Asymmetrical Information

Probably fairly easy. I would recommend buying the wood pre-cut and purchasing some 90 degree brackets as well as a level to confirm the shelves are straight. Otherwise, just make sure you brace the shelves with a piece on the back of the shelves and it should be pretty easy. Also, given that you bookshelf is wide as opposed to tall, make sure you have verticle supports every few feet or so to support the weight.

Also, how deep to you want the shelves to be? Are you planning on putting heavy items (like a TV set) on top of the shelving unit (give it's less than 3 feet high)?

You might want to go to Gothic Cabinet Craft. I have all kinds of weird dimension shelves I got from them. They're happy to custom make them to measure and for some nice pine shelves they were pretty reasonable. I think my 7' shelf units about 3 years ago were $109 delivered (including a 6 flight walk-up in Bklyn-Heights.)

No, no, no! Don't do it!

Surely you can find something cheap in a thrift store or something? It's a much better alternative than trying to learn carpentry in real time.

Speaking from sad experience here, mind you....

The problem is that the shelves have to fit a very specific space: under the counter of my California kitchen. Most commercial bookshelves are 36" high, which is too high. Or they lack backs, which I can't have because I'm using the shelves as a sort of room divider. But if it's too difficult, I won't do it.

Plywood & 2x4s.

Good hardware stores will cut a sheet to size (my local Do It center charges 50 cents/cut), and usually have smaller pieces at a discount.

Do a bit of work with graph paper and a tape measure and head to the store once you know the pieces you need - screws will be stronger than nails, and easy to put in if you use the drill for pilot holes.

You don't need to be a cabinet maker - rough carpentry is pretty easy. You can do this thing - just draw a good picture and make the picture come true!

If you're thrifty (cheap?) home construction site dumpsters can provide plenty of raw lumber - just be sure it is definitely in the 'throw-away' stage. I've heard, and believe, that about a house's worth of materials gets thrown away for every seven houses built.

Good luck. Last year I thought I'd build a little TV stand. About a thousand dollars and many, many tools later, I've got my stand. And a couple end tables. And a large cabinet. And ...

:)

If you just need something simple, I'm a big proponent of bricks and cheap shelving lumber from Home Depot. You can get some nifty glass bricks for around a buck each, if you want the shelving to look purdy.

Plywood is expensive and can be hard to work with b/c it can be unstable and warp. There are a lot of MDF or particle board products that look nicer, cost less and will be easier to work with. The downside is that they don't have the tensile strength of plywood and you're looking at a pretty long span, so use plenty of brackets or pine one-bys for support. Don't use 2x4's for interior carpentry. Just don't. The most recent "Wood" magazine has a good article on shelving in general and includes plans for some bookshelves that would be overkill for you but might give you some ideas. Good luck.

The other posters are correct, you can do this. One vertical board on each side, shelves to stretch between them. Put screws in from the outside, through the vertical supports and in to the end grain of the shelves.

For 62 inches wide, you'll want either a vertical support in the center, or a piece of plywood as backing that also supports the shelves - five feet is a pretty wide span for bookshelves. Half-inch plywood should do it, but 3/4 inch is OK. Plywood comes in many grades, shell out the extra bucks for some with a nice smooth finish on each side and no knots.

The store will do the cutting for you, but don't forget to take into account the width of the vertical supports when you calculate the length of the shelves. If you're using a 1x10 or 1x12 for supports, note that they will actually be about 3/4 inches wide, not one inch as you would naturally assume. Plain old pine should be fine, unless you want to get fancy (oak or other hardwoods will cost a fortune, relatively speaking). Pick the boards with care, not all the ones they sell are created equal - some will have a warp to them and others may have chips or chunks knocked out of their edges.

It may be a bit tricky to buy the actual lumber: the boards will come in eight or ten foot lengths, which means a lot of waste if you're going to cut off a 62 inch piece and have a 58 inch piece left over. Possibly, you can find 12-footers, which would work a lot better (but may be more expensive per foot. Given that the vertical supports will take 1 1/2 inches off the width of the shelves, you might be better off making them a total of 61 1/2 inches wide (60 inch shelf plus 1 1/2 inches of supports) so as to be able to take ten-foot stock and cut it in half. It never hurts to have a little leeway, either.

