FH Free Projects

527 Pages·2016·155.83 MB·English

by  The Family Handyman.

50 FREEp rotectp lans
Get detailed plans & step-by-step photos at
thefam ilyhan dyman .com/projects
Choosea sm any asy ou want-they're absolutelyfr ee.B ut don't delay, Yard& gardens tructures
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Archedw ooden footbridge
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Shelving & storage
8 greatb ookcased esigns-
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Low-cost,h igh-end
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8 O l u r u ez o 0 8t h e f a m i l y h a n d y m a n . c o m
Sheds& shel ters
Two-room shed
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Compact shed for
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Rust ics hed wi th
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Fold-awayw orkshops wi th bu i l t - in benchesa nd s torage ga lore-
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Traditional
Bookcase
Createyourownclassic
bookcase with simpletoolsinfive
easy-to-follow steps.
Don’t make the same mistake I made straightforward and basic, so it’s easy
when I moved into my new house. I to cut and fit the pieces. The fixed
left my books stacked in boxes for two shelves add stability and are designed
years before I finally got around to to hold a variety of average-sized
Dbuilding bookcases. I can’t tell you books, but you can customize the
how many times I rummaged through shelf heights to suit your collection.
those boxes looking for reference Our bookcase is made primarily
books or that mystery novel I wanted from maple plywood and detailed
to revisit. with solid maple boards and regular
When you’re ready to displayy our lumberyard maple colonial stop
literary favorites, don’t go to a furni- molding ( Fig. A). If maple isn’t your
ture store and settle for a poorly con- favorite wood, you could opt for
structed bookcase with zippo for birch and oak plywood and moldings.
detail. For about the cost of a cheap They too are commonly stocked in
bookcase ($300), you can build this full-service lumberyards and good
handsome and solid heirloom-quality home centers.
piece. The grooved vertical front pieces
This project is too challenging for a on each side (fluted casing) may look
beginner. Don’t tackle it unless you’ve challenging, but with a shop-made jig
used a router and a doweling jig and and a router, you’ll get perfect results.
feel confident with your circular saw. For details, see “Make Your Own
We’ve broken the project into five Fluted Casing—The Easy Way,” p.
easy-to-follow steps and given you the 86. Figure on about a day and a half
option of selecting your own trim and for cutting and assembling, plus a
finish. couple of evenings for sanding and
The bookcase construction is finishing.
by David Radtke
78 APRIL 1999 THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
Step1
Build the basic
box, p. 80
Step2
Make the
decorative front
pieces, p. 83
Step3
ALL YOU NEED ARE SIMPLE
Make your own
HAND AND POWER TOOLS
The only power tools you’l need are a fluted casing the
7/8-hp router, a circular saw P( hoto
1) with a fine-toothed plywood blade, easy way, p. 86
a drill, a power miter saw and an
orbital sander. (And you could substi-
tute a hand miter saw for the power
one.) You’ll also need other wood-
Step4
working tools like C-clamps, bar
clamps, spring clamps, a screwdriver,
drill bits and a doweling jig (Photo 5) Apply the front
with a 3/8-in. brad point bit.
Although you could get by without it, trim, p. 90
a 24-in. Clamp & Tool guide (Photo
2) is great for routing perfectly
straight grooves (dadoes) to support
the shelves (see the Buyer’s Guide, p.
Step5
92). This tool clamps firmly to the
edges of the plywood and leaves an
unobstructed path to push your Wipe on a
router from one side to the next. It’s
not a tool you’l get and use only once. beautiful Danish
The Clamp & Tool guide has dozens
oil finish, p. 92
of uses, such as helping you make
super-straight crosscuts (perpendicu-
lar cuts to the wood grain) on lumber
and plywood.
