Bookcase-Cam - Day Nineteen

I can't do molding this weekend because the lumberyard that is cutting it for me broke their machine, and the guy who fixes it was out last week. Instead, I focus on shelves. I cut the last full sheet of plywood (which has been taking up garage space since February) into three chunks which I finish cutting downstairs. I then take the remaining plywood scrap and my tools downstairs, and sweep up the garage, restoring it to its pre-project state at last.

I decide to be pretty precise with the shelf width, because some of the 1/4" plywood backing bends slightly outward and I don't want to have a gap of varying thickness between it and the rear edges of the shelves (though one piece of backing bends the other direction -- have to think about that one...). Here's a piece of scrap to test the cut width on the table saw; it's close enough to stay in place unsupported:



After cutting all shelves, here I peel off the masking tape that I wrapped around each end prior to cutting on the radial arm saw. Without this step, there's a fair amount of splintering as the radial saw cuts the shelves to length. (An event without precedent in the history of the universe occurred during this operation: the roll of masking tape ran out as I wrapped the last piece, with less than 1/8" left over! Immensely satisfying to this anal-retentive woodworker...)



I brought up this bundle of 16 shelf standards so I could take them back to the hardware store; they are white and I think I want beige, since I have off-white trim. In any case, I need to see how a beige one looks before taking the hacksaw to all 16 of these.



I must still veneer the exposed edges of the plywood shelves, but I need to buy more veneer so I decided not to do that today. I hope that they don't sag when loaded; the longest span is just under 31". That would mean more work on each shelf; since there are twelve of them, any operation takes a while. Pop (still advising me on this project long-distance) assures me that they'll be fine.

Initial week of daily activity: | Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7,8 | 9 |
Long-term weekend progress: | 10 | 11 | 12,13 | 14,15 | 16-18 | 19 |
Intermittent bursts of effort: | 20-22 | 23-31 | 32-35 |
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