04-27-2015, 01:47 PM
I finally got around to finishing the walnut bookcase unit I started before xmas. The 3 piece unit has sat patiently awaiting warmer weather for some lacquer top coating. I started a build thread on this project but many of the remaining photos are on my old phone waiting to be transferred over. I thought I'd post the final product with a few thoughts on this build.
One of my biggest fears and challenges with this build was making 3 stand alone cabinets that would butt and fasten to each other so they wouldn't look like 'butted up cabinets'. The 7,8" height made things even more interesting. Attaching the face frames to the boxes and keeping everything square was a pain in the rear. Using biscuits on the last two helped tremendously. The extra length provided plenty of material that wanted to flop and sway without the biscuits. Not using biscuits on the first glue up did throw me a bit off square on my middle cabinet which I paid for when installing all three side by side.
Another monotonous task was drilling all the shelf holes with a home made jig. If you have lots of shelf pin holes to drill, invest in a good jig. My holes turned out well for what I was working with given my shelfs sit flat and don't wobble. Luckily, I didn't have trouble shoot any of them. I used the "L" shaped shelf pins/brackets as they had a wider surface for wood contact. If you ever need shelf pins or brackets, buy good ones. I ordered cheap ones off Ebay that looked like they'd been trimmed with bolt cutters. Lesson learned. I ended up with a rubbed bronze version from Woodcraft. They were dimensioned very well with a nice semi snug fit in the hole.
The finish is Sherwin Williams high build pre cat lacquer in medium rubbed effect. I went back and forth between using this and dull rubbed effect. I think the dull rubbed effect may have looked a tad better on the walnut given the pores. I don't love the medium rubbed effect on the walnut but it's OK. I do love SW's pre cat lacquer though. The high build is great product as is the pre cat CAB lacquer. I had a great color disparity between the Missouri walnut and the walnut plywood. The walnut had a very red hue to it and many of the plywood pieces were simply "blah" and much lighter than the hardwood. I ended up shooting 3 light coats of Transtint Dark Walnut in lacquer thinner to help blend the colors better. I also really like the little bit of darkness it provides. I'm hoping the TT and UV absorbing lacquer will help keep the walnut nice and dark for years to come. I know many cringe to see walnut get anything but an oil based or shellac product but this is what I like for certain--not all--walnut pieces. This also blends better with the dark tinted black cherry dining set across the hallway. I used one pint of LT with 40 drops of dye. Nothing highly scientific as I knew I'd have to add more coats to certain shelfs and pieces compared to others. I used an Earlex 5500 for the dye and it works well with thin viscosity products.
I recently posted a thread on leveling and attaching the cases to each other. This was a greater task then I ever imagined it would be. This is another reason this project stressed me out a bit. Anything 'off' would stand out like a sore thumb when it was time to put them together. Getting everything perfect--which was my goal--was not going to happen. My far right case was a bit off from lining up the top trim and bottom trim. I ended up having to split the difference--a small amount--but it still wasn't going to be perfect. I can live with it but this is a reason why I wouldn't ever build this project again. A stand alone one piece project or built it can absorb a little here or there without being noticed. These 3 cases put side by side will show where you're off. I ended up leveling the cases the best I could and clamping them together at the face frames. I then added a piece of 2" thin flat bar stock with screws to the backside of the top trim pieces. I then added commercial style connector bolts underneath the case. This kept me from drilling into the finished 3/4" plywood sides where the hardware would of shown. I then dialed in the leveling feet as good as possible and got the whole unit slide back up again the wall. I used 2" "L" brackets screwed in the top ply and then a wall stud. I used my 7" Stabila level and they are dead nuts on plumb. They are also rock solid. I can see a little bit of light coming through at the top molding when standing straight on but it's not bad at all. As much as I wanted everything really tight, I'm pretty happy overall with how they turned out. One of the biggest challenges came when my wife knocked one of the finished cabinets over in the garage with the overhead door. I had moved it temporarily to run downstairs to the shop for something and I heard a huge crashing sound while in the basement. Luckily it snapped the face frames nearly perfect for a repair. The repair turned out well and it's not noticeable. Anyhow, it took me twice as long to build then I thought it would. I believe I had 60 hours in the build and a couple days finishing and installing. I'm glad it's done. Time to clean the shop and beg my wife to let me put some woodworking books on this monster....
