A Birch Plywood Bookcase With Adjustable Shelves
- Hands on
- 240 min
- Start to finish
- 24 hours
- Level
- moderate
- Makes
- one bookcase, 600mm wide x 900mm tall x 250mm deep
A bookcase is mostly a box: two sides, a top and a bottom, squared up by a back panel pinned on afterwards. The only decision that matters is where the shelves go, and pins in pre-drilled holes mean you are not locked into that decision early on — move a shelf up or down as the books on it change. One sheet of 18mm plywood does the whole carcass; a thin solid-wood lipping glued to every visible edge is what keeps it from reading as a sheet of plywood rather than furniture.
What you need
Step by step
-
Cut the two sides (900 x 250mm), the top and the bottom (564 x 250mm each) from the 18mm sheet, breaking it down with a circular saw and straightedge before squaring the final cuts.
40 min -
Lay out shelf-pin holes on the inside face of each side panel: two rows 25mm in from the front and back edges, holes every 32mm from 150mm above the floor to near the top. A strip of pegboard clamped in place makes a ready-made drilling jig.
25 min -
Drill the shelf-pin holes 12mm deep with a 5mm bit, using a piece of tape on the bit as a depth stop so every hole bottoms out the same.
30 min -
Mark and drill countersunk pilot holes through the outer face of each side panel where it meets the top and bottom, four holes per joint.
20 min -
Glue and screw the top and bottom panels between the sides. Check square by comparing the two corner-to-corner diagonals before the glue sets.
25 min -
Cut the 6mm back panel to 600 x 900mm and offer it up to the assembled carcass, trimming if the case has crept out of square.
15 min -
Glue and pin the back panel to the rear edges of the case. This pulls the carcass square and is what stops it racking sideways.
20 min -
Cut the two shelves to 560 x 230mm and glue solid wood edging to the front edges of the shelves, sides, top and bottom. Clamp until dry.
35 min -
Plane or sand the edging flush once the glue has cured, then sand the whole case through the grits, easing every sharp edge and corner.
30 min -
Apply the finish following the cure time given on the tin, and leave it to cure fully before the case goes anywhere near a book.
15 min -
Fit the shelf pins and drop the two shelves into the holes at whatever height suits the books going on them.
5 min
Afterwards
Vacuum plywood dust out of the shelf-pin holes and off every surface before gluing — dust in a glue line weakens it. Clamp glued joints for at least an hour before handling the case, and give the oil or wax finish its full cure time, usually 24 hours, before loading the shelves; a finish that has not cured scuffs and picks up fingerprints under weight.
Questions
Can I make it taller or wider than the sizes given?
Yes, but keep shelf spans under about 350mm wide — 18mm plywood sags under a full shelf of hardbacks over longer spans without a lipped or doubled front edge.
Do I need the solid wood edging?
No, but bare plywood edges chip and show the ply layers. A thin glued strip is cheap and barely changes the overall dimensions.
Why 18mm plywood rather than something thinner?
Thinner panels flex under the weight of books. 18mm is close to the practical minimum for shelves carrying anything heavier than ornaments.
What if the carcass is slightly out of square after gluing the top and bottom in?
Pin the back panel on before that glue fully cures — a square back pulls a slightly racked case true. Check the diagonals again once it is pinned.