Scott bookcase: the crown molding

I agonize over certain steps of my projects. Most of the Scott bookcase is pretty straight forward woodworking - cutting dados for cross pieces, routing a few profiles for molding, yadda, yadda, yadda. But, when it comes to crown molding, I get a little stressed, and it is not unusual for me to get big-time stressed during the actual attaching of the crown. I mean, the crown molding has to be cut exactly for it to fit properly.

Adding to the complexity of crown molding is a wonderful (I am kidding) new idea of attaching it to the bookcase. See the drawing below...

Topping it off. Note the piece of wood that fits flush with the top edge of the molding.

I thought this would be a good way to attach the crown and finish off the top. The problem is that just like the crown molding, this piece of wood has to fit perfectly. Three sides of this board have to be cut at a 38 degree angle. I can cut this along the length of the board on my table saw which is very accurate, but the 38 degree cuts to the ends have to be made with my circular saw which is prone to error. To cut the ends on my table saw would mean having to make a new jig, which I did not want to commit the time to.

How long should it be? The first thing I have to do is cut the top to length. To determine how much the top will extend beyond the sides, I cut a small piece of molding and mark the location of the cut. Sorry that the photo is a little out of focus.

The easy cut. For this cut, I use a straight edge and set my circular saw to the right angle. The other side is where my measurements have to be exact. This second cut is very stressful. I re-check the measurement several times and then make the cut. Everything goes well. Then I cut the bevel for the front edge on my table saw.

So, the necessary cuts are made for the top and I attached it with eleven screws. I can then move on to cutting and attaching the crown.

Mitered. I use my power miter saw to cut the crown molding. I don't use this saw very often because I have a hard time making the fine cuts to fit the molding properly. On these cuts where a 1/16" or so is being cut, the saw is not accurate.

Don't move! Clamps keep the crown molding in place while I mark the location for the next cut.

Mostly complete. I have just a few small items to complete and then the bookcase will be ready for primer and paint.

Hopefully, if I work hard during the next week, I can have this project completed by next weekend - but there is a lot of surface on this bookcase to be painted. We'll see.

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Scott bookcase: adding the waist molding

I have made some big progress in the last few days on the bookcase project. While I had the parts for the face frame cut last weekend, I did not start to assemble them until Wednesday. By Friday, I had the face frame assembled, attached and trimmed. Then it was on to some sanding and applying the moldings to the simulated side panels.

Most recently, I was able to fabricate and apply the waist molding and size the three shelves of the upper bookcase...

Cutting a cove. The waist molding is made from both a custom milled piece and stock stop molding. Here I am routing a cove on a three inch wide piece of poplar. My new workbench is perfect for this.

Warped. The custom milled piece of poplar had warped since I brought it home. So, here I have attached it with screws that will be hidden. I use three from the front and two from the back of the face frame to pull it straight.

The profile. Here is a shot of the two piece waist molding. The profile of the two pieces looks pretty good. I'll remember this for future projects.

Green. Where possible, I don't use the flash on my camera because the light it emits is pretty harsh. But here, no flash gives the bookcase a false green shade to it. One of the things I plan to work on for my next project is photo lighting.

The next step is to cut and apply the crown molding. I also have to cut a piece to finish off the top. Then do some final sanding and touching up. Paint will follow that and the project will be complete.

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Scott bookcase: more work on the top - fabricating the back

How nice should the back be? I like solid backs on big pieces of painted cabinet work that will hold a lot of heavy items like books. This adds a lot of rigidity to the piece. But, some woodworkers put much more effort towards dressing up the back of their pieces.

With this project, I am making a conscious effort to improve the look of the back. You may wonder why I would do this since the back of this project will not be visible. It really comes down to craftsmanship. Some woodworkers actually put just as much effort to making the back look good as they do the front and sides. Note the photos below...

A gorgeous back. This open hutch by Ronald Layport features a beautifully detailed back made of tiger maple. Layport's project appeared in Fine Woodworking #89, August 1991.

If it's expected. With fine pieces like Layport's and this Arts and Crafts writing desk by Stephen Lamont, you would almost expect the back to be nice. This photo is from the Summer, 1996 issue of Home Furniture magazine.

When deciding how nice the back should be, the real consideration is what does the client expect and how will the piece be used. Plus, there are time and cost issues to consider. If it goes up against a wall as the Scott bookcase will, then the back will not be seen. And I can honestly tell you that with all the hand sanded and hand stained pieces in my home, I have never shown the back to a friend. But, depending on the level of craftsmanship desired by the client, a high quality back certainly has it's place. What do you think?

On to the construction
The back starts as an over sized piece of half inch MDF that is then trimmed close to finished size with a router and a straight scrap piece of lumber as a guide.

The router. I use my router for all kinds of tasks. I thought about cutting this with a circular saw and a straight edge, but I went with my router instead. I have left about a quarter inch overhang at this point.

