Bookcase II

I actually finished making my bookcase a couple of weeks ago, but for those who are curious, here's a photo of the finished product:



It's made of cherry plywood, sanded with 220 grade sandpaper, and finished with two applications of Danish oil. I didn't face the edges; I like the raw look of the plywood. The whole thing barely fits in this photo because it's almost 8' tall - which is what gives it room to hold 8 shelves of books (the bookcase that this replaces held only 5 shelves).

As a result, for the first time since college I have no stacks of books on the floor. In fact, on a bookcase in another room I have about a foot of empty space.

Even so, I'm not going to make another one of these right away - or at least till spring. Here's what it took to get here:

Wood, ready for sanding:


Much much later, stained wood drying under the awning so as not to get rained on:


Assembly, with screws & glue:


Before it had books on it - near the top you can see the brackets where I've attached it to the wall (this is earthquake country after all!):


And with books:


Corner detail (look, you can see some of what's on the shelves!):


And this doesn't even show the hours and hours of sanding, the measuring to drill the holes in the right place, the cleaning off the glue that dripped - not to mention designing the thing in the first place.

I can complain all I want but really, making this thing was so satisfying I hardly know how to describe it.