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7/30/2019 Quick, Sturdy Bookcase
1/6
Learn to taper
sliding dovetails
for easier assem
B y M a r t i n
M i l k o v i t s
In my hme, bkcases shw
evey m, sevin nt nly aes t ste u win cllect
bks, but als as places t display a
the items f inteest. This buttenu
maple bkcase is a vesatile piec
enuh t hl a numbe f
an/ cllectibles while small en
fit in almst any m.
The esin is unestate, with b
feet and gentle cuves alng the tps
sies, an maple back bas cnt
sftly with buttenut sies an shel
But yu can use this cnstuctin
t buil a bkcase in any stylshelves ae attache t the sies wit
in vetails, which pvie a me
cal cnnectin that will neve pull
Sliin vetails als ae use t c
cabinet tps t bttms, t jin v
patitins t shelves, t attach ml
case sies, t cnnect beaba e
tabletps, an t attach awe f
sies. In this case, I stppe the
f a clean lk n the fnt f the
The back bas ae shiplappe t
f w mvement.
Why taper the dovetail?A sliin vetail has tw pats: th
an the vetail key. Hee the sl
uted int the case sides, and the k
cut n the ends f the shelf. When y
this jint in wie stck, binin is a
mn heaache uin lue-up. Th
es halfway hme, then the lue
Quick, Stuy Bkcas
Phts: Thmas McKenna; awins: Jhn
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Bac38 in
are
to swithfinis
Shelves,
in. thick by10 in. wide by
34 in. long,shoulder to
shoulder
SIMPLE BUT STRONG ANATOMY
This butternut-and-maple bookcase can hold a heavy load of books. The ta
sliding dovetails that connect the shelves to the sides create a powerful w
joint and el iminate the need for clamps during assembly. All of the parts a
made of -in.-thick stock, except for the back boards (see detail).
Top shelf,
10 in. wide
Botto914 i
2 in.
1 in.
1 in.
Apron, in. thick
by 4 in. wide by34 in. long, is
glued to shelf and
screwed to sides.
DOVETAIL
14
Shelf
Key shorterthan slot
depth
516 in.
Glue block,
1 in. by 1 in.by 3 in. long
36 in.
64 in.
4 in.
12 in.
11 in.
10 in.
9 in.
8 in.
6 in.
10 in.
SIDERABBET
Back of
side
38 in.
in.
34 in.
STOPPEDDOVETAIL
58 in.
Pocke
GLUE BLOCK
Glueblock
addsstrength.
in.
GROOVE FORBACK BOARD
Top shelf
in.
38 in.
Cove
Back
boardSides, in.
thick by 10 in.wide by 64 in.
long
316 in.
SHIPLAP
132-in. gap
38 in.516 in.
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Rout the slot. Holding the router tight a
the fence for control, cut until you reach
stop. Let the bit stop spinning before bac
out of the slot, or you could ruin the cut.
Attach a cleat to each
case side. Screw the
plywood cleat to the top
of the inside case sides
and perfectly square tothe edges. Place screws
in areas that will be
wasted away when you
profile the ends.Clamp the fence to the workpiece.Align the front edge of the fence
flush with the back of the case side and tight against the cleat at the top.
Tapered slots in two stepsTo ensure consistent results, the slots for each shelf are routed using a long fence and
a plywood cleat. After the first pass, add a shim between the fence and cleat, then use
the same router setup to taper the s lot.
FIRST PASS
the w swell an the jint seizes.
why I tape the jint slihtly twa
fnt f the case. The tapecut
sie f the slt an n the cesp
face f the keymakes it easy t sli
shelf in fm the back withut bi
an ceates a wein actin in f
the shelf is tappe hme.
The amunt f tape is nt that ci
ln as it is cnsistent. I keep it t132 in. (abut as thick as thee bu
cas) pe 10 in. f ba with. W
tape like this, the jint can be alms
pletely assemble f tial fittin, an
be iven hme with a few mallet b
Router method simplifies complexTapee sliin vetails can be
hand, using saws and chisels, but this
can be impecise an time-cnsu
I pefe t use a ute an a few s
jigs t d the jb. The methd is cle
allws yu t ial in the fit f each
T avid cnfusin, be sue t label mpats as yu wk.
Cut slots with a handheld route
stength, the slt shuld be n deepe
half the thickness f the side. Likewi
thin pat f the key shul be at lea
Case
side
Screw cleat to waste
area of case side.
The width of the fence determines the
position of the stop and depends on thesize of your router base.
SIDE VIEW
Case side
Fence
Align fence flush
with back of case.
38 in.
Stop
Attach a plywood
cleat to the top of
the workpiece.Fence
Screw stop
to fence.
Dovetail bit, in., 14
516 in.
Router base ridesalong fence.
Stop
F I N E W o o d W o r K I N g44
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the thickness f the shelf, and the length at
least ne-thi the thickness f the shelf.
Fist, scew a 34-in.-thick plyw cleat
t the tp f the case sies. Mak the shelf
lcatins n each side, then make a 34-in.-
thick plyw fence t lcate the slts in
bth sies. Cut the fence t a lenth that
alins the ute bit with the lwe shelf
lcatin, an ip it t a with that will
place the ute bit 38 in. fm the fnt f
the sie. Scew a stp t the business en
f the fence, an clamp the assembly in
place (see awin, facin pae).
