Not Your Traditional Bookcase

I’ve been following Marc’s video podcasts rather closely for quite some time. I’ve been carving wood for the last 6 years, but I don’t dare call myself a carver. I ventured into carpentry three years ago. Nowadays, my projects are a combination of both disciplines. Having learned AutoCAD (pre-Sketchup era) has had a profound impact in my projects.

I thought I’d give it a try and send you pictures of an old project of mine. It’s called “WM” and it’s a bookcase. I think what’s cool about this project is not the craftsmanship behind it (since it’s butt-joint plywood with a paint finish), but the design and the concept behind it. I am an avid reader and when I moved into my new house, I needed a cool-looking bookcase to house my books. I started looking around for inspiration when I realized that 99% of all bookcases IN THE WORLD hold their books in an upright position with horizontal shelves. So I set out to destroy the norm. After 4 or 5 different approaches, I came up with this design that resembles the letter “M” behind a letter “W”. To give it more of a perception of depth, I brought the “W” forward, offsetting it from the wall some 5 inches (I use the metric system). Thanks to working with CAD, assembling the cut list was only a matter of seconds after I finished drawing it. The task would have probably taken days with any old school method. The only tools involved were a circular saw and a cordless drill. Pretty effortless to be honest. The only other thing I really had to sleep on, was choosing the colors. The whole thing probably took me 3 full days.

Hope you find it inspiring. Keep up the good work, Marc and thanks for taking the time to input your craft into the cyberspace. Saludos desde Argentina