If I were you, I'd make myself a little drawing and lable the dimensions of everything and have that at the store with you when you go. That will make explaining it to the guy who's going to cut the boards all the easier.

Screws will be much, much better than nails. If you're making this out of 1x10's or 1x12's, use two or two and half inch screws (longer is a bit better). You'll probably want three or four at the end of each shelf and a couple of more along the span of the shelf comming in from the back. Drill pilot holes using a bit about half the diameter of the screw and the screws will go in easy. Be careful when driving the screws in with the drill - press down hard, it's easy to let the bit slip in the screw head and strip the screw.

You will probably want some help to hold things while you drill and screw. As with all carpentry: measure twice, cut once.

bkw: Nice tip with the glass bricks. I'm into nomad type movable furniture (I change residences more frequently than calendars lately.) Sounds like a good idea.

I'd say it depends on how good you need it to look. You can probably do something functional fairly easily. But something high-end furniture store quality? That's a different matter.

A couple other thoughts:

-- as Parker said, take advantage of places that will cut to size if you can. Lowes and Home Depot also charge 50 cents/cut. Worth the money just in ease of transport.

-- Kate mentioned vertical supports. One way to do this would be to make 2 34x31 shelves instead of 1 34x62. Might also make them more usable if you moved to a different place.

-- Painting is easier than staining, and paintable wood is cheaper than stainable wood. There's also particle board shelving that's laminated white or wood-look and iron-on stuff to finish the edges. Never tried it, but pretty cool I thought.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest a trip to Ikea, even if you just want to look around and get some ideas.

Are you sure you want bookshelves for that whole space? I find drawers much more useful; Ikea has a "Malm" 3 door dresser that's 30.75"h x 31.5 x 18.75 deep, for $80.

And, if you put in a 31" dresser, you'll only have to span another 31 inches with your shelves.

If you do go with homemade shelves, I second others' comments on giving plenty of support. Also, it might look more interesting if you stagger the heights of different shelves. (Though you need to think about what you're going to put on them, obviously.)

Well, if they come in an Ikea box, they're pretty easy to build...

Jane - I hate to sound like your mom, but why are you even considering building these shelves yourself? Call some of the single guys you know and ask them to help you in exchange for a home cooked dinner. What young man could resist showing off for a sweet young thing such as yourself?

Some 23 years ago a girl I barely knew made me a similar offer. (She needed help assembling a bentwood rocking chair and knew I worked at a furniture mill.) We have been married for 22 years. The rocking chair is still a prized possession.

Good luck and happy hunting.

I picked up a Sunset book called "Bookshelves and Cabinets". There are a number of simple projects in there, and you're sure to find the one that most closely matches yours.

I filled two walls with built-in bookshelves, and used those rails with the adjustable shelf pins to make the shelf sizes a custom height. It was worth the time; I have a lot of books of various sizes, and needed this level of customization to get all the books into my library.

You'll learn a little bit about carpentry along the way too.

As for a serious response to the question of how to build the shelves yourself, you can easily do it if the unit does not need to be freestanding. That is, if the shelves will be supported by a wall or another cabinet, you simply need to buy some shelf brackets and some pre-finished shelving from your local home improvement store.

If, on the other hand, if the unit is to be freestanding, I suggest that you DO NOT try it on your own (unless you use the method I'll suggest in the next paragraph). A freestanding unit requires joints stronger than those of a supported unit. In addition those joints need to withstand stresses coming from all sides, while the joints in a supported unit only need withstand the weight of the items placed on the selves (the wall supporting the unit will prevent the unit from twisting out of shape and collapsing). In addition to stronger joints, a free standing unit needs to be "square" or the unit will be in danger of tipping over. All of these factors make a freestanding unit far more difficult to build.

