How to make a Simple Bookcase | Paul Sellers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
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Layout: 01:03
Cutting the Housing Dado: 10:56
Shelves Layout: 24:04
Shelves Housing Dado: 34:03
Fitting the Shelves: 45:21
Kick board Groove: 01:13:18
Rebate for Plywood: 01:33:15
Finishing: 01:49:30
Fitting the Plywood Back: 01:58:07
Bookcases are still a popular home and office furniture piece, and what better than making your own? If you've wanted to make your own, this video on how to has been designed for you, especially if you want only to use hand tools.
From the rough-sawn boards to the fully oiled and finished piece, I walk you through every step to ensure success, and all of this is done using the economy hand tools brought to the table.
Anyone looking for hand tool mastery will love following the step-by-step approach that I have used for six decades to date. Enjoy!
Don't forget you can make your very own router plane: • How to Make the World'...
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- Team Paul
I’ve been following Paul Sellers and have been able to complete several of his projects for my children. I have no words strong enough to express my gratitude for his teachings.
Same! Paul teaches more than working wood. I feel a kinder, gentler person watching him teach.
im a better woodworker becase of him
An understated beauty of Paul's videos is that his benchtop has a pile of tools, pencils, chisels, and hammers right there next to him. Probably many of our benches look like that when we're working. And probably when we're not. Mine certainly does. Seeing that and hearing the occasional "Where's that chisel?" leads me to believe I'm doing ok when learning this craft.
Thanks for not using too much music in this video. I love hearing the sound of the tools being used; being able to listen to it is really educational.
I love these videos where you see the project from start to finish. I am not sure how the algorithm feels about it, but these are great! Thank you for sharing.
While I realize the sound track is added in a post videoing recording process, you remind me that Mr. Sellers knows quite well that the sound a hand cutting tool is making while in use is just as valuable a feed back as the tactile sensation you're getting while holding and using it. I guess it would be best described as, "You have to do both: Listen to the wood as well as feel the wood as you work it".
There is almost nothing better than finding a two hour video from the master himself on a rainy evening.
started following Paul about 12-14 years ago. all i have to show for it is a house full of furniture and tons of pieces in other’s homes as well. i learned on hand tools and committed to not buying a power tool until I didn’t need it. I love handtools, but I leave the donkey work for the power tools now. I don’t enjoy thickessing or chopping mortises much anymore, but most joinery and finish work is done with my chisels, planes, chisel hammer, etc. I’ve used the knife wall for example everyday for a decade as well as hand sawing and shooting boards, router planes and hand planes. thanks Paul.
I'm mostly the same way, I learned everything from Paul, Rob, and a few others. No thicknessing by hand for me, I leave that to the jointer and planer. I do like chopping mortises though, any excuse to swing my cedar elm mallet (also a recommendation from Mr. Sellers)
one of my takeaways from watching this video is that if we can boil down our processes and techniques to a small finite set, and we can also use super simple measurements based on statically sized physical objects, we can reduce a lot of actual thinking from construction and focus more on doing. in this video, Paul bases his main measurements around 1/4" and locks a single router plane to that size. he also frequently simply dimensions things to specific token objects, like his favorite combination square's ruler (the metal end of the ruler itself, not a measurement FROM the ruler). from a techniques perspective, most of the main joinery is also the same thing over and over again, stopped housing joints. fucking brilliant.
What a careful and considerate contribution here, Timothy. I appreciate it!
Great video, and for those who will mention why not sliding dovetails by hand, I will share this-
I get this question from new apprentices after we talk about sliding dovetails. They want to use them everywhere, and I encourage them to give it a shot right then and there.
After a VERY short time they come back to me and mention what a bad idea that was and I get a chuckle along with the older apprentices who went through the same lesson. Wood moves and somehow magically moves even more when the universe senses that you are attempting a long slider in solid wood.
