modular barrister’s bookcases · published in woodworker’s journal “today’s woodworker:...

• Step by Step constructioninstruction.

• A complete bill of materials.

• Exploded view and elevationdrawings.

• How-to photos with instructivecaptions.

• Tips to help you complete theproject and become a betterwoodworker.

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WJ001Published in Woodworker’s Journal “Today’s Woodworker:Projects, Tips and Techniques for the Home Shop”

“America’s leading woodworking authority”™

Modular Barrister’sBookcases

WOODWORKER'S JOURNAL ©2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Here’s an old trick used to form wide coves. For this project, the fences are set at 30˚ to theblade. Take multiple passes, raising the bladeslightly after each cut to “sneak up” to the propermeasurement. Ripping the stock after the cove isthe right depth (above) leaves you with the trim forthe case top.

We all have special books we’d like to hand down to the next genera-tion. You may start out with a homelibrary consisting mostly of paperbacks,but over the years you will accumulatea hardback collection that deserves amore protective environment than standard bookshelves can provide. And,that collection probably will continue to grow a little with each passing year.Here’s a barrister bookcase system that will grow right along with it.

Starting With the CaseSubassembly

The Material List on page 67 provides the items you’ll need to create one unit—a case, a top and a

Modular Barrister’sBookcasesWe’ll forgive you if you have a burgeoning home library—it’s tough to resist the

urge to collect books, even in today’s world of instant media and DVDs. If you’re

looking for a neat and attractive way to store your volumes, these modular bookcases

just might be the ticket. Start with two or three and build more as the need arises.

MODULAR BARRISTER’S BOOKCASES 65

base. Machine accordingly—we sug-gest starting with two or three cases, atop and a base. Get started by millingthe case parts (pieces 1 through 9) tooverall size. One exception is the topedging (piece 7), which is cut extra widenow and trimmed after some fancymachining (see photo right). Followingthe Elevation Drawings on the next twopages, use your table saw to mill thetenons and grooves on the rails andstiles to create frames for the side pan-els. Before gluing and clamping, there’sone more groove to machine close tothe edge of each rail (see Drawings).With that done, glue and clamp thepanels, checking for squareness as youtighten your clamps. When the glue

2"

5/16"

7/32" 7 Waste


Bookcase Exploded View

Note: Locate 1/4"dowel so it holdsdoor flush whenclosed. Keep itbelow the slidehardware.

Case to Case Detail (Section View)

3/4"

3/4" Dia.

3/4"

3/4"13/4"

1/4" 11

8"

13 1111/2"

1

10

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

11

12

13

1314

15

351/4"

3/8"

115/16"Top Side Rail(Inside View)

Top Front Rail Detail

CleatLocation

(Section View)

Form templatefor cloud liftpattern.

1/4" x 1/4" groove

Top Back Rail (Back View)

Top to Case Detail(Section View) 1

10

2

2

2

3

3

3

5

6

6

6

7

8

9

11

12

13

14

15

1/4"

3/4"

1/4"

4

1/4"

1/4"

1/4"

1

10

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

11

12

13

14

15

3/4" 3/4"

1/4"

1/4"1/4"

Case Rail(Top View)

Base

Case

13

14

1211

4

2

1 3

2 1

6

8

5

9

7

10

16

19

17

15

18

66 HOME PROJECTS WOODWORKER'S JOURNAL ©2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This piece requirestwo drop cuts onthe table saw. Thebottom cut formsmost of the shapedcutout, while thetop cut forms mostof the notch. Redlines representareas where a hand saw or drill is used tocomplete the cuts.

1

10

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

11

12

13

14

15

1/4"

1/4"1/4"

1/4"3/8"

3/4"Note: Rabbet for backcut on back stiles only.

Case Stile(Top View)

1

10

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

11

12

13

14

15 16

171/4"

13/4" 3/4" Dia.

1/2"

16

1/4"

13/4"

1518

17

62

3

Base to Case Detail

(Front View)

22

21

23

15

CL

16

1/2"

3/4"

3/4" 13/4"

DoorRail/Stile (Section View)

Knobs arecentered on

width, 61⁄2" fromeach end.

Base Cutout(Front View)

Base Front Rail(Front View)

In addition to creat-ing instant glassretainer strips, thiscope and stick bitset also createsperfect corners on

your door frame.

Door 20

22

24

21


MATERIAL LIST – Bookcase

T x W x L

1 Case Stiles (4) 3/4" x 13⁄4" x 141⁄2"

2 Case Rails (4) 3/4" x 1" x 95⁄8"

3 Case Panels (2) 1/4" x 95⁄8" x 127⁄8"

4 Slide Support Rails (2) 1/4" x 1" x 91⁄8"

5 Case Top (1) 3/4" x 97⁄8" x 301⁄2"

6 Case Bottom (1) 3/4" x 117⁄8" x 301⁄2"

7 Case Top Edging (1) 3/4" x 2" x 30"

8 Case Bottom Edging (1) 3/4" x 11⁄2" x 30"

9 Case Back (1) 1/4" x 303⁄4" x 133⁄4"

10 Door Slides (2) Nylon

11 Top Side Rails (2) 3/4" x 13⁄4" x 125⁄8"

12 Top Front Rail (1) 3/4" x 11⁄2" x 30"

13 Top Back Rail (1) 3/4" x 21⁄4" x 30"

T x W x L

14 Top Platform (1) 3/4" x 111⁄8" x 301⁄2"

15 Base Side Rails (2) 3/4" x 23⁄4" x 125⁄8"

16 Base Front & Back Rails (2) 3/4" x 23⁄4" x 311⁄2"

17 Base Platform (1) 3/4" x 111⁄8" x 30"

18 Base Cleats* (1) 1/2" x 1/2" x 85"

19 Base Glue Blocks (4) 3/4" x 3/4" x 13⁄4"

20 Door Rails (2) 3/4" x 11⁄4" x 277⁄8"

21 Door Stiles (2) 3/4" x 11⁄4" x 1213⁄16"

22 Glass (1) 1/8" Measure opening

23 Retainer Strips* (4) 3/8" x 3/8" x 90"

24 Sash Knobs (2) 3/8" Dia. brass

*Trim cleat and retainer stock to fit.

