(country music) - Look at this beautiful book case.

Very basic build.

You can do this.

Stay with us today on "The American Woodshop".

- [Announcer] "The American Woodshop" with Scott Phillips is brought to you by (classical music) Woodcraft.

Since 1928, providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(gentle music) Pro tools.

For tool pros.

Rikon tools.

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Projects, plans, and web links.

Designed to help you make wood work.

- PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon Steel band saw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

(upbeat music) A bed to sleep on.

A table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

(intense music) (country music) - The wood makes this project, but the other thing is, look at the trim on this, okay.

Look at how this is framed out.

This is very simple mitered work.

And this is birch plywood.

You select the grain carefully on that.

So, let's get to it.

The book case project is built out of 3/4-inch plywood.

That's called case, or carcass.

And we trim that out with solid hard maple that's just about an inch thick.

Beautiful stuff.

And so, to cut down plywood, and even lumber, I love a track saw for several reasons.

Number one is the dust collection.

Number two is the phenomenal cut that you get.

And number three is the accuracy, because on the track of the track saw, is this thin plastic strip that goes right on the cut line.

So we need the length to be forty-five and three-quarters.

I already have have witness marks to that.

And I just lay that plastic edge exactly where I want the cut to be, and that's where the cut will be.

And the other thoughtful thing about all of this is, it's got a riving knife on it, you don't get into pinches or binds, and you don't get any kickbacks.

So whatever you do, be sure the read, understand, and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use in your workshop.

Work safely.

Now, let's make that cut, being very thoughtful.

(saw sawing) So now, what I'm going to do, is rip this to the widths that I need for this project.

And that's ten inches on all the plywood.

So I just put it up on my marks.

10 inches.

Like that.

So easy.

And where have you been all my life?

Track saws.

And, you don't have to buy a high-end track saw.

Just get one and try it.

You could even use a two-by-four with your own circular saw.

Problem there is, you don't have dust collection.

So be sure to wear a dust mask.

So, I'll rip all the plywood down for this, and then we'll talk about building the case.

(saw sawing) (drill drilling) Once the four pieces of the case are ripped down to 10-inch widths, the two long pieces are 45 inches long, and that's what this side is.

This is going into the bottom piece, which is 35 inches long.

And, in this 3/4-inch thick plywood, what I'll do is, drive these square-drive screws together.

I don't want to over-torque it.

These impact drivers are great, but you can overpower the screw and really fracture the wood.

So, that's one side.

And what I'll do, here's the other side.

And that's best face out.

This is birch.

Good grade, and that really looks more like cherry.

And if you're careful about selecting your plywood, you can get that beautiful grain and color.

And that's what you want out.

On the inside, it's a good grade as well, but you want to make sure, and let's see, that all lines up right here, and I've pre-drilled that.

That as you build this case, you're aware of where the grain is going to show.

This is going to be the bottom.

That's going to be the top.

And we won't see that, so you want the best face in the case.

That's important to plan that out.

So, I'll screw this all together.

Let me swing this around after I get one more screw in here.

So you can see how the case finishes out.

Okay, easy does it.

I don't want to stress those screw joints.

And let's see here, we've got A going on to A, like that.

And these are are pre-drilled.

And then what we're going to do, is, once we get this all put together, we'll get measurements, and then we'll use some beautiful figured maple to trim out the sides, and the put a face frame on the front.

So I'll just get this screwed together, then it's over to the miter saw.

(drill drilling) It pays to have friends, and some friends got some beautiful one-inch thick figured maple for me.

And this is what I'm going to mill down.

This will be the top to the book case.

It's going to take a beautiful finish.

And what I'll do now, is crosscut everything to manageable lengths.

And once I get it crosscut to good lengths, it's a little extra long, I can take it to a planer, plane it down so it's got a good finished surface, and the perfect thickness, which will be 15-16ths for virtually everything on this trim project that we have coming up.

And then from there, it's to the jointer, and we'll joint it square and straight along a narrow edge.

And then we can take that to the table saw to rip it down to the various widths that we need.

Just prep all these work pieces.

Make sure that you keep your hands at least four inches away from the blade at all time.

(saw sawing) Now that board is dead flat, and nice and straight.

And so, what I'm going to do now is rip down a lot of stock that we need to trim out the face frame assembly, and the two side frames.

And that's two-inch strips, and also some 2 3/4 inch strips.

And when I'm doing the thin cuts here, where my work-piece is thin between the fence and the blade, this is a great jig to make, easy enough.

Get yourself an old handsaw, use that as your pattern.

Use the foam right here, staple it on.

That's the best push block going.

So, rip this all down, and then crosscut it to the finished lengths, square, and then, it's on to using pocket screws to make the frames.

(saw sawing) See this frame assembly?

This is made out of that thick maple we just milled down.

And the key is, crosscuts are square, so that when you make square frame assemblies like this, or rectangular, everything is rock solid.

