Building a big bookcase using construction lumber and some oak trim. sides were too long to use on my box joint jig, so I cut the box joints on my slot mortiser.
@@matthiaswandel whoops, I see someone already asked the question I asked. As far as alignment goes, can't you use the bit itself for alignment, by manually positioning it in an existing slot?
@@macedindu829 Even using the bits for alignment it will be off simply because the realities of manufacturing. That rod he uses. Or the wood that the machine is made of. Or the slack in the bearings. Or all of the above. Everything contributes tiny misalignments. Even the deflection caused by the tool cutting the wood vs resting against it while stopped can be too much. Even with VERY high precision tools, you still don't flip workpieces around.
@@Prophes0r Uhhhh, with very high precision tools, there's some reference point on the workpiece (a corner, or a set of holes), and probes which can locate to a couple um - it's no problem flipping pieces around and re-probing the reference points and machining from a different side - it's done all the time. And this isn't rocketship parts - it's a wood bookcase - it would work just fine.
I gasped when I saw you using POCKET HOLE JOINERY, but then laughed when you mentioned how much it pains you to do so. VERY impressive build as always, Matthias!
Holy crap, we knew about "long covid", but no one ever mentioned it might lead to pocket hole acceptance!! In light of this new terrifying information, I suggest we shut everything down again and keep it that way... forever!
I’m surprised you didn’t jump on it to test its strength! :) Btw, using clamp blocks to clamp longer stretch is so simple and brilliant. Thanks for the tip!
I really love your videos. Seeing your son reminded me of helping out my dad's projects , and adding to his workload, with all the slapping my hands away from spinning blades and such. But , I really Cherish those memories and how, even after he is gone , that sense of doing something special each and every time sawdust hits the floor. Thank you for all your hard work and wonderful memories we can watch over and over again.
My goodness your wife must feel blessed, not only for you who is so talented and industrious, but also for your TH-cam channel to motivate you to get things done for her.
I have always loved your honeydew projects. Over the years you made many of things for your house, and more importantly your Wife. I wish you would throw all that stuff in a playlist.
thank you for pointing out the screw into the wall to help educate people. so many people forget to do this and risk a real problem when a kid starts crawling up the shelves to reach something. great video!
Yup - I had built a walnut bookcase (wonderful material, but heavy), and my toddler daughter pulled it down. Very fortunately, she fit between the shelves, and emerged unscathed. 20 seconds later, it was screwed to the wall.
It appears to me that it was screwed to the wall through the plywood backing. I would think that the bookcase with a child climbing it is heavy enough to allow the screw head to just rip through the thin plywood - i.e., the screw would certainly hold, but I question if the thin plywood would.
So pleased you didn't disappoint your subscribers and not do a 'sit' test on a shelf!! Love seeing the apprentice in the workshop too, he's got a great and fun teacher. ;-)
It makes me feel better as a human to see someone else that has some clutter and mess in their house with kids. My wife and I have a hell of a time staying around of the cleaning around here. lol
I realized that I have been watching you for a while when you son walked by and I remember you announcing that Rachel was pregnant. thanks for teaching this old man.
I love how over-engineered this is for holding puzzles and games. Good to know it can be used to hold automotive parts in the future. :D And to see the most anti-pocket-hole TH-camr I subscribe to admit that they have their uses was a priceless moment, too.
Nice. I used much thinner shelves in mine, with birch fronts as stiffeners. I put birch on the sides and top edhes, too, so shelves had to go in from back. In subsequent years when my wife wanted even thinner shelves ("I only need 7mm more space..." ) I cut slots in the underside of the shelf, and epoxied in 1cm x 4mm steel stiffeners in routed slots on shelf bottom. Not elegant, but it's invisible from front and has worked for decades.
My wife watched the video, says to tell you "You really did great!" I greatly appreciated it, too. I used 19mm plywood for the shelves, and put hardwood (Birch) edges in front and a hardwood (Birch) stiffener in the back. Had them in service for 30-odd years, and no significant sag. I used step miter, glue and brad nails at the corners, and they have held up, also. All this cut with 8" craftsman bench table saw and lots of jigs. It is so great to watch a true master work. Nahm Abrams (NYW) has a tendency to resort to machinery that would put it completely out of my price range.