THE FAMILY HANDYMAN APRIL 1999 79
B o o k c a s e
Step1
Building the basic box:
Sides, shelves and back
RIP 3/4-in. GET STRAIGHT RIP CUTS
hardwood ply- WITH A HOMEMADE JIG
1 wood into If you’ve got a fancy setup for achiev-
11-1/4 in. wide
pieces for the ing perfectly straight cuts (rips) from
sides and the a sheet of plywood on a table saw or
shelves. Cut something else, all the better. If you
these pieces to don’t, this simple jig (Photo 1) is what
length to make
the two sides you need.
and the six Construct the jig by screwing
shelves. Also together two scraps of either 1/2- or
cut the 1/4-in. 3/4-in. plywood. The top narrow
plywood back
to width and piece (2-1/2 in. wide) must have one
length while factory straightedge. Leave the bo-t
you have the tom piece a few inches wider than
edge guide your saw base (in most cases, that will
set up.
make the bottom piece about 10 in.).
Screw the top piece to the bottom
with drywall screws every 5 in. Now
MARK AND you need to trim the lower piece pe-r
CUT the 1/4-in. fectly straight.
2 dadoes in the Now, clamp the jig to the entire
sides. Use a
special piece of 3/4-in. maple plywood, set-
23/32-in. wide ting it to the correct width. Rip-cut
straight-cut (lengthwise) the two bookcase sides
router bit for a (A), then cut them to length (cros-s
tight fit for the
thinner-than- cut). Rip two additional lengths and
3/4-in. ply- crosscut them (outer sides “A” facing
wood. up) into 31-7/8 in. lengths for the
shelves. Cut the 1/4-in. plywood back
(C) to the dimensions in the Cutting
List, p. 83x.
GLUE AND SCREW the ply-
wood shelves to the sides
with 1-5/8 in. wood screws.
Drill pilot and countersink
holes no more than 3/4 in.
3 from the front and back to
accept the screws. The
screws will be covered by
molding later. Next, align the
1/4-in. plywood back (C) and
square the assembly by nail-
ing into the back of the sides
and shelves.
80 APRIL 1999 THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
GEDUGIDEE B ALOOFWA RLEISBITPIRGH HOG NSB ETU ADEHYTIWSOGDISLTEUE EOFRD MG(AAEBRG2K)3R/3O2OGR"VIUPEIDSE TROEFIPAPD CG GPPFTUEIRIOEIEDOCRCEMEYE OSBFHEEINEGT CUT
B o o k c a s e
ROUT THE 1/4-IN. DEEP SHELF APPLY the
SLOTS INTO THE SIDES divider and stop
molding to the 4
The shelves (B) lock into 1/4-in. deep sides of the
slots (dadoes) in the upright sides bookcase. Glue,
(A). To make the dadoes, install a then nail the
23/32-in. straight-cut router bit (see divider molding
to the sides
Buyer’s Guide, p. 92) in your router with 6d finish
and set the depth of cut to 1/4 in. The nails (two per
special 23/32-in. router bit is the same piece). Glue the
width as 3/4-in. plywood, so the slots stop molding to
the sides as
it cuts will make a nice snug fit for the shown in Fig. A.
shelves. Don’t substitute a 3/4-in. bit; Further secure
you’ll be unhappy with the sloppy fit. the molding
Clamp your edge guide (Photo 2) with 7/8-in.
brads spaced
to a scrap piece of plywood and rout a every 12 in. Set
test dado. Then measure the distance the brads with a
from the edge guide to the near edge nail set. You’ll
of the dado. This will give you the di-s fill the holes
later with wood
tance you’ll need for setting up each putty.
dado groove. Mark and cut (seeF ig.
A) all the 1/4-in. deep dadoes on the
inside face of each part A. TIP: When
you cut dadoes with a router and 1/4-in. plywood back nailed into place DETAIL THE SIDES
straightedge, clamp the edge guide to before the glue sets (about 15 min- OF THE BOX WITH MOLDING
the left of your intended groove, then utes). This means you need to get your Now it’s time to detail the sides with
push the router base away from you as drill, countersink bit and a power the divider moldings (D1 and the
you rout the groove. This keeps the screwdriver and screws ready to go. lower D2; Fig. A) and the colonial top
router tight against the edge guide as Spread a light coat of glue on one moldings. The divider molding, with
the bit rotates through the cut. Finish- shelf side and into the dado, then fit the stop molding (Photo 4), breaks
sand all the plywood pieces now with each shelf into its dado. Have a moist the strong vertical line to give the
150-grit sandpaper; otherwise, you’ll cotton rag handy to wipe away any bookcase a distinct architectural look.
struggle with sanding in tight spaces oozing glue. Next, screw the shelf to It has a base section, a main vertical
after assembly. the side as shown inF ig. A, p. 84. The section and a top section similar to
screw holes for each shelf side must be the cornice of a building.
