Paperback bookcase design sketches

[feng_shui_house]

Sketch #1 The bit with the curved top is shown as transparent. I was thinking one thick plank piece flat on the bottom with one thin plywood piece nailed into it, with thin strips nailed into the plywood to provide a place to nail smaller pieces, and then the side piece to cover it. I considered castors on the bottom.

And then I said, way too much sawing of thick planks. And do I really want to bend down to the floor to get a book?

Sketch #2 Subunits of plank, with other smaller planks on the side & plywood scrap divider nailed in the middle. The last shelf to be raised, so I can store larger stuff beneath.

And then I said, but I can't nail into the divider from the top AND the bottom, so some parts will just be floating around loose. Bump into it & there could be a cascade of ouch.

Sketch #3 Dowels! Drill holes & dowels can hold the leg support sections on each level. Divider would only be fastened on the top of each level.

And then I said, but drilling a dowel hole straight up and down exactly centered to match on the legs is not a job to be done by hand. I COULD buy a drill jig (saw one today, in fact), but do I really want one more tool to pack?

Sketch#4 To hell with leg supports on each level. Use a length long enough to do the whole thing in one go. Nail the planks to the supports & the plywood dividers to the top of each level. How strong does it need to be for a disposable thing to hold paperbacks mostly?

Sketch#5 AHA! As I was taking down metal shelf supports it occurred to me that this U-shaped metal with pre-drilled screw-holes would be a HECK of a lot easier to screw down on the shelf-planks & then the plywood dividers could fit in! (Have not measured to see the feasibility of this, but I have hope). EDIT: Just tried a scrap of plywood into a metal support & it fit in *exactly* - snug but not difficult to get in- here's hoping the rest of the plywood & metal are the same dimensions.

I have various sizes of plywood scrap leftover from the guys redoing my soffits, including a number of triangular bits, which I thought could be made to fit at the ends of the shelves.

So, #5 currently looks doable. (But could mutate when I actually start.)

Comments

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

Sketch one- not a good idea, that looks sooo like our shelving trollies and that low bottom shelf is useless. Of all your designs 5 ssems to be the most practical , both to use and to make. Having used numerous different types of paperback shelving in my working life I would recomend any shlef you use have fixed deviders every 4 books or so to keep them upright. Otherwise the only way to keep them upright is to jam them in so tight it's almost impossible to remove them.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Mmm... I'll think about dividers. I don't like fixed dividers because the books vary a lot in thickness. Something that slides along the shelf, or along the divider would be more flexible. Or even just small pieces of wood to lay in between where needed? Well, I've time to think that out as I can't even begin this before I tile the floor- thanks for the idea.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

We did use sliding deviders that clip on to the shelves but I was thinking of something easier to make. Ordinary book ends don't work for paperbakc as they don't have the weight to put on the bookend foot to hold it in place.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

If the sliding part is just a bent piece of wire, with the ends going into a block of wood, that might work & be fairly quick- just drill a couple holes into the wood to hold it. *sketches*

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

You also need a way of anchoring it where you want it. Ours were plastic with thbotom like a paperclip that grabbed firmly onto the shelf and acted like a brake.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'll glue a rock on it. :^)



Actually, if the wood is thin & extends out to either side of the wire for several inches, I can just use the weight of books on one side of it to hold it.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

Should work and the wood it self would act as a drag to stop it moving.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

*nods* And in that case it wouldn't even need to hook over the plywood. It'd be acting as a bookend.

Designing stuff is fun. Hope it works. Now I am going to start tiling. *pooh*. :^) Thanks for your input.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I agree, I have the same experience from the library!

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

I came up with an idea I think would work for me (it'd be useless in a public library, though.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

I use a bent piece of metal as a book end/divider. It started as a rectangle of metal and then acquired a right angle bend. Both sides of the bend are about the size of the front of a paperback, so you can get a lot of weight of books on the flat half.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

*nods* That's a possibility- if I have thin metal. I am determined not to buy any materials for this.

[kalinda001.livejournal.com]

#5 looks like a good design. Simpler than the other ones and has a nice not-purely functional look to it.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I am going to try!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I like #5 too. It has a back, and shelves need either a back, or a diagonal support (like a home-made one I have) to keep the uprights vertical and not let them skew.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Actually it has a middle- I intend to put paperbacks on either side & put the bookcase at right angles to the wall, like a library. I hope it works out! So many of my dream designs fail the reality test. :^)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

If it has a solid middle, that should be fine. It will need a wider base than top though, or it might be easy to knock over.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

The middle won't be solid, either. I just want a divider so I can put books on either side. I don't want to add unnecessary weight to the structure.

I think I'm gonna use some really thick pieces of wood for the 'legs' so it'll be ok. I've got some *cough* reclaimed studs. I treated myself to two new 'double action' handsaws today (they cut on both the push & pull stroke) so hopefully the thicker wood won't drive me nuts. I also treated myself to a pair of good cutting pliers with special leverage action- cuts through wire in one snip that I was having to mangle for a minute or more. Good tools are lovely. *pets them*

I figure even if the bookcases are *total disasters* at least I'll be able to get the trash men to take them, as they'll take any kind of furniture on the once monthly bulk pick up, but will NEVER take lumber.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

It looks an interesting design.
McGyver would appear to be your middles name :¬D

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

*grin* My father was an old hand at reincarnating stuff, I take after him.

[ultrapsychobrat.livejournal.com]

Hey, good design and look. Hope it works out okay

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Unless it becomes a total disaster, I'll prob. post pics.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

This is like a practical mind works :-)Good luck!

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

I tend to design lots of stuff in my mind, but when I sketch it, I always realize it won't work. It takes a lot of sketching or fiddling to get anything done.