Very fine bookshelves, Matthias, thanks! After months of thinking about how to make bookshelves for my small home I've decided yours are the strongest, easiest to make and install, and leave the fewest holes in the wall when the time comes to remove them. Though my shop has a high enough ceiling, I'm not sure I can do box joints on such long boards on my old Shopsmith, so I think I will butt-join two half-length boards together with box joints instead to make the long ones.
I think of the exact delivery and intonation of "So that's another honey-do project checked off the list" every time I accomplish a task around the house
My favorite after-the-fact joinery is to screw it in from the exterior and them come back and replace the screws with exposed dowels. It's not the prettiest, but I prefer it to pocket holes
You can also spread the shelf a little, and pop a full set of fingers in one side and just dowel the other (or use half fingers, spread over a wide board, a shelf at that it won't argue for structural integrity any time in our life times.
I have to say i really appreciate everyone's comments on Mathias' videos. As a young woodworker they make me think much more about what goes into a project and what's really necessary for construction rather than just passively watching his videos
I always read comments. On good videos (like Mattias makes) you see all sorts of different information and ideas. Sometimes you find popular myths too, unfortunately. I have noticed that the less creative and informative the comment section is - especially when it's nothing but praise - the worse the actual information in the video.
With twin 3 year old boys, and a 5 year old boy, your videos always motivate me to get back in the shop and get some work done! I just gotta make sure the wife is staying sane with them in the mean time. Goals!
@@matthiaswandel some of the best memories i have from my childhood is from hanging out in my dads shop and "helping" him. even if you lose out on efficiency you are gaining elsewhere by building a great relationship, an unbreakable bond only a parent and child could share
Great pro-ject Matthias! and as always well done. I was proud of myself watching the build when you got the tear out doing the Box joints I said to myself, why can't he just come in a little from the other side and then finish them off. and low and behold!! that's what you did. so I guess the Grey matter still works! Hey! I'm old I can say and do that.! thanks again for another great video and for sharing. ECF
One easy solution to avoid the pocket hole screws, route a stopped dado in the sides of the book case, and the shelf, glue in a "floating tenon" in the shelf the full width of the shelf, then slide in the whole shelf with glue. Done.
I was thinking the same thing except why bother with the floating tenon? Just route the stop dado, rabbit the front of the shelf to go over the tenon stop and slide the shelf in from the back. I guess you have more chance of gaps showing that way in the front
@@Pborges475 if the shelf was already cut to width, you have no choice but the floating tenon. If you still have it long, yes, you could do as you said.
@@1pcfred well, yes, as we all know, Matthias hates pocket holes, so I voiced an optional way of installing a shelf without introducing visible attachment. Is that hard to understand?
keep in mind this is coming from the laziest guy in the world but, honest question: would cutting all the box joints by hand be out of the question? is that even a thing, hand-cut box joints? nice work by the way. (except for the pocket screws of course)
It also starts getting pretty difficult to hand-cut joinery on pieces that long. I did dovetails on the end of a 6-foot board once. It was tricky to find a workholding solution...
Pocket holes in those center rigid shelves are great. Almost better than any other option. If you ever want to move that shelf a little bit to accommodate a different spacing - boom, no problem. Just some small screw holes nobody is ever going to notice anyway. As a habitual non-committer, I love it.
Your anti-snipe hint is invaluable! I would never have come up with it, perhaps because I don't fully understand what causes planer snipe.Also, putting hardwood edging on the shelves is something I have done, but never thought of cutting them over sized to le the planer do the work. For me, it was hand-plane and cabinet scraper. Lots of good techniques in this one !
Dear Matthias, y enjoy very much your videos, great job every time. I noted a big mirror behind the bed. I stick a vinyl behind my mirrors, in case of breakage, they keep the pieces together.