One of my biggest fears and challenges with this build was making 3 stand alone cabinets that would butt and fasten to each other so they wouldn't look like 'butted up cabinets'. The 7,8" height made things even more interesting. Attaching the face frames to the boxes and keeping everything square was a pain in the rear. Using biscuits on the last two helped tremendously. The extra length provided plenty of material that wanted to flop and sway without the biscuits. Not using biscuits on the first glue up did throw me a bit off square on my middle cabinet which I paid for when installing all three side by side.
Another monotonous task was drilling all the shelf holes with a home made jig. If you have lots of shelf pin holes to drill, invest in a good jig. My holes turned out well for what I was working with given my shelfs sit flat and don't wobble. Luckily, I didn't have trouble shoot any of them. I used the "L" shaped shelf pins/brackets as they had a wider surface for wood contact. If you ever need shelf pins or brackets, buy good ones. I ordered cheap ones off Ebay that looked like they'd been trimmed with bolt cutters. Lesson learned. I ended up with a rubbed bronze version from Woodcraft. They were dimensioned very well with a nice semi snug fit in the hole.
The finish is Sherwin Williams high build pre cat lacquer in medium rubbed effect. I went back and forth between using this and dull rubbed effect. I think the dull rubbed effect may have looked a tad better on the walnut given the pores. I don't love the medium rubbed effect on the walnut but it's OK. I do love SW's pre cat lacquer though. The high build is great product as is the pre cat CAB lacquer. I had a great color disparity between the Missouri walnut and the walnut plywood. The walnut had a very red hue to it and many of the plywood pieces were simply "blah" and much lighter than the hardwood. I ended up shooting 3 light coats of Transtint Dark Walnut in lacquer thinner to help blend the colors better. I also really like the little bit of darkness it provides. I'm hoping the TT and UV absorbing lacquer will help keep the walnut nice and dark for years to come. I know many cringe to see walnut get anything but an oil based or shellac product but this is what I like for certain--not all--walnut pieces. This also blends better with the dark tinted black cherry dining set across the hallway. I used one pint of LT with 40 drops of dye. Nothing highly scientific as I knew I'd have to add more coats to certain shelfs and pieces compared to others. I used an Earlex 5500 for the dye and it works well with thin viscosity products.
I recently posted a thread on leveling and attaching the cases to each other. This was a greater task then I ever imagined it would be. This is another reason this project stressed me out a bit. Anything 'off' would stand out like a sore thumb when it was time to put them together. Getting everything perfect--which was my goal--was not going to happen. My far right case was a bit off from lining up the top trim and bottom trim. I ended up having to split the difference--a small amount--but it still wasn't going to be perfect. I can live with it but this is a reason why I wouldn't ever build this project again. A stand alone one piece project or built it can absorb a little here or there without being noticed. These 3 cases put side by side will show where you're off. I ended up leveling the cases the best I could and clamping them together at the face frames. I then added a piece of 2" thin flat bar stock with screws to the backside of the top trim pieces. I then added commercial style connector bolts underneath the case. This kept me from drilling into the finished 3/4" plywood sides where the hardware would of shown. I then dialed in the leveling feet as good as possible and got the whole unit slide back up again the wall. I used 2" "L" brackets screwed in the top ply and then a wall stud. I used my 7" Stabila level and they are dead nuts on plumb. They are also rock solid. I can see a little bit of light coming through at the top molding when standing straight on but it's not bad at all. As much as I wanted everything really tight, I'm pretty happy overall with how they turned out. One of the biggest challenges came when my wife knocked one of the finished cabinets over in the garage with the overhead door. I had moved it temporarily to run downstairs to the shop for something and I heard a huge crashing sound while in the basement. Luckily it snapped the face frames nearly perfect for a repair. The repair turned out well and it's not noticeable. Anyhow, it took me twice as long to build then I thought it would. I believe I had 60 hours in the build and a couple days finishing and installing. I'm glad it's done. Time to clean the shop and beg my wife to let me put some woodworking books on this monster....
