gdatomic's Page

Hadn't built much with wood before --- a rocking fish for my kids. And, have watched/supervised building, but not so much hands-on experience myself.

This was my first big building project with a Kreg. We had purchased three of these 7' by 4' two bay bookcases (ready to assemble) from CostCo that had straight lines and simple design. Then, needed another one but they weren't available any more.

Looking at them, I figured that it would be pretty straight-forward with Kreg to make another to go with our first three (one's on the opposite wall and isn't visible in the photo's). And, decided we were fine with fixed shelves.

Made it out of oak plywood with oak facing. Had the sheets pre-cut in 12 inch widths at Portland's Woodcrafters store. Bought a Bench Dog to ensure my cross-cuts were straight and went to work.

My 12 yo son drilled most of the pocket holes. Should have followed the Kreg bookshelf plans for assembly, but I learned that later and only after we had made it work. Trickiest part was clamping and adding the shelf facings to get everything straight. I chose not to use glue. The shelf is really solid right now. The only problem I could envision is if there is a problem when moving it much in the future. Finished with a stain and varnish (applied with cloth in 3 coats).

In the end, very happy. My surprise is that in key details the one I built looks better than the CostCo versions. Everything fits tight with mine. But with the RTA, there are slight gaps everywhere and they bevel all the edges --- I'm guessing so that inaccuracies in manufacture or assembly aren't as visible.