Set the ute t make a 516-in.-eep cut
an ut the slt acss the sie until yu
each the stp. Next, emve the fence and
place a shim between the ea ee f
the cleat an the ea ee f the fence.
reclamp the fence in place, then pass the
ute thuh the slt t ceate the tape
aln the bttm ee. repeat this pea-
tin in the ppsite sie f the case. once
yu have bth slts f the bttm shelf
ute an tapee, tim the fence t cut
slts f the next hihe shelf an epeat
all f the pevius steps.
Nw is a time t cut the backet
feet n the bttm f the sies, as well as
the pfile n tp. Clean up thse ees
befe pceein.
Cut keys on the router tablePlace
the same bit yu use t cut the slts int
the ute table, an set the epth s that
its a hai less (0.005 in. s) than the
epth f the slts. This will ceate
ap t make the sliin actin easi
in a test piece the same thickness
shelves, adjust the fence and take lig
n bth sies until the test piece fits
halfway me int a slt with hand
sue. once yuve eache that pin
ae eay t ut the actual shelves
Fist, a a shim t the bttm
each shelf. The shim shul be the
thickness as the shim use t tap
slts. rut the tp sie f the key
en f each shelf. Then flip each s
cut the bttm f the keys. At this
each shelf shul slie feely abu
way hme but tiht afte that. T
shelves iniviually, make hailine
Shim out the back side. Place the shim between the fence
and the cleat. Veneer tape is the perfect thickness (132 in.) to
create the desired taper.
Reclamp and rerout. With the shim in place and the fence reclamped, run the
through the slot to add the taper.
SECOND PASS
Trim the fence.
After routing
both slots for
the bottom
shelf, cut the
fence down
to repeat the
process on the
next set of slots.Shim
Router
Taper
ADD A SHIM TO TAPER THE SLOTS
Back of case
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Straightedge of
key
Taperededge of
key
TAPER THE DOVETAIL KEYS
Shim the rear edge of the shelf
bottom and rout both sides of the
shelf end.
Shim onbottom
face ofshelf
Fine-tune the fit. Keep making hairline
es on the router table to get the key to s
closer to home. To micro-adjust the fit, us
sanding block cut to the same angle as
dovetail bit and attach adhesive-backed
grit sandpaper to it (top). The goal is to g
shelf to slide with just hand pressure un
about 1 in. from being fully home (bott
Shim out the bottom rear of the shelves.
Use a shim of the same thickness used to ta-
per the slots. Veneer tape is great because you
can iron it on and take it off easily.
Test piece gets you started. Take light pass-
es along both edges of a test piece, made from
a shelf offcut, until it slides halfway or more
into a slot with hand pressure.
acss the tp, staight side f each k
til the shelf slides t within 112 in. f
fully hme with nly han pessu
pht, bttm iht). Use a small,
sanin blck t ial in the fit.
Next, use a hansaw an a chisel 58 in. fm the fnt f the keys. ref
fit with the sanin blck if neee
ut a ve une the tp shelf,
fm the back ee, f the back b
Next, ip the lwe shelves t size
thei back ees, an tim an a34 in. ff the fnt f the bttm s
accmmate the apn. Finally, c
abbets that hl the back bas.
Glue in shelves, then add back boonce yu have all the shelves fitte
sies, the haest wk is ne. Nw
Taper the keysThe keys are cut and tapered at the router table using the same bit that cut the slots, adjusted
so that its height is a hair under the slot depth. Use a tall auxiliary fence to keep the long
workpieces stable.
Front of
shelf
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time t lue up the case an cut an fit
the back bas an apn.
The maple back bas ae ippe t
anm withs n wie than 312 in.
once the bads ae cut t final size, use aaise-panel cve cutte t ut a 14-in.
tnue aln thei tps. Then ut the
abbets aln thei sies t ceate the
shiplap.
T lue in the shelves, stan the sies
ea-ee up n an assembly bench. Place
a spt f lue insie the cespnin
slts nea the fnt ee, slie in the shelf
as fa as yu can with han pessue, then
tap the shelf hme with a mallet.
Afte installing the apn and glue blcks,
the piece is eay f finishin (the back
bas ae finishe befe final installa-
tin). F this bkcase, I spaye n deft
clea lacque.
Afte yu have the back bas in place,
the bkcase is eay f yu cllectin
f russian nestin lls.
Martin Milkovits is a furniture maker
in Mason, N.H.
Nail in the back boards in order. Slide the top edges of the boards into the groove under t
shelf. To avoid misses, mark the shelf locations across the back, then nail each board to eac
with 15-ga. finish nails.
Trim 58 in.from the front of the
key. Use a handsaw to remove most
of the waste, and clean up the cut
with a sharp chisel.
Once the shelves are fitted, mill
up the back boards and the apron.
Cut the shelves at the back to
their final widths, then cut the
groove under the top shelf for the
back boards. Finally, after youve
rabbeted the sides for the back
boards, you can break out the glue.
Push and pound. Stand the sides rear-ed
up on an assembly bench. To install each
place a spot of glue inside the correspond
slots near the front edge. Push in the she
far as you can by hand and fist, then rap t
shelf home with a mallet. When installing
bottom shelf, put the apron in place to se
a stop. Later you can screw the apron into
Assembly: no clamps required
For a full finishing recipe for this project,
go to FineWoodworking.com/extras.
OnlineExtra
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