I’ve not had much time at the bench over the past few weeks, due to work and family commitments. But I did steal a few hours yesterday to joint and glue up the final panels for the boarded bookcase. I find that the right workshop soundtrack is important, and because I’ve been reading Our Band Could Be Your Life recently, while I was jointing these boards I ended up with a steady stream of Minor Threat, Husker Du and Minutemen.
Much of woodwork is practicing a technique until it comes naturally and these final edge joints went together pretty smoothly. Of course, part of the fun is waiting until the glue cures and then cleaning up the joints with a handplane to see if the glue line is nice and tight or whether it is visible from 50ft. But these joints seemed crisp without any clamp pressure being applied, so I’m reasonably optimistic. So far this project has largely been about readjusting to furniture sized work and tolerances after a year of Roubo bench-sized work, which in itself has been a useful learning experience.
Once the glue has cured I’ll get to planing up this panels and then it’ll be on to cutting some joinery. So the bookcase should start to take shape quite quickly after the stock is prepared.
Over the Wireless 
Oh man I was just thinking about that book. It was so formative to me when I read it as a teenager, and with Mission of Burma breaking up day before yesterday I ended up describing the book to a friend while listening to them in the car. Fantastic book
It’s a great insight into that whole music scene!
Not sure of the book or the music you are talking about but from where I sit the joints are looking pretty good. 🙂
Thanks Wade. We’ll see how they look once I’ve flushed them up…
Really enjoying your blog and this build, Kieran. I’m preparing to do the same in the coming weeks, but with a smaller shop and setup. Any advice you can offer on the clamps required for this?
In Chris’ PopWood video I noticed he uses a number of parallel clamps (at least six 50” clamps for the carcase assembly alone). I’m considering picking up some at 24” and some at 50”, but maybe all should be 50” for more versatility? Any suggestions to keep this as efficient as possible?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Hi Andy, glad you’re enjoying the blog! I rarely find that having long clamps is a draw back, but clamps that are too short are a common source of frustration! I’m planning to use 6 number 50″ clamps when I assemble the bookcase. Depending on the scale of work you do, I’d be tempted to pick up a set of 50″ clamps at this point. Hope that helps!
Thanks, Kieran! Appreciate the response. I’ll bite the bullet and will pick those up. They’ll certainly be useful for future projects.
Looking forward to seeing your build in the coming weeks!