Channel: A Concord Carpenter / ToolBoxBuzz

Category: Howto & Style

Tags: how toentertainment centerremodelcubbiescarpentrybuilt intv unitcrown moldingtoolsstyle and rail doorsreviewsdiystep by stepfinish carpentrybookcase tv standconstructionstory poleflat panel doorscope and stick doorspanelwall unitcabinet

Description: Building a TV Bookcase Wall Unit aconcordcarpenter.com/how-to-build-a-bookcase-2.html In this video, I’ll go over the steps we took, including PRO tips, to build a bookcase wall unit with a base cabinet side vertical flanking and horizontal top shelves, and a center space for a TV. Our TV wall unit design will have 4 base cabinet flat-panel doors and two vertical flat panels, running full length, on each side of the unit. Bookcase Sketch vs Story Pole Making a sketch is often the first step in getting the design and proportions decided. After a conceptual design is formed the next task, you need to do is take accurate measurements. A story pole is a layout tool for measuring, marking, and transferring accurate measurements. Using a story pole eliminates the tape measure, is more accurate than paper, and once marked can be used throughout the project to continually check your progress. I use rips of ¼” luan or 1x3 boards cut to the height of a floor height or a “story.” I will use the story pole to draw out and construct my bookcase, face frames, and doors. Assembly Tip - we purposely built the cabinet ½” shorter than the ceiling for three reasons: 1. The ceiling may be off. 2. Allows for an easier installation and not scratching the ceiling. 3. Crown molding will hide the ½” gap Pro tip – Start your lowest shelf off the floor [at baseboard height or lower] and use a plywood sub-frame, covered with a baseboard face frame. This accomplishes two things: 1. It allows for the bookcase to span over uneven or bumps in floors 2. It looks nicer and can be blended into existing baseboard trim for a wraparound look. Face frames are primarily used to hide exposed plywood edge laminations. It also is useful to hide the gap between adjustable bookcase shelves and side panels. Face frames provide a good-looking, durable edge, and protect vulnerable edges from damage or high wear. I like solid wood edging because it can be shaped with a router to create a bead, round over, or other desired detail. For our project, we decided on 1-1/2” face frames and 2-1/2” styles and rails. The bottom of the bookcase has a 3” face frame [baseboard] as does the top crown molding backer. The base cabinets have one adjustable shelf on each side. The shelves are 3/4" Birch plywood with 1-1/2" edge banding on the door side. We used a Rockler shelf pin jig to install 4 holes for each pin giving the shelf a 4-5" adjustment range. When solid wood is applied to the shelves, it stiffens plywood which is super important when determining bookshelf spans and trying to avoid shelf deflection. The longer the shelf, the more it will deflect, the shorter the shelf the stiffer it will be. Like the plywood boxes, we use our story pole to cut and label all the face frames at one time. Once finished we dry fit all the parts and marked them for a Festool Domino. Biscuits or pocket screws are also an option. When clamping ensure your face frames meet and are square, and flush, minor inconsistencies can be sanded out later. Once the bookcase, base cabinet, shelves are assembled I like to sand the insides and any visible sides with 80-100 grit sandpaper to clean up the plywood. It's easier to sand these items now before the back panel and face frame are applied. For the face frames I apply filler to all the joints and when dry sand the joints flush and sand the entire face frame to remove any mill marks that will show through the paint later. After checking diagonal measurements on the cases, attach the plywood back panel. I use a self-centering shelf jig to drill these holes and usually prefer 3 or 4 holes for adjustment verse and the entire side of holes. The face frames are then fastened to the base cabinet and bookcase top with glue, brad nails and clamps. The next step in this process is to build the bookcase doors and recessed side panels. The styles receive on long detailed groove the entire edge-length of the board and the rails receive the same edge groove plus end grain coping. On EVERY step of this bookcase project, dry fitting is the best way to test for fit. To fasten the side walls to the front of base cabinet - we drilled two pocket screws on each side. This ensured that the far left and right face frames lined up. We dry fitted the vertical side panels to check the fit between the upper and lower units, and made necessary adjustments, prior to fastening the upper unit. Pro Tip – It's a good idea to make these panels a little wider than needed in case you had to shim the bookcase off the wall a bit. It’s also useful to rip a 10-degree back bevel on the wall side of each panel. Finish with crown molding. If the ceiling is too far out of level strive for straight crown molding on the bookcase and either caulk the crown to the ceiling gap or float joint compound on the ceiling to fix the gap issue. #bookcase #Builtin #TVWallUnit #Cabinet