Here’s a tall, floor-to-ceiling bookcase with the versatility to serve a variety of purposes

Here’s a relatively simple-to-build bookcase that’s sure to make an attractive addition to any room in your home. Designed to fill the space from floor-to-ceiling, it offers ten shelves and cubbyholes for books, decorator accents and audio/visual components, as you prefer. Our example features a swiveling, slide-out shelf for a compact TV set plus three adjustable shelves and an enclosed cabinet for storing audio/videotapes, compact discs or other items.

A FLEXIBLE DESIGN

The nice thing about this simple design is the fact that it can easily be modified to suit your specific needs. For example, if your room ceiling is lower than 8-feet, make the bookcase shorter. If you need more shelves for audio/visual components, simply add them. If you need a larger space for your television, just eliminate some of the bookshelves, make the cabinet deeper or adjust it accordingly. A few simple adjustments are all that’s required to make this attractive bookcase just what you need.

Our example has been constructed in five separate units….the carcase or outer frame which is all A/A (“A” grade on both sides), 3/4″ red oak veneer plywood; the face frame which is solid 3/4″ red oak; the moldings; the cabinet door; and the TV shelf with hardware.SAFETY NOTE: If you’re using a Shopsmith MARK V to build this project, a helper will be handy (and much safer) for cutting the large plywood pieces. If a helper isn’t available for one reason or another, we recommend that you consider adding a Shopsmith Support Table and a Roller Stand or two to help you more safely control the large, cumbersome pieces.

So, let’s get started.

1. Cut the plywood to size. Begin by ripping the plywood lengthwise into 16″ wide (or your preferred width) strips. Once the pieces are ripped, crosscut them to length as shown in the List of Materials (or to the lengths you prefer, in the case of a modified plan).

2. Cut the dadoes. Mark the positions of all dadoes on the insides of your two outside vertical panels (A & O). Follow the positions shown in the drawing or modify them as you see fit. Remember that (almost) all dadoes will be 3/4″ wide and cut to a depth equal one-half the thickness of your plywood (or 3/8″).

NOTE: The dadoes on the tops of the two sides (A & O) will form 3/8″ x 3/8″ rabbets – and the bottom dadoes on both sides of the vertical shelf divider (J) will only be 1/4″ deep.

Unplug your MARK V and install your Stack Dado Set or Wobble Dado Blade according to the instructions.

Carefully line-up the marks you made on the edges of your plywood with your Dado Blade. Start by crosscutting your dadoes with one edge flat against your Miter Gauge. A Miter Gauge Extension Face or Cross-Cut Sliding Table and Auxiliary Table will provide additional workpiece support and precision when making these cuts.

This process can be a bit tricky since furniture grade oak plywood has a thin veneer on each outside surface that is highly susceptible to splintering if it’s not cut properly. There are two ways to avoid this. One way is to make your dado cuts in two passes….the first just a little over 1/32″ deep to “score” the veneered surface before cutting your dado to its final depth. The second way is to cover the entire length of your dado cut with a piece of masking tape before making your cut (be sure to set your blade cut depth just a “shade” deeper to compensate for the thickness of the tape). If you’re using this second procedure, once your cut’s been made, slowly and carefully remove the tape.

Set your MARK V’s Speed Dial to “R” and make your cuts, pushing your workpieces slowly over the dado blade, almost at a snail’s pace, giving the blade ample time to make the cuts.

Once you’ve cut the dadoes on the sides (A & O), go ahead and cut the remaining dadoes on the shelf divider (K) and fixed shelves G & N). Next, mark the dadoes on the vertical shelf divider (J). NOTE: Since the bottom dadoes on this piece will be adjacent to each other, adjust your depth-of-cut to make them just 1/4″ deep. Mark and cut the single dado in the center of the top (B) but NOT the ones on the ends.

3. Cut the other dadoes and rabbets. Once you’ve cut all of the ¾” wide dadoes, re-set the width of your dado cut to 3/8″. As you can see from the illustration of the top corner dado-rabbet joint, the dadoes on the ends of the top (B) are just 3/8″ wide by 3/8″ deep and 3/8″ in from the ends of the top. They are designed to accept the 3/8″ by 3/8″ rabbets formed on the top ends of the sides (A & O). Mark and cut these dadoes. Next, make the L-shaped rabbet cuts on the tops of the sides (A & O), as shown in the Drawing. Use the same 3/8″ wide adjustment on your dado blade to cut them to a depth of 3/8″, forming the rabbets. NOTE: Notice that these cuts are on the opposite sides of the side pieces (A & O), from the dadoes you cut previously.

4. Finishing. We recommend that you finish all plywood boards at this time so you can work with them while they lie flat to avoid runs. Here’s another tip: Put masking tape on all board ends and on the bottoms of all dadoes where the joints come together. This will give all your glue joints a better bond.

5. Drill shelf bracket holes. We used brown, plastic shelf brackets to support our adjustable shelves. They’re readily available at your local hardware stores or home centers like Lowe’s. Choose the ones made to fit into 1/4″ holes. Mark and drill 1/4″ holes, set 2″ in from the fronts and backs of the right side (O) and vertical shelf dividers (J & K). Space them at 2″ vertical intervals.

6. Glue up the carcase.

For this, you’ll definitely need the help of an assistant to provide an extra pair of hands while you glue-up all the awkward carcase pieces with yellow woodworker’s glue. Before you get started, dry assemble all of the pieces to be certain everything fits together properly. If not, make any necessary adjustments before applying glue to any components. Get all the clamps you’ll be needing for the job and go to work. Leave out the adjustable shelves (F, H, M) and the TV shelf (P) during the glue-up. Don’t glue on the top (B), yet. Just set it into position on top without any glue for now.