GLUE AND SCREW THE SHELF predrilled within 3/4 in. of the front To begin detailing the sides, first
ENDS INTO THE SLOTTED and the back. The screwheads will be cut the divider molding,
SIDES covered later by the molding. Follow then glue and nail it (use 6d
It’s essential to have a flat surface for this procedure for each shelf. finish nails) to the sides
assembly so you can align the shelves Now, before the glue sets, grab the (Photo 4). Drill pilot holes
squarely to the sides. The shelves (B) 1/4-in. plywood back (C) to square through the molding to
should fit tightly into the grooves. the assembly. There’s no need to glue prevent splitting. The colo-
Test the fit. If the shelf won’t slip into the plywood back to the shelves or nial stop molding (E) and
the dado, wrap some fine sandpaper sides. First nail the back along one the backside of the divider
(150-grit) around a 1/2-in. square entire side using a 1-in. panel nail molding must be applied so
block about 3 in. long and sand the every 5 in. Then align the top of the they align flush with the
sides of the grooves until you get a other side flush with the top edge of 1/4-in. plywood back. Glue
snug fit. the plywood; this will square the and clamp this molding to
Once you’re sure everything fits, assembly. Nail along this side, then the side. Drive 7/8-in. wire
you’ll have to work fast to complete nail the rest of the back into the back- brads through the stop
the assembly. You’ll need to get the side of the shelves. Let the glue dry for molding into the sides
shelves glued into the dadoes and the at least two hours before continuing. every 12 in., then set them.
82 APRIL 1999 THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
SM(ETO)OLPDING (DMDIOV1LID)DEINRG
FIG. A
84 APRIL 1999 THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
B o o k c a s e
Step2
Making the decorative front
pieces: Corner blocks, curved
aprons
CUT THE CORNER BLOCKS work fine. Drill the dowel holes into
AND THE CURVED APRON the inside edge of the blocks and cor-
AND GLUE THEM TOGETHER responding holes into the end of each 5
The decorative upper and lower cor- apron. Don’t glue these parts together DRILL 3/8-in. dowel holes in the cor-
ner blocks (Photo 6) are simple to yet. Mark the backside of each block ner blocks and corresponding holes in
make from 3/4-in. wide x 5-1/2 in. and apron so you know which piece the aprons. Glue and clamp this
assembly after you glue the stop
long pieces of solid maple. The detail goes where. moldings to the front of the blocks.
on the front of the corner blocks is Now to detail the corner blocks,
made by gluing mitered colonial stop miter the stop molding to fit the
molding to each block face. First cut perimeter of each block. I used a
the four corner blocks (F) and the two woden handsaw miter box for con- 6
curved aprons (G). Use a 27-1/2 in. trol. Avoid cutting small pieces with GLUE the stop molding to the front of
radius to mark the curve onto the the power miter saw. Once you’ve cut the corner blocks. Be very precise
about the miter cuts. A simple
aprons. A nail, a wire and a pencil will all the pieces, glue them to the blocks wooden handsaw miter box works
and clamp them with spring clamps great for these small, hard-to-hold
(Photo 6). When the glue is dry, sand pieces. After the glue is set, sand the
Cutting List
the edges of each block clean and glue edges of the block with 100-grit, then
150-grit, sandpaper. Glue the dowel
KEY PCS. SIZE & DESCRIPTION the doweled joints for each upper and joints and clamp the corner blocks to
A 2 3/4’’ x 11-1/4’’ x 78’’ maple lower apron assembly. Clamp each the apron to complete the apron
B 6 3/4p’’l yxw 1o1o-1d/ 4s’i’d xe s31-7/8’’ assembly for at least two hours. assemblies.
