urniture with few design flourishesbenefits from wood that has lots offigure. When I build simple book-

cases like this one, I look for cherry withbold grain patterns, which I often findwhen sifting through stacks of No. 1 andNo. 2 common grades. Using lumber withbeautiful figure, selecting and matching allthe stock, is really my favorite part of fur-nituremaking. I modeled this bookshelf af-ter one that once belonged to my great

grandmother. It’s a small, easy-to-buildpiece whose few design details are quitesimple. For the joinery, I use No. 10 biscuitjoints for everything. All the pieces are 1 ⁄2 in. thick, which gives the bookshelf alight and delicate look.

Roughing out all the piecesWhen picking lumber for this project, I se-lect stock that’s at least 7 in. wide, so eachhalf of a V-shelf requires only one plank

(see the drawing on p. 60). You can edge-join two boards for the sides and bottomshelf, or you can use single boards if yourstock is wide enough. If I edge-join twoboards for the sides, I make sure that theglueline ends up in the exact center.

I begin by flattening, edge-jointing, thenthickness-planing all my stock down to 9⁄16 in. Then I pick through the boards andfind the best matches to make up the twosides and bottom shelf. I glue up the sec-tions using pipe clamps. After the glue isdry, I clean up any squeeze-out and jointone edge of each side and the bottomshelf. Then I select the boards for the twoV-shelves, joint one edge and rip themslightly oversize on the tablesaw.

At this point, I run the lumber through athickness sander until everything is 1 ⁄2 in.thick. I prefer a sander because on highlyfigured woods, my planer produces tear-out. You could, of course, thickness-planethe boards, and take care of any blemisheswith handplanes and scrapers. Once all thestock has been sanded to 1 ⁄2 in., I rip it to final width on the tablesaw.

Using the sliding crosscut sled on my ta-blesaw, I cut the sides and shelves to length.It’s critical that the shelf components all be

58 Fine Woodworking Photos: Anatole Burkin

Bookcase Made with Biscuit JoineryLumber matched for color and figure lends elegance to this charmingly simple case

by Peter S. Turner

A small bookshelf—This V-shelf bookcaseis made of solid cherry, joined withNo. 10 biscuits.

F

square and exactly the same length. Thejoint between the shelves and ends arewhat will make or break this piece, so besure your crosscut sled is right on.

I taper the sides using a homemade jig onmy tablesaw (see the drawing above). Thejig is just a piece of plywood with a fewguides screwed to it at an angle. To use thejig, I place it flush against the tablesaw’sfence and nudge the fence toward theblade until the left side of the jig just touch-es the blade. I lock the fence, place one ofthe sides in the jig and screw a piece ofscrapwood onto the right-side guide to actas a hold-down. I cut the taper by pushingthe jig along the tablesaw fence (see thetop photo at right).

To cut the opposing taper, I flip theworkpiece on its other face, place the cut-off against the right edge of the workpieceand, finally, place a shim the same thick-ness as my tablesaw blade between thecutoff and the jig guide (see the photo atright). I make sure all the pieces are snug,attach a hold-down and cut the taper.

Join V-shelves, and shape edgesWith all the pieces cut to size, it’s time tojoin the V-shelves and cut the biscuit slots

September/October 1997 59

Rip one side.A hold-downscrewed to theright guide of the jig keeps theworkpiece snugwhen sawing.

Cutting the opposite taper—Place a shim thethickness of thesawblade againstthe right guide,then the cutoffand, last, theworkpiece, whichis turned over onits other side.

Drawings: Heather Lambert

SIMPLE JIG FOR CUTTING TAPERS

3°

Fence side Bookcase side

Hold-down

Guides

90°Cutoff

This jig can be made using 1⁄2 in. or thicker plywood.

in the sides that will fasten the shelves. FirstI join the V-shelves. I use four biscuits pershelf, evenly spaced. For each V-shelf, oneset of slots is cut in the edge of one board,and the mating set is cut into the face of theother board.

To glue up the V-shelves, I use scrapalong the faces where the clamps are posi-tioned to protect the wood. I’m not worriedabout the edges because they get shapedlater. When I tighten the clamps, I use a trysquare to check that the pieces stay 90° toeach other (see the far left photo). I use fourclamps for each shelf, each clamp posi-tioned over a biscuit joint. The ends of eachV must be dead even. When the glue is dry,I rip each wing of each V-shelf to its finalwidth on the tablesaw.

The long edges of both V-shelves and alledges of the sides, excluding the feet and

60 Fine Woodworking

These joints hold the case together. The V-shelves arejoined at 90° to each other. Bis-cuit slots cut in the ends of theshelves join them to the case sides.

111⁄2 in.

SectionA

SectionA

Center shelf

Top V-shelf

Radius,23⁄8 in.

Bottom shelf

Bookcase with V-shelvesAll parts of thisbookcase aremade from 1⁄2-in.-thick material. Theshelves are joinedto the sides withNo. 10 biscuits.The lengths of all three shelvesshould be thesame and the endsof the V-shelvesdead even.

A 1⁄2-in.-radiusroundover bitleaves a crisp edge on shelf and side edges.

When V-shelves arealigned on layoutcenterline, shelfcorners are 1⁄16 in.from the edge.

105⁄8 in.

