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One Bookcase, Two Bases

Video Workshop Series

One Bookcase, Two Bases

with Philip C. Lowe

I got my first taste of woodworking when I served in the Navy, and I've been a professional since 1968. I was an instructor at the North Bennet Street School in Boston for a decade.

Philip C. Lowe
Beverly, Massachusetts

Now, I own and operate my own school, the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts. I've written many articles for Fine Woodworking, and I've been featured in several Taunton Press videos.

In this video workshop I'm going to show you how to build a basic bookcase and finish it with interesting, attractive details. You make the case from hardwood-veneer plywood, assembling it with screws and simple dado-and-rabbet joints.

At the base, you have a choice: You can make a flat-bracket base that you cut on the tablesaw and bandsaw, or if you want the same kind of base used on period furniture, you can make an ogee bracket foot. To make this base, you cut a cove in thick stock on the tablesaw; I'll show you how to do that. Then you shape the rest of the curved foot with planes and scrapers. Finally, you cut a decorative scroll pattern on the bandsaw. I'll show you how that's done; the downloadable plan includes full-size patterns for both feet.

This video workshop refines bookcase designs from an article I wrote for Fine Woodworking #133; the photos above are from that article.

Produced by: Gina Eide; Video by: Gary Junken; Editing by: Michael Dobsevage

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