers are actu-
ally made up of two layers of
plywood. And if you take a close
look, you’ll notice that the width
of the face frame stiles is sized to
match. This way, books slide easily
out of the case without hanging up.
To make the vertical dividers,
I started by gluing together two
slightly oversized pieces of ply-
wood. Once the glue dries, you
can trim each divider to final size.
Tongues, Dadoes, & rabbets. The join-
ery used to assemble the case is
pretty straightforward. It’s just
a series of tongues, dadoes, and
rabbets. But before you cut any
of the joints, be sure to check the
thickness of your plywood.
In most cases, plywood is
slightly under 3⁄4" thick. This can
make joinery a challenge. So I
used the methods shown in the
box at left to ensure a good fit.

How-To: Cut Dadoes & Rabbets

Dadoes. For a good fit, size
your dado blade to match the
thickness of your plywood
(detail ‘a’). Then simply cut
the dadoes at the locations
shown in the drawing above.
Rabbets. Once the dadoes
are complete, cut the rabbets
using the same dado blade
setup. To protect your rip
fence, it’s a good idea to add
an auxiliary fence (detail ‘b’).
To create the tongues on the
ends of the center and upper
dividers, I cut rabbets along
both ends of each piece (detail
‘b’). With a dado blade and an
auxiliary fence, you can “sneak
up” on the final size.
a. casE Assembly . At this point,
it’s a good idea to dry assem-
ble the case. This way, you can
check for square and drill all
the pilot holes. Once that’s
complete, add the glue and
screw the case together. You
don’t have to worry about
clamps here, the screws will
b. take care of that.

3 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
 a. b.

c.

d.

adding the
Frames
To “dress up” the plywood case, I
added face frames to the front and
sides. Take a look at the drawing
above to see how I did this.
Instead of building each frame
separately and then trying to fit
them together, I found it easier to
build the “corners” of the frames
first and then add the rest of the
face frame parts by working out
from each of the corners.
Each corner is made up of a
face frame end stile that’s rab-
beted to accept a side frame front
stile, as shown in detail ‘a’ above.
To make the rabbeted stiles, I
worked with an oversized work-
piece (see left box below).
Once you’ve cut the two parts
of the corner, you can glue them
together. And then to ease the
sharp edge, I routed a small cham-
fer, as in detail ‘a.’ Finally I glued
each of the corners to the case.
To complete the rest of the face
frame, all you have to do is cut
the remaining rails and stiles to
fit and simply glue them in place.

Shop Tip: Corner Face & Molding

1!/2
Waste
End Stile. To make the end stiles,
cut rabbets along the edges of an
extra-wide workpiece. Then simply
rip the stiles to final width.
Side Frame Molding. Cut 27°
bevels along the outside edges of
a piece of 3"-wide cherry and then
cut the molding to final size.
MOLDING. To give the sides of the
bookcase the look of frame and
panel construction, I added some
molding to the inside edges of
each frame (detail ‘c’). In the near
left drawing, you can see how I
used the table saw to cut the mold-
ing from an oversize workpiece.
Once the molding is complete, you
can miter the pieces to length and
glue them around the inside of the
side frame rails and stiles.
FILLER STRIP. Before moving on to
the base, I added a case back filler.
To fit around the sides of the case,
the ends of the filler are notched,
as shown in detail ‘d.’

4 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
 a. 2&/8
T
TOP VIEW
1!/8
#/8

T
2&/8 3!/8

3#/8

b.

adding the
Base & Top
Now that you have the face frame
completed, you can next turn your
attention to making the base and
the top of the bookcase.
The Base . As in the drawing
above, the base consists of a sim-
ple apron capped off with some
beveled molding. A few cleats
help hold everything together and
provide a means for attaching the
base to the bottom of the case.
I started with the aprons. The
front and side aprons are joined
with splined miter joints (see
the photo in the box below). The
drawing in the first box below
shows you how to make this joint
on your table saw.
Before assembling the aprons,
I cut the base cleats to size from
3⁄ "- thick hardwood stock. To
4
strengthen the aprons during
assembly, I screwed the front cleat
to the back of the front apron.
Then after gluing up the aprons,
you can add the two side cleats.
Molding . The molding for the
base is nothing more than a piece
of hardwood with a wide bevel
cut on one face. For more details,
check out the box below. Since
this molding is identical to the
molding that will be used at the
top of the bookcase, you might
want to make enough for both
assemblies at this time.
Base Assembly. To attach the base
to the case, start by gluing and
screwing the beveled molding
to the top of the apron and cleat
assembly. Then you can screw the

How-To: Splined Miters & Bevel Molding

a. a.