Removing the excess. I switch to a flush trim bit and cut away the excess. This makes for a perfectly fitted back.

Flush. This photo of the finished cut shows how nice the fit is. Cutting MDF creates a fine dust and I have not yet devised a good way to connect my router to my vac. But, my new dust mask is working well.

The current project. With the back in place, it is time to move on to some work on the sides.

Up next is creating the simulated side panels. While I would not say adding the back was all that fun, the next steps will be, because with each step, the project will look noticeably better.

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Scott bookcase: work begins on the top section

Building the top section of the bookcase is in many ways just like building the bottom section. Both start out as a basic box and that is the subject of this post.

After cutting the left and right sides to final length and width, I cut dados in the sides for the upper and lower cross members. And just as with the lower section, I then use a template to locate and space my plunge router to help cut the holes for the shelf pins.

Cutting holes with the router. My Dewalt plunge router and a home made template make quick work of cutting all these holes for shelf pins.

Sides completed. The left and right side of the upper bookcase are completed.

The glue-up begins. With the cross pieces cut to size, the glue-up begins. In the photo above, only the joint in the lower right of the picture has been glued. I will glue the joint at the opposite end later. Then I will glue the other side to the whole thing. My new pipe clamps and workbench are handy for this task.

The completed box. The top section is glued together and everything is square. You can begin to get an idea of the large size of this bookcase. Pay no attention to the junk hanging up behind the bookcase. I am trying to get my wife to agree to part with some of this and I have learned a little at a time is best.

With the skeleton of the upper section completed, the next step is to cut the back to size and attach it. Then the really fun part of the top begins - adding the simulated panels to the sides. I'll work on that tomorrow.

After a good night sleep, I was hard at this morning in the shop. I finished cutting the MDF pieces that form the panels for the sides of the bookcase top and attached them. I had to make a run the Lowes to pick up some more material and today, I started cutting and fitting the pieces needed for the face frame.

MDF and dust. The simulated panels on the sides are made from MDF. This material is really something. I say this because the dust from MDF is unique among woodworking stock. It is more like powder than dust and I most likely will be getting out my leaf blower again to rid my shop of this stuff.

Stop molding. That is what this molding is called. Once the sanding is completed, I can move on to the application of this molding, especially since the bookcase top is already laying on it's side. Might as well go ahead and do this now. By the way, stop molding is mainly used to finish off interior window trim, but I think it looks nice on the bookcase simulated panels.

Currently. This photo shows the panel components in place, and fitting the face frame in process (note that the face frame top is missing). I'll get the face frame completed in the next few days.

Shopping for stock

As I said, Saturday, I visited Lowes to buy some more stock: eight foot lengths of 1x6 poplar along with some four foot lengths of 1x12 poplar for the shelves. I also picked up various molding that I will need. It is interesting how long this process takes. For some reason, I thought this would be a somewhat quick trip, but after sorting through boards to find the right ones that are straight and free of problematic defects, this process took a while. Straight and flat are very important characteristics for the shelves (there will be three for the top) and Lowes has four foot lengths of poplar that are just about the perfect length. So, that's good. However, I should have known this would not be a "in and out" visit.

A reminder. Here is what the finished bookcase will look like. One change from this drawing is the bottom shelf of the top has been raised to allow for the face frame to be visable.

Up next: After I complete the face frame, I will cut the shelves to size and then begin all the moldings: stop moldings to complete the simulated side panels, the waist moldings and the crown molding. After that, I will need to do some touch up, make some straps to secure the top and bottom sections together and final sanding. The end is in sight!

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Scott bookcase: layout for the top

Here it is Wednesday, and I have completed zero woodworking since Saturday morning. Why? Mainly because my back began hurting me Saturday afternoon and it was screaming at me by Sunday morning. My wife always knows when my back is about to go out. She says, "You're walking crooked." I develop a little leftward lean when my back acts up.

I went to the doctor Monday and he asked me the same old question, "Have you been doing your back exercises?" I give him the same old answer, "No." And he gives me the another sheet of paper with some exercises I should be doing along with a couple of prescriptions. I usually do the exercises for only a few days after I recover from a back episode, but maybe this time I should stick with it.

LAYING OUT THE TOP

So, in designing the Scott bookcase, I first completed a scale drawing the old fashion way, with a pencil and graph paper. I then drew it the digital way, in SketchUp. The final drawing is the actual full size layout drawn on the project itself.

Collecting my thoughts. Despite all the planning, there is nothing like laying out the components and cuts in full size. Here I locate the crown and upper dado on the side panel.

Seeing the size. Drawing the outer limits of the top section helps me make small adjustments. Here, I added a little extra depth to the top.

A short post tonight - I will complete the fabrication of the sides next. The side panels are already cut to width, I just have to cut them to final length and cut an upper and lower dado. Then I have to route the holes for the shelf pins.

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