Kitchen Bookshelf

We needed a bookshelf in our kitchen for a few things: cookbooks, a place to stash Sarah's purse, and our weekly pile of library books (in various states of being read). This one I built fills the bill.

As usual, I started with a rough hand-drawn plan in my shop notebook. I really enjoy doing this because it allows me to go at my own pace and picture what I want to do. It's quite easy, especially with something as simple as a bookshelf. I usually start by just writing down and drawing the dimensions that define the limits of the design. Then, after thinking about it for a while, I draw what I want with measurements and refine them. I'm not sure you can see it in this photo, but I did some "research" on other shelves that I built or that we bought to get a feel for the sizes that we'd need.

I used two 8' 1x10s. I bought the good stuff, which was unnecessary since I painted it but it was nice to work with. Check out that nice bench!

Parts cut out, pre-drilled and labeled

Test assembly

Partially assembled

Screw holes filled and ready for sanding

Just checking that it fit where we want it

Glueing on the back

Sanded and ready for priming

Last coat of paint on

I really enjoyed this project even though the heat index was 105 degrees on the weekend I built it. I got into a nice flow state and things went quite smoothly.

Doing the project helps me figure out how I want the shop to be laid out and gave me some ideas on a couple tool upgrades.

Paulk Compact Workbench

It's been quite a while since I posted but it's also been quite some time (over a year) since I've actually had a shop! Now that I have one, I haven't wasted any time getting into it. Aside from a few repairs and some painting, my first real project is this Compact Workbench from Ron Paulk.

I bought the plans for this bench quite some time ago - while we were living in Hanover, NH. I had a small space in the basement that might have been used for a shop, so I thought this bench would be good. However, I didn't end up using the space as a shop so I didn't build it.

Now that we live in Lebanon, NH and I have a real shop, I decided that now was the time. The materials for this bench cost about $200 but I have some nice plywood scraps left over that can be used for some other project.

As usual, I spent most of my time setting up the cuts to break down the plywood into manageable sizes. I didn't take any photos of that, but suffice it to say that there's lots of measuring, checking, measuring and clamping before the 30 second cuts take place.

This photo lets you see the internal structure. Making those cutouts not only makes it easy to store tools in the table but significantly lightens the bench, too, which is handy when you work alone as much as I do.

This bench is a little darker in this shot because I coated the whole thing in water based polyurethane before I put the top on. That is, I coated the inside. I'm not sure that's 100% necessary, but since the heat and moisture in the shop could vary quite a bit, I thought it was worth doing.

Here's the top before I sanded and poly-ed it. You can still see the guide lines I used to drill all the holes. Those holes are for clamps and jigs. Stay tuned because I have lots of ideas for jigs that'll make this bench even handier.

Here's the final product. I'll have it on saw horses for now but a mobile base is in the near future.

I had a great time making this. It allowed me to really settle into my shop and showed me what my priorities need to be in terms of what I need to build next to tailor the shop to how I like to work.

Update:
I got a couple clamps. this should explain why I built a bench full of holes!