At a glance
Finished dimensions
Overall sizes
- Overall
- 36 × 12 × 72 in high
- Openings
- Four, each 16-5/16 in high
- Clear shelf span
- 34-1/2 in between the sides
Materials
| Item | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 3/4 in plywood | One 4 × 8 ft sheet and part of a second | Measure its real thickness before cutting dadoes |
| 1/4 in plywood | One 4 × 8 ft sheet | For the back |
| Edge banding | About 30 ft | For the front edges of sides and shelves |
| Wood glue, screws or nails for the back | — | — |
| Anti-tip anchoring hardware | 1 set | Chosen for your wall, installed as its maker directs |
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Dimensions | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side | 2 | 3/4 × 11-3/4 × 72 in | 3/4 in plywood; rabbet at the back |
| Shelf (top, bottom and three fixed) | 5 | 3/4 × 11-3/4 × 35-1/4 in | 3/4 in plywood; length for 3/4 in stock |
| Kick | 1 | 3/4 × 3 × 34-1/2 in | 3/4 in plywood |
| Back | 1 | 1/4 × 35-1/4 × 72 in | 1/4 in plywood |
Tools
- Track saw or table saw for breaking down sheets
- Router with a straightedge, or a dado stack, for dadoes and rabbets
- Clamps
- Drill/driver
The design
Two plywood sides hold five shelves in 3/8 in deep dadoes: the top shelf flush with the top, the bottom shelf 3 in up on a kick, and three between them, giving four openings of 16-5/16 in. A 1/4 in back sits in 3/8 × 1/4 in rabbets on the sides' back edges, and the shelves stop at it, so they are 11-3/4 in deep. Fixed shelves glued into dadoes make a rigid case; the back, glued and fastened into its rabbets, helps keep it square.
Sizing to your plywood
- Measure the sheet. Plywood sold as 3/4 in is often thinner; the plywood thickness chart explains why. Cut every dado to the sheet's measured thickness.
- Shelf length = 36 − 2 × thickness + 2 × 3/8 in. At a true 3/4 in that is 35-1/4 in; at 23/32 in it is 35-5/16 in.
- Back width = 36 − 2 × (thickness − 3/8 in), which is the same as the shelf length.
- Openings stay equal if each dado is moved by the same amount; work them from the top down.
Building it
From sheets to bookcase
Break down the sheets
Rip the sides and shelves to 11-3/4 in and crosscut them, then the back and kick. Lay out the sheet with the cut list optimizer; straight cuts in sheet goods are covered in how to use plywood and cutting wood straight.
Mark the sides as a pair
Clamp the two sides together, inside faces out, and mark the shelf positions across both at once so they match: bottom shelf 3 to 3-3/4 in from the floor end, then every 17-1/16 in to the top.
Cut dadoes and rabbets
Cut 3/8 in deep dadoes to the plywood's thickness, a 3/4 × 3/8 in rabbet at the top for the top shelf, and a 3/8 in wide × 1/4 in deep rabbet down each side's back edge for the back.
Band the edges
Apply edge banding to the front edges of the sides and shelves before assembly, while they are easy to handle.
Assemble the case
Dry-fit, then glue the shelves into one side, add the other side, and clamp. Fit the kick under the bottom shelf, set back 1/2 in. Check the diagonals; see how to use wood glue and woodworking clamps.
Fit the back
With the case square, glue and fasten the back into its rabbets and to the shelves' back edges.
Finish and anchor
Sand and finish — applying a wood finish — then stand the bookcase in place and anchor it to the wall with anti-tip hardware chosen and fitted as its maker directs.
Safety— Anchor it, and keep it steady
A tall, shallow bookcase can tip. CPSC's Anchor It campaign advises securing top-heavy furniture with anti-tip brackets and keeping items that tempt children to climb off the top. Choose the anchoring hardware for your wall and fit it as its maker directs; BenchRoot gives no fastener sizes. No shelf capacity is claimed: plywood shelves can sag under heavy, sustained loads. Breaking down sheets follows woodworking safety rules.
Before cutting
- Plywood thickness measured; dado width and shelf length worked from it
- Sides marked together so the shelves line up
- Sheet layout planned
- Anti-tip hardware chosen for the wall it will stand against
A bookcase fitted to a wall is in the built-in bookcase plan; all the furniture plans are listed in the coffee table plan.
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Sources
A BenchRoot design; every dimension is on the drawing and in the cut list as final sizes, with plywood at its nominal 3/4 in. Real plywood is often thinner, so dado widths and shelf lengths are worked from your measured thickness. No shelf capacity or sag limit is claimed. Anchoring hardware is chosen for the wall and installed as its maker directs. The design was not built or tested for this page.
- 1.
Chapter 11: Wood-Based Composite Materials: Panel Products, Glued Laminated Timber, Structural Composite Lumber, and Wood–Nonwood Composites. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Plywood's dimensional stability along its length and width from its crossed plies, which lets a bookcase be built from glued panels without allowing for seasonal movement.
- 2.
AnchorIt.gov. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Used for: Securing top-heavy furniture with anti-tip brackets, and removing items from furniture tops that might tempt children to climb.
About this project
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