Cope andStick Detail


68 HOME PROJECTS

Laser beams on miter saws! They only seemsilly until you’ve completed your first cut.Then you wonder where they’ve been allyour life!

dries, there is a rabbet to cut along theback edge of each glued-up panel (forthe back). Glue the slide support rails(pieces 4) in place, but hold off oninstalling the door support hardware(pieces 10).

The bottom is next. Its sides havea tongue (trimmed to fit the stoppedgrooves you just made in the side rails),and its back edge has a rabbet toaccommodate the back. The front edgeis trimmed with a strip of hardwoodedging (piece 8) that receives a 35˚bevel along its inside bottom edge.

The top features two trimmedtongues on its sides, a back rabbet and some trim along its front edge. Thistrim (piece 7), shown on page 66, ismilled oversized and a cove is formedon its bottom. After the cove is shaped,the edging is ripped to width, exposinga portion of the cove.

After the unit is assembled, thecove on the top edging and the bevelon the bottom edging meet to form anarc, which accommodates the openingand closing of the door. (Note: if youstack more than two cases, screw themtogether for safety.)

With the side panels assembledand milled and the edging added to the top and bottom, bring the casestogether with clamps and glue. You cantest-fit the back, but don’t install it yet—that has to be done later.

Making the Top SubassemblyAs with the case, start on the top

by cutting your parts (pieces 11 through14) to size. Once again, however,there’s an exception: The top’s side rails(pieces 11) are a glued-up subassemblydesigned to carry the appearance ofstiles and rails all the way to the top.

To make these side rails, glue up ablank of horizontal pieces, trim and jointits edges and add two vertical “stiles,”one along each edge. When the gluedries, rip off each top side rail (with“stile-ized” ends). These pieces receivea stopped groove (see Drawings) for thetop platform, which has a trimmed-offtongue along each edge, just like thecase top.

Move on to making the top’s frontand back rails, which also require a littleshaping (see Drawings).

As you can see in the inset photoon the next page, a template is handyfor drawing cloud lift shapes on thetop’s sides and back (as well as thebase’s sides and front). With all thepieces cut and machined, you can glueand clamp the top together.



A cope and stick router bitset makes fast work of thedoor frames. After stickingthe rails and stiles (above),the ends of the rails arecoped, as shown at right.Then use your table saw to cut the glass retainer strips free.

A handy templateprovides solidrepeatability forthe cloud liftshapes jigsawn on various pieces.

Making the Base SubassemblyThe base subassembly (pieces 15

through 19) is different from the caseand top in that it has no rabbets ortongues. Use your miter saw to miter-cut the corners, then turn to your tablesaw to make two “drop” cuts on the front rail and one each on the otherthree rails. The upper drop cut on thefront rail helps form the notch (seeDrawings). The other three help formthe shaped cutout on each piece. (Besure to use a start and stop line on yourfence for these cuts.) Use the templateto draw the cloud lift shape, but thistime you can turn to your drill press toactually mill their shape. As for the topnotch, we recommend gluing up thebase pieces (including the cleats andglue blocks) before you use your handsaw to finish cutting out the notch (seeDrawings). It’s a delicate part of theproject, so take your time here. You’llnotice that the base platform sits a littleproud of its rails (just like the case topsits proud of its rails). This is how thepieces interlock.

Making the Door SubassemblyThe doors are so easy to make it’s

a little scary. The secret is to use acope and stick router bit set. With thesetwo bits, you can make doors all daylong! Get started by milling the rails andstiles (pieces 20 and 21) to overall size.(This would seem to be the right time toorder your glass (piece 22), but it’s agood idea to wait until your frames are

completed.) Now simply insert your“stick” bit and mill the inside edges ofthe frame pieces from end to end.Switch to the “cope” bit and mill theends of the rails. Now turn back to thetable saw and remove the retainerstrips, which have magically appearedon the inside edge of each piece you’vemachined. The bits account for the kerfyou’re about to make, and the piecesyou trim off become your perfectly sizedglass retainer strips (pieces 23)—justmiter them to length!

Now things move quickly. Measurefor your glass, install it with the retainer

strips and brads and, with the case on its front, position your slides forinstallation. Cut 2" off the back of these nylon slides so they’ll fit theboxes. Doing so will not present anyproblems for installation.

Once the doors are working inconcert with the case, lay out and drill a1/4" hole on the inside of the case (seeDrawings). This hole is for a short lengthof dowel that serves as a doorstop.With the hardware and stop in place,install the back with small brads.

Finishing UpSand through 220 grit, add the

sash knobs (pieces 24) and select yourfinish. We went with a coat of Watco®

Medium Walnut Oil followed by a coatof wipe-on polyurethane for these whiteoak cabinets.


modular barrister’s bookcases · published in woodworker’s journal “today’s woodworker:...

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