{ A hardboard spline adds Base Corner Spline. After mitering the corners Bevel Molding. With blade tilted to a 22°
strength to the miter joint in the of the apron, leave your saw blade tilted to 45° angle, set the fence 1⁄4" from the blade and
apron of the bookcase. and make a pass along the face of the miter. cut the bevel for the top and bottom molding.

5 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
 completed base to the bottom of
the case (detail ‘b,’ previous page).
make the top. Like the base, the
top is also made up of several
pieces. The main section of the top
is a plywood panel surrounded
by mitered edging on three sides.
Sandwiched between the panel
and the case is the molding that
you cut earlier (detail ‘a’).
To make the top, I started by
cutting a top panel to rough size
from 3⁄4" cherry plywood. Because
only the front and ends of this
panel will be covered by the
mitered edging, I added a nar-
row strip of hardwood edging
to the back edge of the panel.
Then I cut the top panel to final
size on my table saw.
Tongue & Groove . The mitered
top edging is attached to the top a. SIDE SECTION VIEW
panel with a tongue and groove 1!/8
joint. A groove is cut along the W

inside of the edging pieces and a

tongue is cut along the front and
both sides of the top panel. The
boxes below show how to do this.
Shadow Line . I wanted to cre-
ate a decorative shadow line
around the top panel, so I cut
a small rabbet along the top,
inside edge of the front and side
edging pieces, as shown in the
third drawing below. I used a
rip blade here to leave a nice,
flat bottom on the rabbet. Once
this is done, you can miter the
T Y
#/8
!/8
#/8
edging to length and glue it in
place to the top panel.
Assembly . Before attaching the
top to the case, you’ll need to
add the beveled molding and a
top back spacer to the top panel.
Then you can screw the entire top
assembly in place (detail ‘a’).
#/4
BACK. All that’s left is to add
a plywood back. Since I want-
ed the grain to run vertically,
I made the back in two pieces.
After cutting the plywood back
panels to size, simply screw
them in place, as illustrated in
the drawing above.

Groove, Tongue, & Shadow Line

a. a. a.

Center the Groove. Set your fence so the Cut the Tongue. Set the rip fence to match Make the Shadow Line. Make a pass
blade cuts to the centerline. Make a pass, the length of the tenon. After making a pass, along the top of the piece. A rip blade
then turn the stock and make a second pass. flip the stock over and make a second pass. makes a flat bottom for the shadow line.

6 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
low cherry
Bookcase
optional change of face
With a different base and a few
molding profile changes, you can a.
give your bookcase an entirely
new appearance. It won’t take any
additional work but you’ll notice
a more traditional look.
You can build the carcase, face
frames, and side frames as shown
in the article. Then add some cove
molding changes to the top, base,
and side panels. Since a few of the
dimensions have minor changes
to reflect the new look, be sure
to review the sizes of the aprons,
moldings, and edging pieces The technique I used is shown in cove Molding. I next made cove
before you begin work. the first two boxes below. molding for the top and base treat-
Top Edging . The top is built as Since you’ll be using the same ments to substitute for the beveled
described in the article. But to edging for the bottom of the molding in the original project.
change the appearance I added bookcase, it’s a good time to cut The third box below shows you
a bullnose to the front edging enough edging for both the top how this is done.
and side edging pieces. I made and bottom and then add the bull- side Panels . Instead of beveled
the bullnose on the router table. nose treatments to each piece. molding around the side panels,

How-To: Make A Bullnose & Cove Moldings

Bullnose Top. Just mount a 1⁄2" Bullnose Bottom. Next set the Cove Molding. Just mount Narrow Cove Molding. Rout a
roundover bit in the router table roundover bit 1⁄2" above the your 1⁄2” cove and route along cove along each side of a wide
1⁄ " above the table and rout the table. Then turn the workpiece both edges of the workpiece,
4 workpiece and then cut to the
top edge of the workpiece. over and rout the bottom edge. leaving a 1⁄8”-wide shoulder. desired width on your table saw.

