How to Build a Simple Bookshelf

This is a simple template of how to build a bookshelf from materials available from your local home improvement store. For example purposes I have chosen pine but other hard wood materials can be used instead. The choice of wood and finish is yours.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• 1"x10" or 1"x12" pine board (get harder wood for durability) planed, straight, knot free wood)
• 8 - 1.5" long flathead woodscrews
• 16x(# of shelves desired) ½" long woodscrews
• 4x(# of shelves desired) L-brackets
• wood glue
• handsaw (or circular saw, if you’ve got one)
• electric drill
• screwdriver
• c-clamps
• sandpaper
• ruler

1. To calculate how much wood you’ll need: length = 2a+2b+(number of shelves desired)x(a-1.5"), where a= (length of bottom/top piece) and b=(length of side piece). Note: Keep in mind that the longer a piece you buy, the cheaper you’ll be paying by foot, so it’s better to get one 12’ section that two 6’ sections. You’ll be cutting your pine board into two pieces of length a, and two of length b, plus however many shelves of (a-1.5") length that you’d like. (Yes, that measurement for the shelves is indeed "-1.5", not 2", due to the fact that the thickness of your 1"x10" or 1"x12" will actually be ¾", not 1". ) Measure carefully before cutting, and mark with a line.
2. Use c-clamps to clamp the board to a pair of saw horses, or on a sturdy table/workbench, in such a way that the cut line hangs just off the edge of whatever you’re using as a support. You’ll want to insert a piece of wood between the c-clamp and your board, to avoid putting a big dent in your nice wood. Using the handsaw, saw the pine board with long, even strokes, following the cut lines as carefully as possible.
3. Sand the rough cut edges using the sandpaper.
4. Glue the two side pieces to the bottom piece, as shown. Once the glue has dried, glue on the top piece. Let dry.
5. You’re now ready to screw the boards together. Mark a dot in each corner of the top and bottom pieces of wood as shown.
6. Use a drill bit that’s smaller in diameter than your wood screws to first drill holes where the screws will go. This will help to prevent the wood from splitting when it comes time to put in the screws. Once you’ve drilled those holes, the screws are ready to go in. If your drill has an electric screwdriver attachment, by all means use it; otherwise, a good old-fashioned manual screwdriver will do just fine.
7. Take a look at your book collection and determine whether you’ll need tall shelves, medium shelves, short shelves, or a combination thereof. Bear in mind that it’s a good idea to put the tall heavy books on the bottom, where there’ll be no danger of shelf warp-age.
8. Using your ruler, measure along the two sides of the bookshelf to mark a line in each spot where you’ll want to install a shelf.
9. Mount the L-brackets just under each line. You’ll need two L-brackets on each side, one near the front of the bookcase, and one towards the back. Use the ½" screws to attach the brackets to the sides of the bookshelves. Of course, you can now stain, paint, or otherwise decorate your bookcase however you see fit.
10. Slide in your shelves (painted and stained, if you’d like) so they rest on the L-brackets. Note: If you've made a tall bookcase, you'll want to screw at least one of the middle shelves to the L-brackets to keep the sides from bowing out. If you've made a very wide shelf, and it seems a bit wobbly, screw L-brackets into the bottom and top pieces as well; also, consider adding braces (they look like flat L's) to the back joints for increased stability, or alternatively, inserting another vertical divider.
11. Add Books and Enjoy your new piece of furniture!

Tips & Warnings

• One thing you'll want to bear in mind is that books are heavy, and shelves will bend. Using expensive hard woods rather than cheap, soft pine would, of course, reduce the warping problem, but there are other, more affordable solutions as well. First, keep those bookshelves narrow. If you need a whole wall of bookshelving, make several narrower bookshelves to fill that space rather than a single super-wide one. Secondly, flip each individual shelf from time to time to correct for the sag caused by the weight of the books.
• Template and directions provided by Digsmagazine.com