Step By Step Process Of Building A Bookcase/bookshelf With Doors
If you have a door piece at your home, that will not be used for anything, you can use these door pieces to build your own bookcase and to do so you need certain items and follow the step by step process that is mentioned below:
Items Needed
- Full door & Door Cut In Half Lengthwise
- Power Drill & Drill Bit Set
- 1/4-Inch Diameter Dowel Rods
- Handsaw & Wood Glue
- Rubber Mallet & Rags
- Measuring Tape & Pencil
- 3/4-Inch Furniture-Grade Plywood & Carpenter’s Square
- Striaghtedge & Circular Saw
- Level & Shelving Brackets With Screws
- Head Screwdriver Bit & Wood Shelving
Steps
- Firstly, lay your full door on a flat work surface with a long edge which is facing towards you.
- Now you need to place one of your halved doors on its side and standing up on the cut edge. But your halved door against the side of your full door and then align the ends of your both doors.
- Next, you need to drill pilot holes 3 1/2 inches deep through with the side of your halved door and into the edge of your full door where they meet. Space all the holes approx 4 inches apart from one end to the other. You just need to use your power drill & drill bit that is the same in diameter as a 1/4-inch diameter wood dowel. The 1/4-inch dowel may not be precisely 1/4 inch in diameter.
- Then rotate your full door 180 degrees with the opposite long edge which is facing you. Repeat your alignment and the drilling steps along this edge with your second halved door.
- Simply cut 1/4-inch diameter dowel rods into the 4-inch lengths with the help of a handsaw.
- Now you need to squeeze a generous amount of your wood glue into each hole along both edges of your full door. Clean up extra with a rag.
- The next thing is to return one of your halved doors to the side of your full door. Now you have to align the drilled holes of the two.
- Now you need to coat the cut dowel rods with the help of wood glue. Tap your rods into the holes with the help of a rubber mallet. These dowel rods will now act as the pins that will hold the joint betwixt your two doors together. Simply tap the side of your halved door betwixt your dowel rod pins to tighten the joint. You need to tap each pin again to tighten them as well. Repeat this process with your second halved door. Wipe off extra glue with your rag and let the assembly dry for a whole night.
- Now you need to cut off the extra dowel rods along with both sides of your door assembly with the help of a handsaw.
- Then you need to measure the width of your door assembly across the back from right to left by using a measuring tape. Also, measure the depth of your door assembly from back to front.
- Next, measure one edge of a piece of 3/4-inch-thick furniture-grade plywood to the width measurement, and then you need to mark it by using your pencil. Also, measure the perpendicular edge of your plywood to the depth measurement and also mark it.
- Place a triangular carpenter’s square on the edge of the plywood with its 90-degree angle at a pencil mark. Trace the edge of the square with a pencil to extend the mark into a line. Repeat at the mark on the perpendicular edge of the plywood. Extend both lines with a straightedge and a pencil until they intersect. Repeat to mark a second matching piece of plywood.
- Cut your plywood along the pencil lines by using a circular saw or handsaw.
- Also, place 1 cut section of your plywood against the open end of your door assembly that will be the top of your bookcase. Simply drill pilot holes through with your plywood and into your door assembly and then you need to insert glued dowel pins as you did with the side joints of your door assembly. You need to repeat with the other cut section of your plywood to fasten the bottom of your bookcase. Let the top & bottom of your bookcase dry overnight and then simply cut off the extra pins.
- Now it's time to measure the back wall of your bookcase from bottom to top by making a pencil mark in every 12 inches or at each spot where you want your shelf to be and then stand your bookcase upright.
- Next, align a level diagonally with one of your pencil marks, also center the bubble & trace the level with the help of a pencil in order to make a straight line across the back of your bookcase. Repeat this step at each pencil mark.
- The next thing is to place one shelf bracket inside your bookcase on the left side of your back wall. Also, align the top of your bracket with 1 of your level lines. Insert your bracket’s screws through with the screw holes and into your bookcase with the help of a power drill and head screwdriver bit. You just need to mount one bracket at the left, center and right side of each line inside your bookcase.
- Finally, you need to measure the width of the interior of your bookcase. Simply measure wood shelving to your bookcase interior width measurement & then you need to cut it straight across with the help of a circular saw. Cut one shelf for each set of brackets. Set the shelves on your shelf brackets and finish your task.