Getting The Right Unfinished Pine Bookcase
Before committing myself to a set of unfinished pine bookcase plans, I first decided to shop around for a pre-fabricated bookshelf, both online and at a couple of discount furniture stores in town. My plan was to look at a broad range of styles and prices before deciding what to buy. It didn’t take me lengthy to discover that I really had just two choices in the matter; buy somewhat expensive bookcases with fake wood laminate, or buy extremely expensive wood bookcases that will stay in my family for the next 100 years.
The fine stuff would be nice, but since I can’t afford to spend $800 at Ethan Allen right now, I’m actually left with just one option: the somewhat expensive crappy bookcases. It’s disappointing to think this is my just choice.
So now I’m looking at some unfinished pine bookcase plans, which means I’d have to take on the job of building something from scratch. I’m starting to like the idea, though. First, it is the only other option I can find to buying bookcases, and second, I like the idea of deciding for myself what level of quality (and expense) I want to put into the project. I don’t want an unfinished pine bookcase made from the cheapest materials around, but I don’t need the most expensive either. Building my own bookcase will let me create something between these two extremes.
Choosing the right wooden for an unfinished pine bookcase plan can be a big topic to get your arms around, especially if you start reading the zillions of articles online about wood species and wood grades, plywood construction, shelving span calculators, etc., etc. This is all fine stuff, but for now, let me filter down the choices for a first-time bookcase project. For first-time projects, I like to use off-the-shelf dimensional lumber from the big box stores like Home Depot.
Pine is relatively cheap (compared to hardwood) and is precut to standard-size widths and lengths. That means a LOT less cutting for me to get the basic pieces of my bookcase poised for assembly.
Woodworkers might point out that dimensional lumber is inconsistent in width and thickness, which makes less-than-perfect woodworking joints without first planning and/or squaring the boards on a table saw. They’re right. Dimensional lumber is not really completely square and consistent from one board to the next. But that doesn’t mean you can’t build a decent-looking unfinished pine bookcase otherwise. Sure, you might have some small gaps in the joinery, and maybe the case isn’t absolutely rectangular and plumb. But more frequently than not, you’ll be the only one who knows any different. Save the much more exacting work for nicer bookcase you’ll build next year.
The author has written more about pine bookcase and solid pine bookcase on his sites, check them out: pine bookcase and http://www.pinebookcases.org/solid-pine-bookcases/.