And the joints come together perfectly.

Now, more on that in a second, but we need to get a glue up done, and the glue is out on both parts the joint for the very top of this book case.

And it's a better book case because it's so easy to do using simple tools.

You could do all these cuts with a track saw if you were creative.

Now what I'm doing is, just clamping this up, making sure without biscuits, and with modern glues, it's absolutely as strong as the wood itself It would never break at the glue joint.

And, clamps off in about 45 minutes.

They say half an hour, I'd just like to give it a little bit longer.

And then, we'll make sure everything stays nice and flat.

And I want to check that interface, and that looks really good.

Now let's go cut some pocket joints.

See these color coated screws?

These produce a strong joint.

And what I'm doing, is I'm taking work pieces.

This is 7 1/2 inches long.

Balancing left and right.

And locking it in place.

And this jig is clamped down to the table.

Now watch what I do, I use this three-eighths inch diameter bit with a pilot tip, and this stop collar.

(drill drilling) And (drill drilling) I just drill until the collar stops the bit.

And what that does, creates a perfect pocket.

And they have a dust collection port on this as well that you can hook up to it, but it doesn't make dust, so I don't use it.

I don't think I need it.

So wherever I need a pocket, I just use this jig to make those pockets.

Just like that.

And it gives me a shoulder for that screw to seat on, perfectly spaced so it never goes all the way through the mating work piece.

Rotate it around to the other side.

Drill those holes, and then, I'll show you how easy it is to put this frame assembly together.

Look at this.

See how these pocket holes join to this mating style.

These are rails.

The long pieces are called styles.

And to make it absolutely wicked strong, just a few drops of glue on that interface, on that end grain you brush that out.

So you won't have any surface contamination or squeeze out when you do this next step.

Key is, using that acid brush.

And, what you do, is you make sure it's flush on the end, right here.

And then this is a key step.

If you do it this way, using an eighth inch drill bit, to drill pilot holes, so that mating screw going into this tiger hard maple, won't split it out, especially near the end, and it won't push the pieces apart when you drive these screws like this.

And some people say, "This is not a strong joint".

It'll bring you to tears to get that apart, once that glue cures.

So, I'm going to repeat that same thing right down here, keeping it flush.

And the key is, this one extra step (drill drilling) Drilling the interface.

And, this is making frames.

And for the left and right side of the plywood case that we built earlier.

Get this done, then it's on to side assembly.

This frame right here, notice how, this is an H pattern right here.

This is stepped up 4 5/8 inches to this to 2 3/4 inch thick piece right here.

That's going to be important when we finish out the frame later on.

So, since that's the bottom, this is the top, make sure it's flush to the top of this frame assembly.

Okay.

And this is the back of the case.

And we'll inset a panel to this and it's built this way to make it stable.

And then what I'm doing is using a countersinking bit, and just counterboring enough that I can plug these screw holes later with matching maple plugs, then saw them flush, and then you'll never see (drill drilling) these screws.

Now there are a bunch of different ways that you can do something like this, but to me, (drill drilling) this is the easiest and best way to do it.

So, what I'm going to do is, do this left and right, attach the frames, and then we can inset the back panel.

That's beaded board.

It's really pretty.

Now get this done.

(drill drilling) I have glue in all of these counterbored holes, and now what I'm doing, is using these hard maple plugs, and tapping them home to the top of the screw.

Just like that.

And, this is the perfect way to make those counterbored holes to disappear.

(hammer hammering) Just like that.

You go, "but they're sticking above the surface".

It won't be for long, because I'm just using (saw sawing) a Japanese style razor saw that cuts on the pull stroke, and takes it off ever so nicely.

So just take your time, trim them flush.

Light cuts.

And then a little bit of sanding, and makes those (saw sawing) holes just disappear.

We'll get that done, and then I'll put the back of this whole assembly on.

(saw sawing) The case is square, and we want it to stay that way.

And to do that, we have this back bead board panel, 3/8 of an inch thick, and you want this in now to hold it all square before you do the rest of the work.

And, the easiest way to make this happen, up and in on the back, is to use the track saw to cut it to the dimensions.

And you want to get the width and the length just perfect, and this is.

And then the other thing that I'm going to do, is use a staple through this, to tack this in, with a pneumatic nailer.

Once this is tacked in, then we'll set it up.

So, time to set it up.

And that's rock solid.

That's good.

That H-pattern end, is absolutely perfect.

And then we're going to trim this out, left and right, with some molding to make it look like a raised panel.

But before we do that, its time to take this face frame, and see how this comes up.

And man, that grain is looking good, and it hides those edges of the plywood.

And that's flush, and that's perfect, and I'll line that up on this side, and I'll start down, well no I'll just go ahead and tack it in right here first, and counterbore it the same way, keeping everything flush.

(drill drilling) And remember, the goal of counter-boring is so we can put a dollop of glue in there, and then plug it with a matching maple plug (drill drilling) It just finishes it off perfectly.