You can avoid most of these issues by making a shelving unit out of boards and concrete blocks. You won't need any new skills -- indeed, it may be the first time in a long time you've found a practical use for the skill you developed by playing with blocks in the sandbox. By using colored, decorative blocks and pre-finished shelving, you can make something fairly attractive and also fairly sturdy. You won't be stacking the thing too high, so it shouldn't have a tendency to tip over (as long as your floor is level) and the weight of the blocks should help make it stable.

Just some thoughts from a guy who has made a lot of shelves.

I'm certainly more than happy to exchange cooking (which I'm good at) for carpentry (which I'm not). But sadly, the men in the New York City area are a most un-handy bunch.

Jane - If the men in New York City are an un-handy bunch, move! Out west or down south, I am sure you'd find plenty of handy men willing to help a tallish single gal with her home improvement projects. Can't you telecommute? With what you'd save in rent, you could fly up to see your folks once a month and still have money left over.

Just a suggestion. One I'm not expecting you to take seriously. But in all fairness, you should move to Arizona. New York City has more than its share of pretty women. Arizona can always use one more. :)

I sort of like the bricks/blocks idea.

Maybe you could still cut a sheet of plywood for the back and (somehow) stick it on to the shelves (with glue? special brick screws?).

Well, I don't know what you'd use, but I'm one of those un-handy city types (well, differently-handy, you should see me with a credit card).

You guys's are overlooking the most obvious solution, duct tape!

And as Red Green always says, "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"

Joe - You are right. We have completely overlooking duct tape. Now that duct tape comes in lots of designer colors -- red, blue, hunter orange -- in addition to the traditional grey, Jane ought to be able to make something spectacular!

You could also build the frame out of metal or PVC pipe, then use that to support wooden (MDF? Plexiglass?) shelving. PVC would be simpler and likely strong enough, if you're willing to fiddle with the glue.

Pipe bookcase

May or may not be the look you want. Alterately, it might well be as cheap and simpler to buy a bookcase and modify it to fit rather than build from scratch.

I've done some basic carpentry (simple shelves and a few rough-finish speaker boxes) and would not recommend trying to do this yourself unless you have at least a background in handycraft. Not because it's hard, but because you're liable to be disappointed with the results both in look and stability.

I would second (third? fourth?) that motion for glass bricks and prefinished shelving units (look for 3/4" particle board units -- they will be heavy like the dickens but that's good for a free-standing structure, as you want this thing to be stable and support a decent amount of weight I presume). In the end you'll still spend less than you will with a home carpentry experiment and if the glass bricks clash with your decor, hang a tapestry over the backside of the thing.

If you're absolutely set on building your own from wood, then I suggest:

* Raw 5/8" particle board shelving units for both the shelves and vertical supports (thinner gets too weak, thicker may be too heavy...try this with 3/4" stock at your back's own risk)
* 1/4" plywood for the shelf backing
* a drill
* three bits for the drill: (1) a normal bit with a diameter slightly smaller than the deck screws' thread (a 17/64" ought to do the trick); (2) a countersinking bit (drills out a small cone so the deck screw head can sit at or slightly below the surface level without splitting the particle board); and (3) a Phillips screwdriver bit (unless you enjoy carpal tunnel, you really don't want to drive a couple dozen deck screws by hand. Let high-speed electricity do it for you).
* a screwdriver (a back-up for (3) above -- it's not as easy as it sounds)
* a cross-cut saw (needed to trim the shelving units if you can't find ones that match your height/width requirements).
* wood deck screws between 1-1/2 and 1-3/4" long
* a bottle of wood glue.
* Latex wall paint if you're planning to 'finish' this thing. (Spray paint is a bad idea in confined places, and will keep you gagging for several weeks even after the initial curing stage; stain looks horrible on particle board, and carries similar notations about confined locations)

Plot the structure on paper first -- and I would second the motion of making two 31"-wide units and then situating them side-by-side, as it is much easier to make two stable structures than one really wide stable structure. Each shelf should be supported by a minimum of three screws per side (four if you're feeling ambitious -- but don't be surprise at just how much additional work that can be).