maple plywood shelves
C 1 1/4’’ x 32-3/4’’ x 76’’
maple plywood back
D1 6 3/4’’ x 1-1/2’’ x 13’’
maple divider molding*
D2 2 3/4’’ x 1-1/2’’ x 35-7/8’’
maple divider molding*
D3 2 3/4’’ x 1-1/2’’ x 4-5/8’’
maple divider caps*
E 80 7/16’’ x 1-1/4’’ colonial stop
ln. ft. molding (allows for waste)
F 4 3/4’’ x 3-1/2’’ x 5-1/2’’ maple
corner blocks
G 2 3/4’’ x 5-1/2’’ x 26-3/4’’ maple
curved aprons
H 2 3/4’’ x 3-1/2’’ x 64-3/4’’ maple
fluted casing
J1 1 3/4’’ x 12-15/16’’ x 35-3/4’’
maple plywood top
J2 5-1/2 3/4’’ x 3/4’’maple edge
ln. ft. banding*
K1 2 3/4’’ x 1-1/2’’ x 4’’ maple
front feet*
K2 2 3/4’’ x 1-1/2’’ x 2’’ maple
back feet*
L 2 3/4’’ x 5-1/2’’ x 11-1/4’’ support
strips
*Have the lumberyard cut these pieces
to width from a 1x6. THE FAMILY HANDYMAN APRIL 1999 83
DJIOSM(GETO)WOLPDEINALGSPISRNEOMGNBLY (CBA(FOLG)POR)RCNOKENSR S(METO)OLPDING
B o o k c a s e
Step3
Make your own
fluted casing—
the easy way
Making decorat ive flutes for cabinet tr im was a
task I dreaded for years . My first at tempts involved
an edge guide attached to a router base. Invariably
I ’d s l ip up, the router would wander (usual ly on
7 the last flute) , and I ’d have to start a l l over. Later I
DRILL holes 1-1/2 in. on both sides of the center line of your jig. Keep tried a router table . But as I reposit ioned my hands
the holes about 4 in. back from each end and spaced about 2 ft. apart while feeding the board over the bit , burn marks
toward the middle. The holes are spaced 1-1/2 in. from the center to would appear, and they’d take hours to sand out.
avoid having screw holes show through your flutes. If you rout a dif- But now that I ’ve bui l t this j ig for my hand-held
ferent width or number of flutes, you may need to change the hold-
down screw locations. After drilling the holes, flip the jig over and router, I ’ve overcome those problems. Now I
countersink them to accept screws for holding the workpiece. enjoy churning out perfeuctelyd flpieces.
86 APRIL 1999 THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
JBIAGSE CLIE5RHNN/UAE1T6NRE"ND RxWE 3RO/S4O1"D-1/32/"16" RWOIDUTTHE RO3S F/BI4DA"E SxSE 2" ASTHILDIEGE BSNA TSOHEE
BUILD THE FLUTING JIG
FROM 3/4-IN. PLYWOOD
AND TWO HARDWOOD STRIPS
Use one-third of a sheet (lengthwise) of 3/4-in.
cabinet-grade plywood for the base and sides of
the jig and two strips of hardwood for the runners
(Photo 1). Here’s how to measure, cut and assem-
ble the jig:
■ Measure the base of your router plus two thick-
nesses of your plywood sides (usually 23/32 in.
each, or 1-7/16 in. total) to get the right width for
the jig base.
■ Rip the measured jig base width lengthwise
(8 ft.) from your plywood sheet. Accuracy is criti-
cal; use your cutting guide for your circular saw or
a table saw.
■ Rip the two plywood sides 2 in. wide. 8
■ Rip two runners 5/16 in. wide from a 3/4-in.
thick hardwood board. MARK your flute locations 1 in. apart on each end of your 1x4
■ Cut the 5/16-in. wide dadoes into the two sides blank. Align the center mark of the workpiece with the center line of
using either a dado blade or multiple passes with a the jig and screw the blank to the jig from underneath. Do the same
on the opposite end and be sure to install the hold-down screws
standard table saw blade. The dadoes must be toward the middle as well. If your blank has a slight bow or crook,
3/8 in. deep. the hold-down screws will hold it straight and flat as you rout.
THE FAMILY HANDYMAN APRIL 1999 87
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