Gracias por enseñarnos a aprender y regalarnos de su valioso tiempo maestro de Aguascalientes México Francisco gamez un abrazo muy fuerte y saludos cordiales bendiciones para usted y toda su familia es usted genial 😀👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
By the time they're ready for college, Matthias will have built many many more bookshelves - some of them probably without those awful unsightly pocket screws :)
Matthias, you are so right with your remark about children climbing it. A measure preventing the bookcase from tipping over is essential! Just fix the top to the wall with a short strip of rope or nylon band bolted to the shelf and the wall could save a life! Alles Gute aus Deutschland!
To fix the middle shelf i like to drill holes from the outside and make a decorative Dowel joint out of it. This way i get more Woodworking Points for not using pocket holes 🙂
Couldnt you just flip it around and complete the box joints from the other side?
Too hard to get the alignment right. If it's off .1 mm, that makes the fingers not fit right.
@@matthiaswandel whoops, I see someone already asked the question I asked. As far as alignment goes, can't you use the bit itself for alignment, by manually positioning it in an existing slot?
@@matthiaswandel, I have seen your work, you can do it. Try some scrap.
@@macedindu829 Even using the bits for alignment it will be off simply because the realities of manufacturing.
That rod he uses. Or the wood that the machine is made of. Or the slack in the bearings.
Or all of the above. Everything contributes tiny misalignments. Even the deflection caused by the tool cutting the wood vs resting against it while stopped can be too much.
Even with VERY high precision tools, you still don't flip workpieces around.
@@Prophes0r Uhhhh, with very high precision tools, there's some reference point on the workpiece (a corner, or a set of holes), and probes which can locate to a couple um - it's no problem flipping pieces around and re-probing the reference points and machining from a different side - it's done all the time. And this isn't rocketship parts - it's a wood bookcase - it would work just fine.
Hey, great build, just thought I'd let you know that there are glues that dry quicker if you wanted to be even manlier.
Real men use accelerator!
Lol
I love seeing your son helping with the vacuum. Great video as always.
PS: 9:00 Totally agree. No glue is the boss of me
Just like carrying more bags instead of going twice. This is the way.
and goddaumn, that man moves fast. look at him go 8:45
LOL, all the kid stuff all over, I remember those days fondly. Nice shelf!
I gasped when I saw you using POCKET HOLE JOINERY, but then laughed when you mentioned how much it pains you to do so. VERY impressive build as always, Matthias!
"an abomination" 😂😂
It was offset by the use of the manly glue.
Holy crap, we knew about "long covid", but no one ever mentioned it might lead to pocket hole acceptance!! In light of this new terrifying information, I suggest we shut everything down again and keep it that way... forever!
"Oh no, Mathias! What have you done?"
With a Darth Sidious voice, "Excellent. He has turned to the dark side. And in time.... he will come to like it."
It's great to see the kid in the shop, he is so curious on what dads up to. I've got my first on the way
I’m surprised you didn’t jump on it to test its strength! :) Btw, using clamp blocks to clamp longer stretch is so simple and brilliant. Thanks for the tip!
I was waiting for the Matthias leap myself!
He didn’t jump on it, but in the thumbnail he is sitting on one of the shelves😂
@@DBLRedRibbon the pocket-screwed one too, by the looks of it!
I'm always amazed how good underlayment can look with a little sanding and finish.
"The manly thing to do is just work faster". Hah, I love it. Totally something I'd say to someone who pointed out a slower drying glue.
Matthias remains calm in the presence of drying glue, and a child in the workshop, even though this workshop is his livelihood. Impressive!
Well he can stay so calm because he speeds up time. The kid only had like, 10 seconds before he was done.
Was worried you only had the 8 short videos then I find these others!!!! Yea!!!!! Thanks for posting matthew
I really love your videos. Seeing your son reminded me of helping out my dad's projects , and adding to his workload, with all the slapping my hands away from spinning blades and such. But , I really Cherish those memories and how, even after he is gone , that sense of doing something special each and every time sawdust hits the floor. Thank you for all your hard work and wonderful memories we can watch over and over again.
My goodness your wife must feel blessed, not only for you who is so talented and industrious, but also for your TH-cam channel to motivate you to get things done for her.