Draw a horizonal center line for each shelf on the outside of both vertical supports, and mark of the screw locations. Drill completely through (this is particle board so you may get a little bit of "flake-off" on the opposite side once the drill punches out the other side), and then use the countersinking bit to make a cone for the screw head.

Also draw a centerline on each shelf and pre-drill the screw holes -- particle board will split if you try to secure the screw without a hole already there. That being done, put a drop of wood glue into the cone before securing each screw; the screw will pick it up as it goes and the dried glue will then help prevent the joint from working apart.

That's about all there is to it, although it's easier said then done (especially if, like most people, you don't have access to a good table saw). The 1/4" plywood sheeting can then be secured to the back of the completed structure using similar methodology. Mainly you want 4-5 along each vetical support and at least two into the back of each shelf. That will prevent the structure from rocking sideways.

If you have to trim down the shelving units with the crosscut saw, lay the unit flat on a safe surface, mark the cut line, and then position the saw blade so that it's own width will eat into the offcut portion, not the part you plan to keeep. Work slowly until you make it through. Cutting down through the unit vertically is not recommended as the saw will tend to weave back and forth and leave an unattractive edge.

Oh yes, be advised that small drill bits break easy -- do not attempt to apply too much pressure to the drill or rock the bit sideways. I've bagged four 17/64" bits so far and 1-2 each of about three other sizes.

I agree with most of the comments about stacking glass bricks/cinder blocks for a nicer looking unit. I've built some very sturdy shelves out of 3/4 plywood, painted white (and I used more tools than just a drill) they're practically indestructable, but very heavy and ugly as sin. Good looking custom woodwork is an art that requires good tools and anal retentive attention to detail.

You can build yourself a nice birch or oak bookshelf with nothing more than a drill and a very small hand saw provided you stick with simple joints. As some of your other readers mentioned, you can get the lumberyard (or Home Depot) to cut plywood for you, and they all sell oak and birch plywood for not too much money.

Get some 1/2" hardwood dowels from the store and some plywood hardware and you can make some reasonable joints. You'll need some thin strips of hardwood to cover the exposed plywood guts, and you'll be in business.

Now if you're willing to invest a hundred bucks in a router or a table saw we can talk some more advanced techniques, but building a furniture deal with nothing more than a drill and a smile is an amusing project all by itself.

Jane

Whatever you do, don't use the guys who charged the govt. $8,600 for pipes & cloth to cover up the naked lady statue!

TomCom

PS Serious note: All the suggestions you got are great. I'd add four more.

(1) If you use plywood or flakeboard, what will you cover the facing 3/4" side with? Even if you don't care about true beauty, you won't like it when it flakes & chips as you put things on or take things off your shelf, or bump into it. N.B. 3/4" Moulding ain't cheap.

(2) See if you can look at what some of your friends & neighbors have done with a layout similar to yours; & do get one of those books, like the Sunset ones, before you do anything.

(3) If you fill all the shelf space with hardcovered books, esp. books with lots of pix (i.e. no froo froos),on 3/4" plywood shelving, anything more than 24" horizontially, w/o a support means that you might, & anything more than 32" w/o a support means that you will, have trouble with warped shelves in the not so long run.

(4) You'll need some kick room at the bottom, perhaps 4" high or you'll stub your toes & scrape/chip the shelf/books. This cuts down the space you'll have to under 10" per shelf. Some books are more than 10" high. Think about that.

TomCom

Jane

Another suggestion after reading your piece on St Ralph: Make sure all your materials are Politically Correct. This will be hard, but for the sake of the planet, ya gotta try. No wood from pristine places. No wood made by foreign (outsourced) labor. No wood made by exploited labor. The list is endless! The mind boggles!

TomCom

There are some great suggestions here. 32" by 64" is actually a convenient size; 32" + 64" = 96", the exact length of a standard 8' piece of wood. I love building shelves that are ugly but useful. Here is my approach:

1. When wood breaks, it breaks with the grain. Thus, you want the wood's grain to go from end to end.

2. Wood glue is important. Eventually, it holds the pieces of wood together moreso than nails or screws; also, it prevents squeeks. Screws are better than nails because they draw the different pieces of wood together.

