Bookcase Questions

[mykolamac]

Hi, I am in the process of building some bookcases to be permanently attached to the walls (some recessed space in the "library" to be). I wanted to use some fairly thick stock at 1" at a width of about 16". The dimensions of the two book cases to be are roughly 9 feet long at about 9 feet high with several shelves. The questions I have are in regards to the wood I want to use. I can get 1" reclaimed oak at about $9 per foot cut and planed, and I figure at around $1,000 total for materials I can build the recessed bookcases. Do you think this is a good price and is oak a good choice for my bookcases? I appreciate any advice! Thanks! -Myk

[tom]

[Swingman]

Depends upon the width, the cut, and the type of oak. If the width is 16", as you indicate that's roughly $6.77 bf. That's on the high end for narrow stock Red Oak, but not unreasonably so for FAS dimensioned lumber that wide in some parts of the country.

(If it is 16" wide 4/4 QSWO, I'll bring a big trailer and we can both load up.)

What type of finish? If you are going to do a dark walnut stain, you might want to consider going with walnut.

If you like the various finish choices you have with oak, it is a good choice of a hardwood for just about any woodworking project.

[Leon]

The price is not totally out of the ball park for the sizes that you have indicated however you can pay about 1/2 that price depending where you are located and if you are willing to glue up pieces to get the 16" dimension. Typically there is a healthy up charge for boards that are 10"-12" and wider. In SE Texas Oak can be bought rough cut from the saw mill for about $2 per board foot, rough cut, and from a lumber yard for about $3.50 per board foot in S2S ripped straight on edge.

[Pat Barber]

Why not use oak plywood for the case and solid oak for the shelves. You get the same appearance for much less. The plywood would be very stable and just as easy to finish.

Use the hardwood for the face frames and the shelves and put a hardwood edge on your shelves.

A solid oak bookcase sounds great in theory but you could find much better uses for all that hardwood.

I would build a series of boxes "about" 24"x96" and tie them all together with my face frame. This method will be MUCH easier to move around and put into place.

[e-mail] wrote:

[Toller]

This is 16" lumber? I have never seen 16" oak, so I can't really say what a fair price would be. You could probably have someone glue up wood for you for half that price. Heck, you could buy the clamps and glue up yourself and then have the clamps. Since it is recessed, perfect grain matching doesn't seem important.

[boorite]

Yep. 4 sheets of good 3/4 ply for $250-$300.

Long as I'm trimming it out anyway, I'd make the shelves out of ply, too. Another 2 sheets, call it $120-$150. So far, you're in for $370-$450, and all you've got left is face frames and edge banding, and the thing is dimensionally stable, and no one will ever notice or care that it's not solid oak.

I know it's kind of a non-answer to the question, but I'm with Pat.

[mykolamac]

[A Lurker]

[e-mail] wrote in news:1160056424.954517.124350 @m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com:

Try:

East Coast Log Contact: Art Weeks Address: 50 County Road 639 Warren Glen/ Bloomsbury Rd Bloomsbury, NJ 08804 Phone: [phone]

No affiliation just a satisfied customer.

Jerry (Flemington)

[Art Greenberg]

Also try:

Agincourt Contact: Frank Martin Address: 212 E Mountain Road Hillsborough, NJ 08844 Phone: [phone]

I am a satisfied customer of both of these operations. Agincourt has a better selection of species, but for oak, you may do better on price with East Coast Log. For either, call in advance to make sure you're visiting at a suitable time.

If you're willing to drive a couple of hours, there are a few excellent larger-volume hardwood dealers in southeastern PA, in Amish country.