I have always loved your honeydew projects. Over the years you made many of things for your house, and more importantly your Wife. I wish you would throw all that stuff in a playlist.
Good job, Mathias 👏 👍
Happy Wife, Happy life! 😊
I think it's awesome that your children are involved.
I really like how you included your son's speech in the subtitles.
Would never have thought of using full-size 2x stock. Gonna be one heavy bookcase!
A lo mejor es para uso rudo, ten en cuenta que va a cargar libros y éstos pesan bastante.
@@simbiosistv ¡Sí!
Nice work piece, awesome you have your son helping you
You remind me of Bruce banner from hulk. Your unfolding the band saw blades humor really sealed the deal
thank you for pointing out the screw into the wall to help educate people. so many people forget to do this and risk a real problem when a kid starts crawling up the shelves to reach something. great video!
Yup - I had built a walnut bookcase (wonderful material, but heavy), and my toddler daughter pulled it down. Very fortunately, she fit between the shelves, and emerged unscathed. 20 seconds later, it was screwed to the wall.
It appears to me that it was screwed to the wall through the plywood backing. I would think that the bookcase with a child climbing it is heavy enough to allow the screw head to just rip through the thin plywood - i.e., the screw would certainly hold, but I question if the thin plywood would.
So pleased you didn't disappoint your subscribers and not do a 'sit' test on a shelf!! Love seeing the apprentice in the workshop too, he's got a great and fun teacher. ;-)
I hope to see some "The manly thing to do is to just work faster!" t-shirts!
It makes me feel better as a human to see someone else that has some clutter and mess in their house with kids. My wife and I have a hell of a time staying around of the cleaning around here. lol
I realized that I have been watching you for a while when you son walked by and I remember you announcing that Rachel was pregnant. thanks for teaching this old man.
Love this build, I used to help my father the same way when I was that young. That's why I love wood working now!
I love how over-engineered this is for holding puzzles and games. Good to know it can be used to hold automotive parts in the future. :D And to see the most anti-pocket-hole TH-camr I subscribe to admit that they have their uses was a priceless moment, too.
But thats like the base model jig FWIW 😁
Not a bit over-engineered. Look at all those little climbers he's got.
The king is back...
I was waiting for your content so desperately...
Hope you and your family are doing well.
Nice. I used much thinner shelves in mine, with birch fronts as stiffeners. I put birch on the sides and top edhes, too, so shelves had to go in from back. In subsequent years when my wife wanted even thinner shelves ("I only need 7mm more space..." ) I cut slots in the underside of the shelf, and epoxied in 1cm x 4mm steel stiffeners in routed slots on shelf bottom. Not elegant, but it's invisible from front and has worked for decades.
2:24 The look on Mathias' son's face is priceless!
Nice work and pockets holes makes many of us better that don't have your skills.
Great project and video Matthias! Really nice seeing your son working with you in the shop!!
Awesome job my friend. Make On Brother
Always Nice to see this picture overthere, good work ,greethings from The Netherlands Paul
My wife watched the video, says to tell you "You really did great!" I greatly appreciated it, too. I used 19mm plywood for the shelves, and put hardwood (Birch) edges in front and a hardwood (Birch) stiffener in the back. Had them in service for 30-odd years, and no significant sag. I used step miter, glue and brad nails at the corners, and they have held up, also. All this cut with 8" craftsman bench table saw and lots of jigs. It is so great to watch a true master work. Nahm Abrams (NYW) has a tendency to resort to machinery that would put it completely out of my price range.
Always a pleasure watching you work!
looks like a beautiful and strong shelf. thanks for the video! glad to see your son helping in the shop!
I love watching you work and the ideas you came up to overcome difficulties!
Love it - thanks for yet another perspective on the age old boxy thingy to hold stuff... you're certainly WORK
Very fine bookshelves, Matthias, thanks! After months of thinking about how to make bookshelves for my small home I've decided yours are the strongest, easiest to make and install, and leave the fewest holes in the wall when the time comes to remove them. Though my shop has a high enough ceiling, I'm not sure I can do box joints on such long boards on my old Shopsmith, so I think I will butt-join two half-length boards together with box joints instead to make the long ones.