3. While the back of your unit does support the shelves, it also keeps the shelves at right angles to the sides. The back can be thin, unlike the sides or shelves. If the back were hidden, I'd say cut down and piece together a 4 foot square piece of wood --- that provides about the right area.

4. Bear in mind that plywood normally comes in 4' by 8' sheets. On paper, lay out how your shelves / sides fit on standard pieces of plywood. In your case, it may be a six rectangle grid; two 34" by 15.5" rectangles (sides), two 62" by 15.5" pieces (shelves), one 32.5" by 15.5" (scrap), and one 63.5" by 15.5" piece (top). Note, this uses almost all of a 4' by 8' sheet of plywood. If your shelves are to be 1' wide, you an get 3 shelves and one top. If your shelves are 2' wide, you'll need two 4' by 8' sheets to get the 3 shelves and one top.

5. Take your plans to the local lumber yard. Select some wood in your price range. I would suggest 1/4" plywood for the back and 3/4" plywood for the sides and shelves. I would also suggest pre sanded wood. Inspect it carefully for flaws. You need not buy the piece of wood on top.

6a. Have the wood cut. This is tricky. I have found that they aren't so good at cutting to a specific width, so I don't look for that. Instead, I look for critical cuts to be the same; i.e. the sides are the same height; the shelves are the same length; the sides, top, and shelves are the same depth.

6b. Have them rip (cut with the grain) the 4' by 8' 15.5" from the bottom. Without moving the saw, have them do it again. And again. Your top, sides, and shelves are all the same width. Note that the saw does have width; you cannot get three 16" strips from a 48" wide piece of wood.

6c. Take two of the strips and ask for a cross cut (against the grain) 32" from one end. You now have two equally long shelves and two equally tall sides. While my local lumber yard has a policy against cross cuts, they have never said 'no'.

6d. Have the top cut to the previous length plus 1.5625" (1 9/16") by having the piece of scrap cut to height of the side less 1.5625" (32 7/16"). I'd have him cut it too long; you can plane or sand the excess off later.

6e. Have the back cut the same length as the top (actually, length of shelf + 2*width of shelf) and the same width as the sides are tall.

7. Knowing how much square footage you need to cover, buy stain or paint. You should also get some polyurethane to protect the finish. Don't forget the brushes. Get screws for the sides and nails for the back. Make sure you have the right size bits and countersink.

8. Drill holes. Glue. Screw. Stain. Curse, as one of the dimensions is 1/4" too large.

I have spent way too much time on this, that's how much fun it is for me. I hope it helps.

1. Use 3/4" or 5/8" for the sides and shelves. I used 1/2" once and was really disappointed.

2. Make two shelf units 31" wide. They'll be much stronger and much easier to move. They'll also be a bit more versatile.

3. If you can, make the shelves adjustable. They sell the metal strips with the little clips to hold the shelves. I've also drilled lines of holes using peg board as a template and used wooden dowels to hold the shelves up, but that is a bit more work.

4. As others have said, use screws but drill pilot holes, first.

5. WOOD GLUE. Wood glue is incredibly strong (usually stronger than the wood) and keeps things tight and non-squeaky. The screws are just there to hold the glue together until it hardens.

6. For the back, you can use fiber baord (that brown heavy cardboard like board). 1/4" or so is fine. It can be thin.

7. 1 x 12 or 1 x 10 boards can be used to make a nice 12" or 10" deep shelf. They have the advantage of having a pretty front edge over particle board. MDF shelves with a rounded front edge are also available at stores.

8. Consider making the bottom shelf about 1-1/2" off the ground and putting a little kick plate on the front. This is more work, so don't bother if you are limited in time or tools. It looks nicer and keeps you from losing little things under the shelf.