I've been doing this a long time, not as long as he has, and I really miss the quiet shop time of hand work. Sadly, my generation used faster, louder, messy machinery due to economic necessity. I came late to YT, and am slowing down a bit in the shop. I love to sit in the morning with my coffee and watch Mr. Sellers do his thing. I mainly listen to the sounds- every blade through wood speaks very clearly to the tuned ear. I am glad YT exists to help keep the skills going. I always learn from Mr. Sellers and really appreciate that he took the time to make this video.
If he starts icing cakes, I'll subscribe to that channel. If he walks dogs, I'd watch that. He is truly amazing. His kids won the lottery!
This is not just a bookcase; this is anything with shelves, pretty much. Excellent tutorial.
There is a whole new level of camera work in this video!
Really really nice.. im waiting Mr Paul making this bookshelf 😊👍
Thank you Professor Sir Paul!
20:40 I love how you love that. Doing something for 50+ years and still enjoying the little things is truly inspiring :)
Thank you so much for the trick about making the dados a fixed width and using a step on the mating piece! These are the tricks that really assist those using hand tools!
Master craftsman - none of this "So I made 10 passes on my table saw and cut a dado in 2 minutes, then routed 8 tenons in 5 minutes" - anyone can learn to do that in a few weeks. Same as free weights vs machines - you have to LEARN the skills. Love it Paul - just sublime. Namaste x
Great stuff. More of this long form content please.
A great project from a wonderful teacher! Also, shout out to whoever is filming. Shots are really nicely done 👍
Been looking forward to getting home from work and watching this all day, thoroughly enjoyed. Most nights I'm "wasting time" on TH-cam but tonight I feel I have invested 2+ hours. As always a pleasure to watch, Thank you!
Thank you Paul for demonstrating the build of this beautiful bookcase. What I enjoy most about your videos is the thorough demonstration of each type of joint and the fact that I can view them at my bench on my laptop. It is like having you instructing at my bench.
What a great video to follow. It took some time but I like it from the begin to the end.
Working with handtools is great.
This is perfect timing! I was just buying lumber to build a bookshelf. Thanks as always Paul.
2:01:00 Kudos to the Camera and Editor. That was a nice transition.
Camerawork, sound and editing in general is masterful. Perfectly fits the masterful woodworking.
I think paul had me on his ad listening list cause i was looking for videos on how to make a book case and he come out with a video the same week that's incredible
Hi again, Paul. Just like to say that, although your words of wisdom, tips, explanations etc are invaluable, I also like the reinforcement of the follow-up parts where we see you just getting on with it at full throttle. Been following you since your North Wales workshop and your standards haven’t wavered.👍
Marvellous. It's so satisfying watching everything come together beautifully after all of that hard work
This is a very nice looking cabinet/bookcase. I like the wood grain and pattern and color of the Walnut you chose for this piece. Nicely done.
I love you Paul, you are a professional and a very warm and spiritual man🙏🙏🙏
Thank you Paul. No rocket science in any way. I love your approach at keeping the measuring to the lowest possible limit.
It’s a pity that your top piece has been bending so much. But you proved that it really doesn’t matter. Thumbs up, very uplifting.
Thank you so much for this great lesson on how to create beautiful and very precise furniture with only the essential tools. For most of us it is already difficult to obtain precisely prepared wood.
Beautiful as ever. Forget years this bookshelf will last generations.
I got a couple of 1920s-1930s oak bookcases over the years that look very much like this. Very nice project, and as you say, a very adaptable one too. Thank you.
I think someone will be enjoying that in 100 years.
Funny how this popped up on my feed a few days before I need to get started on some casework for a desk. Thank you for the explanations of your process. I do love hand tool joinery, very relaxing for me.
I too love woodworking, my favorite hobby followed by watching and learning from you Paul. Great video as always, cheers :)
Paul, you are the best.
What a beautiful bookshelf &
a great video, as well!
Bendiciones maestro, desde Piriapolis Uruguay ❤
"You got to get to know your wood." Words to live by! 😉
Absolutely amazing, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us, keep up the great work.
Hand routers are excellent marking gauges. This is one of those moments when a larger tool collection actually becomes useful: I’d love to have an extra router that I could leave at the final depth and use for marking and finishing.
