# Oak Bookcases



## MooreToolsPlease (24 Sep 2007)

Evening all,
I have just today finished installing the latest job to come out of the workshop.
It's a pair of book cases, and a pair of dresser type units.
I got this work by chance, as the customer just strolled into the workshop one day.
They have had shelves made before and have complained of them sagging under the weight of them.
With this in mind all of the shelves are torsion boxes. a skin of 6mm veneered mdf with a substrate of 15mm hardwood.
I bought a vacuum press to bond the skins to the substrate and it worked wonders.
All of the edges are lipped with solid oak, but at 45 degrees. 
This is so that the join of the solid to mdf falls on the corner, and is almost invisible.

















The 2 dresser units still have to be pushed back to the wall. they cant be at the moment as there is lights in the alcoves.
The top of the units extends beyond the unit and I have mounted 2 lights there. As soon as the electrician has visited I will post some more pictures


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## ByronBlack (24 Sep 2007)

lovely work matt - they look flippin' marvelous!


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## DomValente (24 Sep 2007)

Very nice Matt, lovely finish.

Dom


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## Paul Chapman (24 Sep 2007)

Very nice work, Matt.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Lord Nibbo (24 Sep 2007)

Stunning just stunning, awful lot of work there I bet, just how long did it all take?


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## mailee (24 Sep 2007)

Now they are really nice Matt. Is it just the shelves that are MDF with Oak finishing or all of it?


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## MooreToolsPlease (24 Sep 2007)

I squeezed it in between another 3 jobs, so the actual time is very hard to say, but it was somewhere around 40 hours I imagine
It's all veneered MDF, the only exceptions are the doors which are solid, and the cornice. 
This was adapted from a kitchen cornice so that it sits flush with the bottom instead of sitting ontop.


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## CNC Paul (24 Sep 2007)

Hi Matt


That is a very nice job !!!

I bet the brass shelf strips were a pain  



Paul


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## engineer one (24 Sep 2007)

nice clean work matt, and the frame and panel doors look nice. 8) 
what are the panels??

what is going to go in the corner between the bookshelves and the cabinets?? at the moment it looks very "busy" but would like to see
the shot after the leccy has been and they are pushed back.

paul :wink:


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## Anonymous (24 Sep 2007)

Nice job. They look plenty strong enough and very stylish.

I don't usually like moldings, but they kook just right.


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## motownmartin (24 Sep 2007)

Lovely work Matt =D> =D> =D>


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## Lark (25 Sep 2007)

nice... look great bet was that that cheap  to make all that


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## Anonymous (25 Sep 2007)

Hi Matt

They are excellent and I really like them. I was thrown by the light from the alcove, until I read further down your post. :lol: 

You mention that the edges are lipped with solid oak at 45 degrees. Do you have a close-up of this?

Cheers,
Neil


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## Anonymous (25 Sep 2007)

Hi Lark

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers,
Neil


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## MooreToolsPlease (8 Oct 2007)

Well, all of the lights are wired in now so I thought I would post another couple of pics.
Enjoy!








here is a close up of the shelf lipping detail, sorry its so dark


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## cambournepete (8 Oct 2007)

Matt,

As others have said they're really nice.



You":lhkbwx2p said:


> With this in mind all of the shelves are torsion boxes. a skin of 6mm veneered mdf with a substrate of 15mm hardwood.



Do you have any plans of the shelf construction?
I need to build a tall shelf unit for approx 2000 LPs, so I need strong shelves...


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## Bean (9 Oct 2007)

Matt I think they are great.


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## Chris Knight (9 Oct 2007)

Matt,
It's a lovely job. I'd be proud to have that in my home.

The top and bottom "veneering" of the shelf with the lipping looks quite thick - what did you use?


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## Lukey (9 Oct 2007)

Is the board veneered just to save on cost?

If so, is it worth the cost saving for the amount of work to create the veneer?


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## MooreToolsPlease (9 Oct 2007)

the shelves are made from 6mm oak veneered mdf, 15mm hardwood, 6mm oak veneered mdf.
the shelves are made that way for strength.
They cost a lot more than just a 26mm oak veneered mdf shelf.
In an american magazine they recently done an article on torsion boxes.
The author made a piece 2ft square, 6mm mdf, 12mm ply torsion box, 6mm mdf.
He then put it on some blocks, on the edges and put 100kgs+ on it and it didn't move


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## CWatters (10 Oct 2007)

Excellent work. Can I ask what part of the country you are in? 

We're looking to commission someone to build some units for our new house. Will have a lot more doors though.


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## MooreToolsPlease (10 Oct 2007)

I'm in Hertfordshire, but have done work all over the country.
Feel free to PM me if you wish to discuss further


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## DaveL (11 Oct 2007)

Chaps,

Why not put your county and/or town into your profile?


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