And I want four screws on each edge.

And stay well enough away from the side, that you wouldn't split out the grain.

(drill drilling) (Sanding) All right.

What do you think?

That's shaping up beautifully.

And now what we're doing, is wrapping the base.

Then this is just baseboard trim, 5 1/4 inches wide.

Simple, colonial trim right there that, that wraps a corner.

That's cut on a 45.

This top piece, right here, mates in to it, but the front of this gets cut out with an inch and a quarter radius, right there, 4 1/4 inches up from the end.

So, let's go miter it, and then use the bandsaw to cut that curve.

(saw sawing) Keep in mind, you can go to any good supply store to pick up pre-milled baseboard, which is what this is, so you don't have to have the fancy cutters.

I'm using a 3/8 inch blade.

That will cut that tight curve, and it's also wide enough that it will give you a good straight line.

I want to leave the line, then after I make the cut, I can do a bit of sanding.

(saw cutting) There you go, you can see how that will trim out the base once we get the finish on.

We don't want to put the painted pieces that match the back bead board on until we get the Arm-R-Seal finish on.

Now look at the very top glue up.

That's just spectacular.

That looks perfect, I love that grain.

And so, this is the best face.

That goes up, and I have a witness mark, two inches all the way around.

So, that overhangs a little bit more, which is not what the plan said, but sometimes you have to break the rules.

I like the look.

Makes it more look like a pie safe.

Now what am I doing here?

You go, "You can't screw that top in, it'll crack out".

Well, as long as you keep the screws in the center of the board, no more than three inches from the center line, that will allow the wood on the top to expand and contract, and it won't crack out.

So, I'll just counterbore, or countersink within (drill drilling) three inches of center line, and that'll make the top just perfect.

This is one inch thick.

So I'll get this screwed in place.

We'll set it up.

Then on to trim.

(drill drilling) Now look closely at that.

These are micro pins, twenty-three gauge.

And, these are one inch long.

And, the beauty of these is, when you use this to put trim on.

I want you to look closely at this, and just tell me where I shot that.

It's virtually invisible, and it sinks it just perfectly.

You can put filler on that.

So I bring the trim in, and these miter cuts, at 45 degrees were cut, at the miter saw, (saw sawing) just make sure you don't lift that saw up after you finish the cut.

Let it come to a stop, because that little scrap could grab the blade and take off on you.

So be careful when you cut those miters, and now I'll trim this out, left and right.

I want to make sure that I bring this trim piece tight to this side style that covers any gaps.

Gaps, I don't have any gaps.

So we'll trim this out, and then we'll do the shelves.

Looking good.

Earlier, I painted the shelf boards that I need, and this is is the easiest way in the world to make them rigid, and also trim it out.

You put a piece of matching wood on the front edge.

You glue it first.

Make sure it's balanced on both ends, and that the piece is absolutely in the middle.

And so, now I just brad that in.

And boy, you do not want to put your fingers left and right, because sometimes these wire brads can tail out.

So you want to not shoot at an angle.

You want to shoot straight down.

It's very important.

Four on this, and these will get filled.

We'll let that cure out.

On to finishing.

(sanding) (scraping) - Scott, I love the book case.

Especially this beautifully figured maple.

Can't wait to put this Arm-R-Seal on.

Whoa.

- And this is the semi-gloss.

And the reason I like to use that over the gloss or the satin, or flat, is because it gives us that beautiful depth faster, and if it is too shiny, once it cures out for a couple of days, I can always buff it down with a white nylon pad.

Now I use a jig to drill these supports for the brackets for the shelves.

And that jig is indexed with a pin to the previous hole that's been drilled, and I butt the jig up against the back and the front edge of the face frame, and drill those holes and that gives us the ability to put the brackets in, and then drop the shelves in, just like this, with the wood trim out.

And speaking of trim, as she gets that top piece in, had all this painted baseboard, according to plan, all cut out, and Suzy tells us.

- You can't cover beautiful tiger maple like this.

I mean, I know this was, I love the idea of this, and that was the plan, but let's see.

This way, or this way?

- Okay.

- I think I win.

- Absolutely.

And that is a basic book case project, very easy to do.

And just use that track saw or make your own, and you're in business.

That's it for this week at "The American Woodshop".

Hope you enjoyed it.

Now go build that book case.

See ya.

- See ya.

(classical music) - [Announcer] Woodcraft.

Since 1928.

Providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(gentle music) Pro Tools.

For tool pros.

Rikon tools.

Woodcraft magazine.

Projects, plans, and web links.

Designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon Steel bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

(upbeat music) A bed to sleep on.

A table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of central Ohio.

Providing furniture to neighbors in need.

(intense music) - For more information on tips behind "The American Woodshop", and watch free episodes 24/7, check us out online, and like us on Facebook.

(country music)