| Project by SalvageCraft | posted 449 days ago | 1311 views | 0 times favorited | 22 comments |  |
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I recently made a set of 2 matching bookcases for my stepmother’s new house. She wanted the design plain and simple, but with an arched top rail. I learned about this preference after I had assembled the sides. I thought over several ways of joining the rail without using any fasteners or resorting to simply butt jointing the rail to the shelf face, top, or sides.
I decided to mortise the ends of the rail into the sides of the cabinet. I wasn’t sure at first how this would look, but I really like how it showcases the joinery in the finished piece!
Here’s the tricky bit:
Since the mortises for the rail ends are so close to the end grain, some type of support was needed to keep the short fibers from splitting off with the waste wood. I have a c-clamp with flat steel stock welded on to each pad, and this works perfectly for holding those short bits in place while chopping out the mortise. If you don’t have a clamp like this, you can use some flat stock in the same way on a normal clamp or handscrew. Just be sure to spread the clamping pressure out over a large enough area that you don’t indent the surface of the wood!
I finished these with Minwax PolyOne urethane and stain in one with my new fangled HVLP sprayer. This was my first time using HVLP, and WOW am I impressed! I’ll never brush on poly again!
P.S. – The finish was still wet in that first pic. I’ll try to get a photo of the set once she’s got them set up in her new house.
Thanks for looking :)
-- Jesse --
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22 comments so far
stefang
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9469 posts in 1503 days
#1 posted 449 days ago
Good work Jesse! Nice design and it looks very professionally done.
-- Mike, American in Norway
Martyroc
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#2 posted 449 days ago
Nice bookcases, I’ll take 2, ha, ha :-)
-- Martin ....always count the number of fingers you have before, and after using the saw.
boxcarmarty
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6501 posts in 529 days
#3 posted 449 days ago
Nice bookcases Jesse. Glad to see you’re back in the shop after your nubby stump scare :-)
-- My mind is like lighting, one brilliant flash, then its gone.....
Don W
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#4 posted 449 days ago
very nice.
-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)
Roger
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#5 posted 449 days ago
real nice book case
-- Roger from KY. Work/Play/Travel Safe. Kentuk55@bellsouth.net
millzit
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111 posts in 471 days
#6 posted 449 days ago
i like!
-- .......now cut that out!
WoodSimplyMade
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#7 posted 449 days ago
Great work Jesse. What kind of wood panel did you use for the back?
-- Mike, Florida, http://www.woodsimplymade.com
SalvageCraft
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253 posts in 695 days
#8 posted 449 days ago
Thanks guys! The pack panel is actually maple veneered lauan plywood.
Also, @Millzit started an interesting thread on the definition of conventional lumber over here. I guess I’ve used a somewhat ambiguous term to describe that this was not made from reclaimed wood like most of my other work. Back to the dictionary!
-- Jesse --
chopnhack
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329 posts in 563 days
#9 posted 449 days ago
That case came out great! What color was the polyone? The color balance on the poplar is really even.
-- Sneaking up on the line....
SalvageCraft
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253 posts in 695 days
#10 posted 449 days ago
@chopnhack – I think it was a satin amber. I thinned it with about 10% mineral spirits before spraying, but I think I could have gotten away without thinning. The color balance is due mostly to the fact that I spent about an hour and a half picking out the most uniformly colored boards in the shop when I bought the lumber! Usually I go with striking grain patterns and contrasting colors, but that wouldn’t have fit with my step-mom’s decor.
You can definitely still see a bit of color variation though!
-- Jesse --
ChrisK
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#11 posted 449 days ago
Very nice work.
-- Chris K
SalvageCraft
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253 posts in 695 days
#12 posted 449 days ago
Thanks Chris!
-- Jesse --
workerinwood
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#13 posted 449 days ago
Well done, great job!!
-- Jack, Albuquerque
Dave
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#14 posted 449 days ago
Alright Jesse. Nice case and thanks for the clamp tip. You the man.
-- Superdav "No matter where you go - there you are." http://chiselandforge.com
Clayton Whisman
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76 posts in 452 days
#15 posted 448 days ago
Great Job, very nice work!
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