Take a less useful chisel and make a poor man's router with it and set it for the final depth?
Fantastic video. I'd really love to be able to buy the woodworking masterclass videos a la carte, rather than having to subscribe. As a hobbyist and a dad, I can't commit to a subscription, but I really enjoy Paul's method of work and his teaching style.
Thanks!
…..and the secret finish is…….Jam! 😂. Excellent video team Sellers. Thanks.
Another beautiful project. It is so nice and helpful to follow Mr Sellers from beginning to end on a project. Thank you for sharing.
really enjoyed watching every second of this. thank you.
Thanks so much for this incredibly educational video!
"that's just tough", haha still laughing. wonderful. Beed watching and learning from you for years. Love it.
Thank you very much !
Gracias por su generosidad de darnos esta clase.
Me gustan estos videos largos sin edición, en donde se ve el trabajo en tiempo real.
wonderful work Paul!
WoW! That’s Perfectly Awesome! I Loved it! 🫶🏻🤩❤️✨
Thanks for sharing! It is a privilege learning from you!
Excellent video, great to watch in one go.
Beautiful work! Even if I learn one thing from you, it’s more than I can ask for! God blessed you with his carpentry skills and in turn you show them to us! Thanks!🪵🌲🌳🐝
¡Gracias!
Stepping drawer bottoms in the same way you have shown us with the dados, is my favorite way to make drawer bottoms. No more questioning the thickness of the plywood. Instead, stepping in down to fit my plow plane.
Wonderful woodworker, wonderful project and wonderful human being. A true inspiration. Loads of respect and love.
BTW, can you please mention the finish you were using?
Awesome, and thank you for the instruction!!
Thank you so much for this, Paul!
nice job as always
Beautiful
Exquisite
Love it Paul I am the son of a cabinet maker he wouldn’t let me follow him into the trade but technically you could say i apprenticed under him from the age of 6 became a Boilermaker welder carried his ethics into my trade now at 69 I am showing my grandson things he taught me another grandson is in his first year diploma in joinery
2:05:00 my wife loves to make Photoalbums. They usually dont quite fit in our bookshelf and they are heavy enough to bend the shelf.
This will be a nice Project to make for her
This video made a hard concept easy.
16:00 I am a ME and work with precision machines everyday. I am very pro-technology, as you might guess.
However, I truly enjoy woodworking with hand tools. Like you said, it is something different than doing it with a machine. You feel way more feedback from the material and learn what can and cannot be done.
Obviously, if you do this kind of work to make a living, nobody will pay extra if you hand planed a board instead of running it though a thicknesser.
But as a hobby it is really rewarding. Plus, if you slip after a long day you can cut yourself, sure. But if you slip with a power tool, things get way worse far quicker.
1:29:32 "Come on, Paul" 😎
1:53:10 Paul icing cake: "So what you want to do is, take your one inch chisel right to the knife wall in your Marzipane..." :D
Wow, that bandsaw is definately industrial strength.
It's really not at all. It's a basic 16" non-industrial machine. I spend my time setting the bandsaw up correctly and by the premium blades. Nothing more.
"My middle one, is in the middle" 🤣
Yeah, it's amazing (every time) to see how life long experience lets you do things right "out of hand". One of the things, why I love watching Paul Sellers
Always masterful woodworking! In terms of the finish, what kind of finish did you use? Thanks for highly professional content Paul!
can confirm my dog uses a router plane
“It’s how you work, not what you make “
I’ve just wrote this on my bench with a marker pen.
I love it. Wonderful piece of work. Where does such beautiful wood come from? I have the impression that where I live it is impossible to buy such boards.
Europe and the eastern USA. Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a temperate hardwood originating in the USA and exported to Europe in the 1600s. Regular walnut (Juglans regia) producing countries are China, the United States, Chile, Iran, and Ukraine. These countries account for nearly 90% of the world's walnut production. The colour is paler than its US cousin.
Grazie🎉❤
Hello, thanks u for this good work. Does it really need glue everywhere?