67⁄8 in.

27 in.

8 in.

35 in.

Centerline

53⁄4 in.

cutouts, are rounded over leaving a crispedge where the roundover meets the edgeof the board. To get that shape, I set myrouter-table fence slightly past the out-side edge of the pilot bearing on a 1⁄2-in.-radius roundover bit. I use hold-downs andfeatherboards to make sure the stock pass-es firmly and squarely over the bit. Becauseall the stock for this project is 1⁄2 in. thick, Ionly have to set up once. When all theedges are machined, I lightly scrape andsand them to get a fair roundover, beingcareful not to soften the edges.

Slots in sides and shelves need to matchI first cut all the slots in the shelves with thebiscuit joiner. The shelves have four slotscut on each end. After I cut these, I’m care-ful not to get carried away and erase thelayout marks until I have transferred themonto the sides.

To mark the location of the mating slotson the bookcase’s sides, I use the V-shelvesas layout guides. First I draw a vertical cen-terline on the inside face of each side. Tolocate a V-shelf, I place it on end against aside, keeping the apex of the V on thecenterline, and slide it along the center-line until both edges are inset 1 ⁄16 in. fromthe case side. I hold the shelf in place andtrace along the bottom edge with a pencil.I also transfer to each side the layoutmarks showing where the biscuit slotsshould be cut.

To cut the slots in the sides, you needsomething to register the biscuit joineragainst because you can’t use the tool’sfence as you did on the shelves. I clamp astraight block of wood parallel to the linesI traced off the shelves. I offset this straight-edge to make up for the fact that I’m regis-tering the base of the biscuit joiner, not itsadjustable fence, against the straightedge.Here’s how I figure out the offset: I mea-sure the distance from the bottom face tothe bottom of a V-shelf slot (see the photoat right). On my biscuit joiner, I measurethe distance between the bottom of theblade (I use a raker tooth) to the base. Isubtract the first number from the second;that’s the offset, which I lay out on the side(see the top right photo). I use two clampseach time I reposition the straightedge, andthen I cut all the slots.

Template routing the cutouts and shaping the edgesI made up a template for the cutouts in thesides using a piece of 1⁄4-in. hardboard. It’s

September/October 1997 61

A straight board guides the biscuit joiner. The author places the base of the toolagainst a board clamped to the side to cut the slots for the shelves.

USE V-SHELVES AS LAYOUT GUIDES

Mark the inside faces of the sides. Transfer the biscuitslot marks from the shelves tothe sides.

Mark the offsets from the linesjust traced. These new marksare used to position a straight-edge for the biscuit joiner.

easy to work with, and if you don’t like thelook of a template you’ve just shaped, it’scheaper and faster to make another tem-plate than another bookcase side. If youadd a router with a guide bushing, a tem-plate also makes quick work of cleaningout the cutouts. When I made my tem-plate, I used a compass to draw the curveof the handle and a French curve to drawthe whale tail. I faired out the curves bysanding and filing.

I mark the cutouts on both ends and remove the waste with a jigsaw, staying at least 1 ⁄16 in. off the line. Then I clamp the template over a cutout and go over the area again using a router fitted with a5 ⁄16-in. guide bushing and a 1 ⁄4-in. straightbit. The bookcase’s handles get one morerun past the router. After removing thetemplates and guide bushing, I chuck a

1⁄4-in. roundover bit in the router and easethe edges of the cutouts.

The final shaping of the sides is accom-plished using hand tools. Using a file andchisel, I shape the corners of the handlesand the sharp junctures where the curvesof the whale tails meet.

Assembly, cleanup and finishBefore final assembly, I dry-fit the case tomake sure that everything lines up. Toavoid marring the piece and to make sure Iget even clamping pressure, I use caulsand backer boards. The backer boards aretwo pieces of scrap plywood slightly largerthan each side. To these, I attach a pair ofcauls with double-faced tape.

I also use a shopmade squaring jig that’snothing more than a right-angled trianglemade of scrap. I clamp this jig to the bot-

tom shelf and one side to keep the caseproperly aligned during glue-up.

When I assemble the case, I stand it on itsside. After clamping it, I check whether allthe shelves fit flat against the sides (see thephoto at left). I mark any that don’t and af-ter unclamping the case, plane them to fit.

Prior to finishing, I sand all the piecesthrough 180-grit. Then I wipe everythingdown with a damp rag to raise the grain.When the pieces are dry, I continue sand-ing up to 320-grit. When I sand the edges,I’m careful not to lose their definition.

I lied earlier when I said that selectingand matching the stock was my favoritepart of building furniture. I forgot about ap-plying the first coat of oil. It’s nice to seethe grain and figure pop out when oil isrubbed into the wood.

I use three coats of Kaldet finish oil,which is made by Livos, a German compa-ny. It is a linseed oil-based product thatcontains citrus solvents. The oil is availablefrom The Natural Choice (800-621-2591). Iprefer Livos products because of their lowtoxicity, nice satin sheen and pleasantlemony scent. �

Peter S. Turner designs and builds furniture

in a cooperative shop in Portland, Maine.

62 Fine Woodworking

Assemble the bookcase on end.Cauls, a squaring jig and backer boardsensure that the case is clamped tightlyand won’t be marred.