Slide Together Bookcase

This woodworking project accomplished a number of objectives:

1.   I finally put to use some oak boards that I brought to Connecticut from Minnesota 30 years ago.
2.   I was able to reuse some boards taken out of a stereo cabinet that I had modified.
3.   I verified Jerry Work's claims concerning the Festool dovetail bits.
4.   I created a bookcase that assembles/disassembles without fasteners or glue-ups (except for edge joining to get desired width).
5.   I 'invented' another use for dominos. (Patents are not being filed, so feel free to copy.)

The bookcase is vertically symmetrical with interchangeable components used to hold it together on top and bottom. The sides and shelves were about 12" wide, and were edge joined using 5mm dominos to align the boards during glue-up.



The sides of the bookcase are, of course, mirror images of each other, but since they are vertically symmetrical, they are also identical.  (I registered the domino spacings from the midpoint of the sides.) Stopped dovetail slots from back to front will receive the top and bottom shelves. The backs of these shelves also have a male dovetail that locks into 7" wide boards that prevent the assembly from racking. The kickers (top and bottom) have male dovetails on their ends, and each fits into a dado in the shelf, locking the assembly in place. The 20mm Festool dovetail bit was used to cut the dovetail slots using the OF-1400 router. The cuts were made without first opening up the slot with a straight bit! The last time I tried that was 35 years ago, and I sure generated a lot of smoke back then. This operation went without a hitch, and the dovetails were flawless.

I used 6mm (narrow setting) domino mortises on the sides for the variable shelf supports. The depth of the mortises was set to 15mm. After locating the midpoint of each side, I used the guide rail and a 1000mm MFS section to locate the domino mortises. In this project, the mortises were referenced from the edge of each board using the standard pin on the domino machine. Mortise spacing was 30mm.



The shelves had 'open' domino mortises placed in them. The depth setting was 25mm. The front of each shelf used the narrowest setting, and the rear  used the middle setting. The mortises were created by using a piece of MDF on top of the shelf, with the domino fence height set so the bit just cleared the bottom of the MDF. A little cleanup with a chisel was required.



Here we have a test fitting of one of the sides.



To add stiffness and prevent the sides from bowing out, I created a stabilizing rail, and hand dovetailed it into both sides. The bookcase seems very rigid, and the addition of a back is not planned at this stage. I will keep the FOG posted if any modifications are required.

Here's the finished and loaded piece of furniture:



I created this animation for the assembly and disassembly of the bookcase using SketchUp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViySHMmKZPc

The changes made to the original bookcase in the SketchUp design included replacing dominos with 3/16" shelf pins (it was just easier to draw that way); modifying the upper and lower stabilizers so that they cover the dovetail slots when viewed from the back of the bookcase; and reducing the width of the stabilizing rail in the center of the back. With these changes (except for the pins, of course) it is more suitable as a free-standing bookcase.

Here is the visible dovetail slot in the original bookcase:



Here are links to the SketchUp files:

AVI file (linked to above):          http://www.box.net/shared/lyvj297kkc
SketchUp used for Animation:   http://www.box.net/shared/7qb3kzwo40
Components with dimensions:  http://www.box.net/shared/tgu4gzisc4
Components (no dimensions):  http://www.box.net/shared/a5mepoewc4

Charles

thats simple and effective

making identical and handed pieces is good practice for other work

i love working oak, yes its fickle on the saw and dangerous without a riving knife but thats part of the challange



dominos can be tight, sanding them down altough fiddly and sealing them against mositure movement might do the trick

Charles, beautiful work!
...and nice to see the shelf idea put into action    (http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=614.msg6053#msg6053)

Regards,

John

I marked the center of each side (masking tape with a line at the midpoint). Then, with a 1000mm MFS section fastened perpendicular to the guide rail, I successively moved the board 30mm at a time, clamping the side in place. When clamped, I used the Domino to make the front and back mortises. I estimate that my eyeballing the location of the board produced a positioning error of less than +/- 0.25mm.

If you don't have an MFS section, you could of course just use the guide rail provided with the MFT, with an attached measuring tape. The use of a measuring tape, or a graduated MFS section prevents any error accumulation over the length of a side. If you used some other indexing mechanism such as spacer blocks, it would be possible for some sort of error to accumulate when doing the sides at different times.

Charles

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as if I was trying to "set you straight."  (That's why I used the cheesy grin--what could be more cheesy than quoting yourself, but if the shoe fits...  )  I have no doubt you thought of it independently, and besides, you actually put the idea to use!  Again, nice work--I especially like that you salvaged the wood from an older piece.  The hand-cut DTs are really nice, too.

By the way, I've read your first post three or four times, so please forgive me if I missed it somehow, but what method did you use to make the male part of the DTs?

Regards,

John

Hi,

   For the shelf supports- could the 5 x 19 x 30 tenons be used in the 6 x 20 x 40 mortisies to make them easier to pull out for adjustment?  Maybe the 1mm size difference would be just right?

Seth

It seems that I forgot to mention something in my first posting. Actually, the topic should have been entitled 'Slide Together/Apart Bookcase' since I didn't use any glue or fasteners in the project (except for edge gluing boards to get 12" widths).

Charles

Charles,

Now that is cool. Did you use SU to design the bookcase?

The more I look at this the more I like the project as a whole. The pics and instructions are great, the sketch up animation is really good too.. This could win the contest on any given month.

I love Eiji's doors, but this project is closer to what most everyone can achieve. This has the basics of a lot of operations covered and I think more suitable to the masses as a project.

What do you think?

Please go through the project threads and bring some projects to my attention if you want me to consider them. Somehow I missed this and would have never noticed it if I did not look around. Please make sure your personal project, even the really old threads, are bumped so we do not forget about them.

Nickao

Yes, that is why I said can win in any given month.  If guys do not bump their own projects now and again I fear they could be lost(not considered). This forum is really getting big.

Nickao

I updated the original posting to indicate the dovetail slot that was visible from the back of the original bookcase. The SketchUp design eliminates this cosmetic "feature".