7 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
I used a narrow cove molding.
You can see how this narrow
cove molding was made using
the router and table saw in the
last box on the previous page
The molding is then glued inside
the side frame.
Top Assembly. One of the things
you’ll find different from the
original project description
is the way in which the top
and bottom of the bookcase
are assembled and screwed
together. Let’s take a look at
the top assembly first.
The top is assembled in two
steps, as shown in detail ‘a’ on the
previous page. This allows for an
easy and secure assembly of the
top components of the bookcase.
The first step is to add glue and
then screw the cove molding to
the bullnosed front and side edg-
ing from the bottom. Next you’ll a.
want to screw the top assembly to
the carcase from below (detail ‘a,’
previous page).
Base Apron Profile . I added a
new profile to the base front
apron. Enlarging the template
at the bottom of the page 200%
will give you a full size pattern
of this new profile. I used my
jig saw to cut this profile in the
front apron. Then base front and secure the bottom edging
side pieces are put together as through the cove mold-
described in the article. ing and into the front filler
Base Assembly . The base of the You’ll first want to screw the already attached to the carcase.
bookcase is assembled in three cove molding to the bottom edg- With the base securely fastened
steps, as illustrated in detail ‘a.’ ing pieces. Next screw the base to the carcase, all that’s left to do is
Again this allows easy assembly cleat to the apron and bottom to cut the back panels to size and
and a secure fit. pieces. And finally, use screws to screw them in place.

8 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
 Materials, Supplies, & Cutting Diagram
Low Cherry Bookcase
A Case Top/Bottom (2) #/4 ply. - 11!/2 x 53
B Case Sides (2) #/4 ply. - 11!/2 x 27!/2
C Case Center Dividers (2) #/4 ply. - 11!/2 x 25#/4
D Case Upper Dividers (4) #/4 ply. - 11!/2 x 11!/4
E Case Horizontal Dividers (2) #/4 ply. - 11!/2 x 26
F Case Front Filler (1) #/4 x #/4 - 52!/2
G Face Frame End Stiles (2) #/4 x 1!/2 - 27!/2
H Face Frame Upper Stiles (3) #/4 x 1!/2 - 10
I Face Frame Lower Stile (1) #/4 x 1!/2 - 13
J Face Frame Rails (3) #/4 x 1!/2 - 52!/2
K Side Frame Front Stiles (2) #/4 x 2!/8 - 27!/2
L Side Frame Back Stiles (2) #/4 x 2!/4 - 27!/2
M Side Frame Rails (4) #/4 x 2!/4 - 8
N Side Frame Molding (1) #/4 x %/8 - 130 rgh.
O Case Back Filler (1) #/4 x #/4 - 54
9 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
P Base Front Apron (1) #/4 x 4 - 58!/2
Q Base Side Aprons (2) #/4 x 4 - 14
R Base Front Cleat (1) #/4 x 1!/2 - 57
S Base Side Cleats (2) #/4 x 1!/2 - 11#/4
T Beveled Molding (2) #/4 x 2&/8 - 90 rgh.
U Top Panel (1) #/4 ply. - 11!/8 x 53!/4
V Top Panel Back Edging (1) ! /4 x#/4 - 53!/4
W Top Front Edging (1) #/4 x 3!/4 -59
X Top Side Edging (2) #/4 x 3!/4 - 14!/4
Y Top Back Spacer (1) #/4 x 1!/2 - 52!/2
Z Back Panels (2) !/4 ply. - 27 x 263/4
• (76) #8 x 1!/4 Fh Woodscrew
• (11) #8 x 2 Fh Woodscrew
• (32) #6 x #/4 Fh Woodscrew
small shop solutions

