If you like to make simple furniture for your house, then the book case in the picture could become an interesting woodworking project for you.
You can keep quite a lot of books or various decorative boxes and vases on it, and you can place it not only in the living room but also in the hallway, bedroom or wherever you think is right for you. This book case features a very simple construction that has 3 levels and is very easy to make. It consists of horizontal boards that are interconnected with side boards at one end and with turned pillars at the other. Side boards and turned pillars are, in fact, the supports that allow this book case to withstand heavy weight. Of course, if you use thin or low-quality MDF boards, it is reasonable not to expect this construction to carry too much weight. The whole construction stands on 4 legs which are connected with two horizontal reinforcements. The joints between the parts are very simple; dowels are used to connect the boards, but also screws or biscuits can be used instead, and if you make the boards from solid wood, even some decorative joints (such as dovetail joints or box joints) would be fine.
This project was modeled using the free 3D CAD software FreeCAD.
W1270mm x H701mm x D254mm (W4' 2'' x H2' 3+5/8'' x D10'')
In addition to its simple construction, this book case is ideal if you want to give yourself a try as a furniture designer since some minimal changes can help you obtain a book case of a completely different look.
These are the possible changes:
- change in the number/height of levels;
- change in the dimensions of the whole construction;
- Side boards can be replaced with turned pillars and vice versa;
- the turned pillars can be rectangular in cross section, simple cylinders or processed on a lathe to your liking;
- the legs, too, can be of different shapes;
- if the book case is meant to hold a large number of books/heavy load, more legs and turned pillars can be added to the construction and
- the main shape of the bookcase can be changed; our book case takes the shape of the letter S written upside down, whereby there is a large blank space on the right as the bottom board is longer than the top boards. Of course, it’s up to you to design a completely new look for the construction if you want!
As you can see, you have a large number of options to create a book case whose design will be entirely your own work.
The book case can be made from different types of wood. We recommend that you use some hardwood for the legs and turned pillars and solid wood, plywood or MDF for the boards. Since the finish depends on the chosen material and the surrounding furniture, wall color, etc., we will leave the choice of finish entirely up to you.