Thank goodness this guy has kids to carry on the legacy of his nerdy wood working engineering.
OMG it's so good when a plan for a simple but oh so needed solution comes together. Looks good too! Awesome.
I think of the exact delivery and intonation of "So that's another honey-do project checked off the list" every time I accomplish a task around the house
My favorite after-the-fact joinery is to screw it in from the exterior and them come back and replace the screws with exposed dowels. It's not the prettiest, but I prefer it to pocket holes
I just use hardwood dowels, no screws. But I wonder whether they would have enough shear strength to hold up shelves.
You can also spread the shelf a little, and pop a full set of fingers in one side and just dowel the other (or use half fingers, spread over a wide board, a shelf at that it won't argue for structural integrity any time in our life times.
Or just use exterior-showing dowels only without screws. Make it pretty as a design feature.
@@washoecreative595 The glue butt joint is probably the strongest part of that joint.
@@unnamed47 it would be joined together. Thats what would happen.
I was waiting for you to jump onto that shelf to test the pocket holes haha!
Every single choice you make, from material to technique, is always so brilliant in its efficiency! I'd never think of half the things you do
Very very nice wooden work fabulous matthis
You can never have too many clamps.
So glad to see you screwed it to the wall. Another accident avoided by forethought.
Looks great. Glad you guys made it thru Covid ok. Take care and looking forward to more videos.
I have to say i really appreciate everyone's comments on Mathias' videos. As a young woodworker they make me think much more about what goes into a project and what's really necessary for construction rather than just passively watching his videos
I always read comments. On good videos (like Mattias makes) you see all sorts of different information and ideas. Sometimes you find popular myths too, unfortunately. I have noticed that the less creative and informative the comment section is - especially when it's nothing but praise - the worse the actual information in the video.
I just saw Matthias use pocket holes?! I'm gonna be bringing this up in therapy.
The story stick for the shelving pins is absolute gold. I will make one of those for an upcoming cabinet project. Thank you, Matthias!
8:55 you are the man, I salute u sir
With twin 3 year old boys, and a 5 year old boy, your videos always motivate me to get back in the shop and get some work done! I just gotta make sure the wife is staying sane with them in the mean time. Goals!
when I have the kids in the shop, I can't work very effectively, but I CAN work without guilt! :)
@@matthiaswandel some of the best memories i have from my childhood is from hanging out in my dads shop and "helping" him. even if you lose out on efficiency you are gaining elsewhere by building a great relationship, an unbreakable bond only a parent and child could share
I've been watching your videos since the beginning and I honestly don't think I've ever seen you sand anything with a power sander. Mind blown!!!
Pocket holes: “ ...kinda an abomination.” I love it!
Great pro-ject Matthias! and as always well done. I was proud of myself watching the build when you got the tear out doing the Box joints I said to myself, why can't he just come in a little from the other side and then finish them off. and low and behold!! that's what you did. so I guess the Grey matter still works! Hey! I'm old I can say and do that.! thanks again for another great video and for sharing. ECF
I really appreciate and enjoy your work and the fact that you made some of your wood working power tools is a awesome job. I miss working with wood
I love seeing project videos again!
Also, when the unit was coming up the stairs I expected the kid to be carrying the other side.
Great build, the late added trim cut out looked like it made for some good creative problem solving 💕👍
My wife and I have been thinking of building a bookshelf. I will use this video as a guide.
Awesome shelf..... I like the style and sturdiness.
Adding that little bit of oak trim and the plywood back really improves the look. Looks Great!
I love the way you use box store wood to make projects to be proud of. Thank you.
The secret there really lies in using the jointer - you can't find 2 boards at the store that are straight these days
Уверен эти полки прослужат очень долго 👍. Вы молодец
One easy solution to avoid the pocket hole screws, route a stopped dado in the sides of the book case, and the shelf, glue in a "floating tenon" in the shelf the full width of the shelf, then slide in the whole shelf with glue. Done.