Yes, it really is important. Glue is not new, it's been used in woodworking for 5,000 at least. Wood expands and contracts, so what seems tight at the time will be loose and tight at different times and seasons.
I like your technique. What is in your finish? And for myeducation why didn't you use a #78 rebate plane to take out the bulk of the rebate on the end of the board. I'm not saying you should have. I'm just educating myself about why you didn't. Thank you for a great video.
Good evening, Paul.
In your long form videos where you do multiple identical cuts (like the 8 dados in this shelf), could you do the follow-on segments (the ones after you show us how to do the first dados) like how you would actually do it for “your” ease of making, and not for “our” viewing ease?
I just want to have an idea how you would do it without taking our viewing angle into account. And you can maybe do a voiceover explaining it.
Thanks again!
8:50... um that's quite the assumption, Paul!
what is the finish?? have some koa i want to try aloha
is this a good first project for someone new to wood working and joinery
"flip over to real money" :)
I chuckled for a moment and thought that's something my grandad would have said 🤣
Paul, will you post the final dimensions of the pieces?
💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Fantastic video as always, I love watching these longer ones, the only problem is I want to stop watching and get out in my shed! One question, why did you use your saw to establish the lines of the grooves but not the dados? Presumably as easier to get a square line on the dados with a chisel due to their length, while the grooves were short enough to saw straight?
Hi Paul is this American black walnut or English please I’ve used black walnut for London pattern chisel handle’s and yes lovely to work with
What kind of oil was used in this project? My linseed oil finishes are always dull.
Paul, why didn’t you go with a walnut veneer back panel? Was it the contrast that you wanted?
Both. I didn't really want to have to go out and locate a decorative veneer because the veneer is often so thin you need to stain the veneer with walnut stain to get a consistent colour. Also, that thin veneer, often a 100th of one inch thick, is so thin it cannot possibly guarantee the longevity I get with Birch plywood which usually is thick enough to plane if needed. I think too that this is a bookcase and the bulk of the back will not be seen when filled with books. Lastly, yes, I did want contrast.
I was not aware of this channel. Are the projects on this channel different from the Masterclasses projects? Are they also available there?
Paul, what is the purpose of the piece of wood installed at 2:10:08 ??
Do you have a sketch with the dimensions of the kick and top boards? I estimate 4" for the kick and 2 1/2" for the top?
Would there be any advantage to make a half sliding dovetail instead of the dadoes?
This title of the project says it all--How to make a SIMPLE bookcase. I think we're inviting problems and fifty times more work to do it--hand cut, sliding dovetails take a lot of skill and time to make and if you are suggesting eight of them you just took the total simplicity of something that will still last 200 to make it last 300, but yes, a sliding dovetail pulls the sides in and retains them. I hasten to add, though, it is a good question and consideration.
Yeah I spent 160 dollars on a lie nielsen router plane and it has a long groove on the underside of the sole...that groove more often then not mars the surface of my work >.>
Well presented, start to finish - no pun intended. {Well, sorta not intended, :) .} What brand fillister/rabbett (son of a plough) plane is that in that you're using in the video? Since my eyes are nine years older than yours I couldn't quite read the "Fine" print.
It's a Stanley #78.
@@Paul.Sellers, Thank you for being so kind as to to reply. Guess I may be due for a vision enhancement upgrade soon.
what was the finish? and were can I get it in the US?
Look to me like tung oil or boiled linseed oil blended with a solvent and wax
Paul, Your router plane kit appears to be out of stock - will you be getting more in?
Yes, they are on their way.
Nice, but unfortunately no moldings and carving.
OMG where's me socks gone!?
😂
I am a little confused with this process. Why size every joint with a chisel? You talk about working efficiently. Why not use a simple rebate plane? Why not saw the walls of the dados, instead of chopping them? This method seems to be a far less efficient, and less precise, way compared to using task oriented tools that you recommend owning?
Dado? Housing dado? Really?
My old Woodwork Teacher would be spinning in his grave, it's a rebate.