Before

After

A little detail

Bisquit joinery, MinWax Red Mahogany Oil Stain, Semi-Gloss Poly (sprayed), Recycled Shelving Lumber. Six modular stacking units

Well, I’ve wanted to rebuild the book shelves in my study for some time. The volume of books had outgrown my current shelving capacity (96” wide and 48” tall). I had been confused by the book shelves in my church study though. I have never worked with mahogany, but they appeared to be made of mahogany. And for some unfathomable reason (in my mind), they had been finished with a thick golden oak color finish to match the paneling in the room. Why would anyone use mahogany for this?

The earlier this year, a neighbor was tearing down a building and I scavanged a decent pile of boards from the built-in painted shelving that had been in that building. Again, the wood appeared to be mahogany, but this time, painted white. My book shelves and the building were probably from the same late 1950s/ early 1960s era.

This demanded research. To the Internet! Surely, this wood must be something besides mahogany. And it is. It’s Phillipine Mahogany – not really a mahogany – but it has a look-alike wood grain. It’s likely Light Red Meranti or Lauan. It was apparently pretty commom and cheap years ago in lumber form and is still common in 1/4” ply sheets today.

So, I unloaded my bookshelves, disassembled it and added those boards to the pile of boards from the neighbor’s building. Ran everything through my planer to remove paint and stain. Built a six unit 96” w by 87” t set of book shelves that will hopefully look like a single built-in unit when installed. Stained the whole thing with Minwax red mahogany oil stain. It’s been raining here in Texas and I’m waiting for the polyurthane to dry.

The new unit(s) won’t match my study, but will match my chair!

Backing for the old shelves sitting against the wall.

The results of my latest wood salvage. These are 3 sets of 12 drawers – Oak fronts with Poplar drawer sides. Each set is a different size – 24” 18” 12”. Cases will be sized accordingly, of course. Yet I used most the wood from the salvage to build the drawer cases.

Here’s a pine version of something similar that I use in my shop for small items – layout tools, etc. I use different knobs on the oak and I’m more particular about the fit. There may be a picture of what I’m heading towards in my projects pictures under fishing collectables.

Stopped by the burn pile a couple times this past week and cut away boards until my two batteries ran down (about an hour total). Spent a couple of hours this morning cleaning them up a bit. (Be careful that you get all the nails out & I did this time.)

Left to right: Poplar, White Oak and Red Oak . . . The Poplar was somewhat of a mystery in the rough form at the burn pile. But there were some large, fairly clear pieces to be had. So I cut three or four out of the pile. Cleaned up nice and I might go back for more.

Not primo, of course, but decent for small projects working around the nail holes, knots and defects. Also, with experience, you gain an eye for what will clean up and what to leave in the pile.

Click on Thumbnail pic for larger view

Haven’t posted for many moons. Working an a reverse negative of a box plan in the October 05 issue of WOOD. Plan calls for curly maple for the carcase and wenge for the accents. I rummaged through the cut offs and used walnut for the carcase and maple for the accents. Got some seriously out-of-tune and dull tools, so there’s a good bit of fussing and gap filling to do. ;)

Minwax Oil Stain – “Early American” & 3 coats of Satin Poly

1/4” square oak strips and #4-1/2” brass screws holding the glass in the door openings

Detail

through Tenon

Didn’t have time to add the hidden compartment that I planned. A fun project. I think they will like it.

1. Sanding
2. Installed lapped slats in the back
3. Drilled the adjustable shelf pin holes
4. Mounted the door with the hinges
5. Installed the cupboard key latch.

(click on pics for larger view)

More sanding and move on to finishing. installing glass, etc. Need to get on the stick. My friends are moving in three weeks.

You can see my uneven gap at the top of the door. I need to pull the case about an 3/32” -1/8” to square. The disadvantage of the slats is that they didn’t hold the case square when I took the pipe clamp off the diagonal (like a solid back would have) after installing the slats. Any ideas? I was considering a diagonal brace across the back but really don’t like how that would look. (even though it would be up against a wall and rarely seen).

I plan to have this bookcase done for them as a going away present. It’s based on a Stickley design found in Shop Drawings of Craftsman Furniture vol.II