9. You can paint them using standard interior latex paint. Painting is easy, but varnish often looks better. A good urethane varnish is waterproof. You can varnish over paint, but that's tricky. If you want stain, look for wood dyes instead. They are a bit easier to use as they don't get darker the more you apply. You just wipe it on and wipe it off and it's done.

Bolie IV

Not sure what your price constraints are, but a 3/4" sheet of birch plywood here in Chicago runs about $40; 1/4" (for the back) is a bit less than half of that. If you can swing that and can also swing a Kreg pocket hole jig (about $60), pocket hole screws (maybe $5 for 100) and edge banding tape (a veneer tape that covers the exposed edge of the plywood; it's glued on one side, you heat it with your regular iron to put it on. It's actually easier and more permanent than the description sounds). The tape would probably be about $15 for the amount that you'd need.

That's about $130 or $140, but if you can do that, this project is pretty easy assuming you can get the place where you buy the plywood to cut it to size for you. For this to work, you'll need a place that will cut it accurately, so you might be better off going somewhere more expensive than a Home Depot that has a higher level of service. Of course, that would make the project more expensive.

I think you'd be a lot better off going with two 31" long boxes, with two fixed shelves in each box. Plywood sheets are 8'x4' so you can get 4 11 3/4" long pieces out of one sheet (you lose a little bit due to the kerf made by the saw). From each of these long pieces, you could cut a 34" piece for a side and 2 29 1/2" pieces for a top, bottom or shelf. You end up with 4 side pieces and 8 top/bottom/shelf pieces out of the sheet.

Use the pocket hole jig to drill pocket holes in the top/bottom/side pieces. Hard to describe exactly what these are, but you end up with a hole that you can put a screw thru so that the pointy end of the screw is sticking straight out the end of the board. Basically, it means that once the pocket holes are drilled, assembling the shelves will be no more difficult than putting together furniture from Ikea.

Once the holes are drilled, you can iron the edge banding on one side of the plywood and then screw everything together.

Have the 1/4" sheet of plywood cut to size for a back and that can be attached to the back with a small amount of wood glue and finishing nails.

You could paint the boxes or finish them with stain and then polyurethane. Probably easiest to do this prior to assembly.

I'm thinking a day to buy wood and have it cut to size plus drilling and assembly. Another day for finishing. It would be a full weekend project, but you could do it.

If the above has any interest for you, here's a link to edge banding tape http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=1738

and one to the Kreg jig:
http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=2085

Good luck.

Go to your local Home Depot or Lowes, find a clerk in the shelving dept. and say, "I want to build some shelves X size in Y price range."

This is similar to a coupla old physics problems:
http://www.webcom.com/duane/games.html
scroll down for Cooking a Roast and Using a Barometer.

If you have a car, I'd say run out to Ikea.

You're lucky, there are two in the NYC area.

Easy to do and if you are serious about doing it yourself, stop at the bookstore and get the Reader's Digest Do It Yourself Manual. Best book for this type of project and you may find it useful for other things too.

Of course you can also stop at Home Depot and pick up a kit that will require little more than gluing and screwing, which you can do with the borrowed drill.

It would be pretty easy to make such a bookcase. But... I always go to Kmart or Walmart or Target and buy their $30-40 bookcase that's about 6' high and has 5 shelves. The wood for a similar bookcase would be about $20-30, add hardware, paint and labor to make it look pretty. If you can't afford the extra $10 then build it yourself, if not, the superstore specials come in light brown and white.
But then I'm constructively lazy.

Home Depot has short-in-height shelving, which they sell as kitchen cabinets under the "Mill's Pride" brand name. They charge about $50 for a 30x30 unit (30 inches in height and width); a variety of widths are available. This stuff is particle board covered by some sort of hard plastic wood-colored veneer; it looks decent. You assemble it yourself, which is not hard. Doors are optional, and sold separately.

I have several of these, which I use as bookshelves. (I like having doors). The main annoyance I've found is that, although the heights of the shelves are adjustable, they have a bit too little total height for three levels of books, and a bit too much total height for two levels. I usually end up making one really short shelf, and laying books flat on it.

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