I was thinking the same thing except why bother with the floating tenon? Just route the stop dado, rabbit the front of the shelf to go over the tenon stop and slide the shelf in from the back. I guess you have more chance of gaps showing that way in the front
@@Pborges475 if the shelf was already cut to width, you have no choice but the floating tenon. If you still have it long, yes, you could do as you said.
Pocket holes are easier.
@@1pcfred well, yes, as we all know, Matthias hates pocket holes, so I voiced an optional way of installing a shelf without introducing visible attachment. Is that hard to understand?
@@adrianmack3 it is hard to understand. What is to hate about pocket holes? Once you have the kit then get in on it.
Love seein you workin with the kiddo in the shop. Some of the best/early memories! Maybe make a project that he can do? Could be fun 🤣
One hell of an indestructible piece of furniture. When you're done putting books on it you can use it as jack stands for an 18-wheeler.
Glad you and your family are feeling better :)
Thumbnail demonstrates the true strength of pocket hole joinery!! Nice build 👌
Well done. Anytime you get a honey do done, it is well done.
Super well done mate!!!
As always great build thanks for sharing
Another example of Matthias boxing himself into a corner and solving it :). Thanks for all the tips.
keep in mind this is coming from the laziest guy in the world but, honest question: would cutting all the box joints by hand be out of the question? is that even a thing, hand-cut box joints? nice work by the way. (except for the pocket screws of course)
if you hand cut it, it's gotta be dovetails :)
It also starts getting pretty difficult to hand-cut joinery on pieces that long. I did dovetails on the end of a 6-foot board once. It was tricky to find a workholding solution...
Pocket holes in those center rigid shelves are great. Almost better than any other option. If you ever want to move that shelf a little bit to accommodate a different spacing - boom, no problem. Just some small screw holes nobody is ever going to notice anyway. As a habitual non-committer, I love it.
Fantastic build!
This shelf reminds me of some “structural wood trim” I used one time to fix a sticking window.
Your anti-snipe hint is invaluable! I would never have come up with it, perhaps because I don't fully understand what causes planer snipe.Also, putting hardwood edging on the shelves is something I have done, but never thought of cutting them over sized to le the planer do the work. For me, it was hand-plane and cabinet scraper. Lots of good techniques in this one !
Beautiful work as always
Great job as always!
Dear Matthias, y enjoy very much your videos, great job every time. I noted a big mirror behind the bed. I stick a vinyl behind my mirrors, in case of breakage, they keep the pieces together.
Good work, nice and heavy material.
Gracias por enseñarnos a aprender y regalarnos de su valioso tiempo maestro de Aguascalientes México Francisco gamez un abrazo muy fuerte y saludos cordiales bendiciones para usted y toda su familia es usted genial 😀👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
"Say hi to Oma" warmed my Dutch heart.
Nicely designed and executed. What a wonderful, durable large bookshelf. The kids will be taking that one to college one day.
By the time they're ready for college, Matthias will have built many many more bookshelves - some of them probably without those awful unsightly pocket screws :)
Matthias, you are so right with your remark about children climbing it. A measure preventing the bookcase from tipping over is essential! Just fix the top to the wall with a short strip of rope or nylon band bolted to the shelf and the wall could save a life! Alles Gute aus Deutschland!
i'm sure he'll bolt it to the wall
Good man making your Wife happy.
I cannot believe I lived long enough to see the use of pocket holes on this channel.
Love your videos 👍👍👍👍
Another great, robust build.
"the manly thing to do is to work faster"
10/10
That last line was the best part
Great project. 2x4 stock is thick and heavy. Kidproof work.
To fix the middle shelf i like to drill holes from the outside and make a decorative Dowel joint out of it. This way i get more Woodworking Points for not using pocket holes 🙂
Mathias is Canadian and pocket hole screws are Robertson drive. So it's patriotic for him to use them.
could even add some "fake" dowels to make a decorative pattern, e.g. diamond shape
That is a beast of a shelf.
That is one solid shelf unit.
"The manly thing to do is just to work faster."
Ah, yes. The Right Tool for the Job is The Tool At Hand. I am familiar.
wow really amazed at the work that u put in .
You can't spell woodwork without work.
Looks like it turned out great