working with
Plywood
Is plywood getting the
best of you? Learn to
handle it with a few
simple solutions.
handling plywood easier. All it
takes is a few simple aides to save
you time and extra work.
Working with full sheets of ply-
wood in a small shop or basement Knock-down table
shop is always a challenge. The The first thing you’ll need to do
sheets are heavy, difficult to move when you get the plywood home
around, and often won’t even fit is unload it and move it to where
into the shop. you need it. That’s where a cutting
Fortunately, there are sev- table really helps out.
eral things you can do to make A simple knock-down table,
like the one above, is
hard to beat when it
comes to unloading and
cutting plywood sheets.
Not only does it save
your back but it also
reduces the number
of times you’ll need to
handle the sheet.
A simple table can
be made to fit over
two sawhorses using
interlocking half-lap
joints (see the draw-
ing inset above). A
Cutting notch at each end of
guide
the rails fits over the
sawhorses to keep the
table from moving.
Note: Clamp The great thing is
Foam cutting guide that once you’re done
Insulation to plywood using the knock-
down table you can
take it apart and store it away
until you need it again.
If you don’t want to make a
knock-down table, you can lay
the plywood on a sheet of foam
insulation on the floor, as illus-
trated in the drawing at the bot-
tom of the page.
The type of foam used to insu-
late houses works the best and
can be found at most home cen-
ters. This foam is relatively inex-
pensive and you can make a lot of
cuts before you ever need to think
about replacing it.
Cutting Guide
Once the plywood is unloaded,
I always have to break the sheet
down to a size I can get into my
shop. Here’s where a simple cut-
ting aide for my circular saw helps.
A cutting guide like the one
illustrated on the left helps me to
cut the plywood down into easier-
to-handle pieces. It not only solves
the problem of making a straight
cut, but it also makes it easy to
position the saw exactly where the
cut is going to be made.
Making a cutting guide is easy.
Begin with an extra wide hard-
board base and attach a wood
fence to this base.

10 WoodsmithPlans.com WS15516 ©2013 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
 Then align your saw next to the
fence and trim off the waste. Now
clamp the guide to the workpiece
so the edge aligns with your lay-
out mark and you’re ready to
make the plywood cut. Plywood
One thing you’ll want to take workpiece
into account is that the circular
saw cuts on the upstroke. This
means that the surface of the
plywood that the saw rides on
Fence holds
is likely to splinter. So in order to plywood
reduce chipout, place the “good” in place
side face down when cutting it.
Many times you don’t want
either side to splinter. In that case
you might want to consider using
a blade specifically designed for
cutting plywood or simply make
two passes. The first shallow
pass severs the outer layer of
the veneer and then the second
full-depth pass completes the cut That’s when a sliding cutoff A fence at one end of the table
without splintering the plywood. table, like the one you see in the holds the plywood workpiece in
drawing above, is needed. It’s place and a second fence at the
Cutoff Table easy to build and it allows you other end holds the base together.
Once the plywood is broken to make plywood cuts safely With the plywood resting on the
down to a size that’s easy to and accurately. cutoff table it’s easy to crosscut
handle, I like to use my table saw The cutoff table is basically a plywood up to 24" wide.
to cut the plywood pieces down large platform that carries the As you can see, the secret to
to their to final finished size. But workpiece through the blade. It handling plywood is using some
whenever I need to cut a wide glides on hardwood runners that simple shop aides. Then you’ll
plywood panel the miter gauge are made to slide in the miter slots find it’s easy to work with sheets
on my table saw is no help. on the top of your table saw. of plywood in a shop of any size.

Carrying Plywood - Handy Tote

It happens to all of us sooner or later.
There isn’t anyone to help. You need
to carry a plywood or MDF sheet to
get it to where you need it. So you
try to move the big sheet and it’s
heavy and awkward to maneuver.
To make the job easier, I like to
use a tote like the one shown in
the drawing on the left. The tote is
designed to be hooked under the
bottom edge of the plywood and
the round handle on the tote is eas-
ier on your hands than the square
edges of the plywood.
The long sides of the tote make it
Tote has bottom hook easy to pick up and carry a heavy
spaced to slide a sheet of
sheet of plywood because you’re
plywood in place.
able to lift it with your legs —
instead of your back.
The tote can be made from scrap
lying around your shop. Simply
use some long stock for the arms
and a large dowel for the handle.
The hook is made of two boards
arranged at the bottom so that
there’s a space to capture the ply-
wood sheet between them.
Using the tote is a simple matter
of centering the plywood sheet on
the wide hook at the bottom. This
balances the plywood on the tote
and keeps the sheet from tipping to
one end as you pick it up.
Just place your other hand at the
top of the plywood sheet to steady
it. Now you’re ready to pick up the
plywood or MDF sheet and carry it
wherever you need it.

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