# Head Shaped Bookshelf



## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

I am starting a new project and thought I'd try to post progress.

Customer wants a head shaped bookshelf, he could not find anyone else that even consider doing it for him.

I kind of hoped my bid would scare him but all he said was will half get you started.

This is the design he liked, it is about 3 1/2 feet wide, 5 1/2 feet tall and 11 1/2 inches deep. It will be made out of red oak.

I used my CNC Aspire software for design and to cut marking templates for the head shape.


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## Pounamu (Oct 10, 2017)

*Wow....*

.... nothing if not unique!:smile:


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

A weird client.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Mike, I saw that and immediately thought of_ 'Being John Malkovich'_...

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_john_malkovich/

That's a good thing; I loved the movie!


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

sweet!!!!!


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Was wondering if you were going to do it. 

Can always call Scottart and have him make a visit with his chainsaw.

Look at it as a learning experience.

Good Luck


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## marecat3 (Nov 30, 2010)

very cool, look forward to seeing the completed project


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Nice! Needs a Mohawk... :wink:

David


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Very nice Mike. Other people turned this job down but you made it look easy. :smile:


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## Roy Drake (Feb 10, 2014)

Heady stuff! A thinking man.


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## JFPNCM (Dec 13, 2009)

Impressive. Look forward to the finished project.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Very cool. Keep us posted with construction photos.


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

Forgive me, I can't help myself.....


It's not a book shelf, it is a 'Know-ledge'. 



That is going to have to be built with a substantial back to support the weight of those 11 inch deep floating shelves. Wild project, I can't wait to see how you address the challenges.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

kp91 said:


> Forgive me, I can't help myself.....
> 
> 
> It's not a book shelf, it is a 'Know-ledge'.
> ...


Doug I was thinking *pain in the neck*!

It will have a 3/4" back made from red oak plywood with dados for the shelves.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

honesttjohn said:


> Was wondering if you were going to do it.
> 
> Can always call Scottart and have him make a visit with his chainsaw.
> 
> ...


Yes I am doing it, the bid did not scare him off. I haven't made one before but I guess I'll make this one. I just wish I had a larger band saw.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

hawkeye10 said:


> Very nice Mike. Other people turned this job down but you made it look easy. :smile:


Don those other people have more sense that I do, I'm getting old and don't know any better than to do something like this!


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Mike, Ok, take your time, don't get "a head" of yourself. Looking forward to the working photos.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

"Yes I am doing it, the bid did not scare him off."

So, he didn't ask you to 'shave' your price?


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

This would be the perfect gift for a paychiatrist. I'm also interested in how you'll brace the shelves to hold books. I guess the back will have to be pretty thick with deep grooves to hold the edge of the shelves. Maybe even some strategically placed supporting blocks or even steel pegs drilled through the back into the shelves? Or maybe it's just for small, exotic objects? Really interesting project.


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## old coasty (Aug 15, 2014)

Thinking out of the box.


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

old coasty said:


> Thinking out of the box.


and keeping an open mind....


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

maybe you could laminate a few layers of the bend-ply, or wiggle board together to make the sides for strength? I don't know what that would do to the cost.

*Bending Plywood (Flexply, Wacky Wood and Wiggle wood) ? Packard Forest Products


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Mike, if you're concerned about the strength of the shelves, maybe add vertical sections (bookends) to the loose ends?

Looking forward to seeing the progress on this interesting project.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> "Yes I am doing it, the bid did not scare him off."
> 
> So, he didn't ask you to 'shave' your price?


He had no problem with the cost so I guess he knew when all the other people said they did not want to have anything to do with the project that it was going to cost.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

kp91 said:


> maybe you could laminate a few layers of the bend-ply, or wiggle board together to make the sides for strength? I don't know what that would do to the cost.
> 
> *Bending Plywood (Flexply, Wacky Wood and Wiggle wood) ? Packard Forest Products


I looked at using bendable plywood but they list the minimum radius as 12" and I would have to use 2 pieces of 3/8" and do some major modifications to get around all the face profile then have to veneer the inside and outside and cap the face, lost of labor cost added. 

I decided it would have to be cut from 8/4 material and my band saw has a 6" capacity so I'll have to cut profile pieces twice and glue then up. Then I'll come back and join those pieces together. The back will be 3/4" red oak plywood and the shelves will have dados to hold the back and the end that contact the profile will be glued and screwed with counter bores for plugs.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

I started with a 8/4 x 12" x11' board then cut blanks for the profile pieces with the radial arm saw and table saw. I got 16 blanks cut for the profile pieces and got 2 glue ups so I could cut the other 3 blanks. Also got a jig to use on the band saw glued up. I also had to stop and align the tables on my new Dewalt dw735 planer so that has been taken off the to do list, works great. My biggest problem on a project this size is space, everything is on rollers but where do you roll it? I miss my 24 x 40 shop when I have things like this to do. This 16 x 24 2 story is just too small.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

I was realigning the band saw (had not been used in over a year) when One of my customers called and his CNC was down with the bit buried in the material and the controller software was locked up and he could not get it to do anything, couldn't get the computer to shut down. I dropped everything and headed for his shop. Got him back up and running and got home about 8:00 PM.


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## bcfunburst (Jan 14, 2012)

WoW!! I'm at a loss for words, Mike! I can't even imagine tackling such a project on that scale. I'll follow this build for sure. So much to learn! Thanks for sharing your"stuff"!! Very impressive!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

!....Holy Hanna, Mike; whatever you're charging him he's getting a bargain!!


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

always love a good challenge, and you certainly got one here... excellent approach thus far...

did you consider steam bending?


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

This is how I determined where to make cuts for the blanks. Set the boards on edge and traced the templates on the board. Had to do this twice because of the limitations of my band saw.

Then I cut them to size with my radial arm saw.

All marked and ready for the band saw work.

Did some test cutting on the band saw before I started cutting the good stock pieces.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

All ready for the first glue ups of the head shape.

Got them all glued up and ready for sanding.

Preliminary sanding inside and outside.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Used the CNC to cut sub assembly templates.

All separated per template and ready to be trimmed for assembly.

A little creative clamping for the router table and the joints are trimmed and ready for sub assembly glue ups.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

That's looking really good, Mike! Good job.

David


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Now that you're getting the bugs worked out -- is a production run in the cards???

Whatever you're getting for this - ain't nuff!!!

Just between us though --was it fun figuring it all out??


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

As Stick likes to say, kudos to you, Mike; amazing creativity!


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

honesttjohn said:


> Now that you're getting the bugs worked out -- is a production run in the cards???
> 
> Whatever you're getting for this - ain't nuff!!!
> 
> Just between us though --was it fun figuring it all out??


Okay! I hadn't thought about that John, I could mass produce these at about 4 or 5 per year.

If I had to do another one I'd charge at least twice as much for the work involved.

It was different and I can now say I built one.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

DesertRatTom said:


> This would be the perfect gift for a paychiatrist. I'm also interested in how you'll brace the shelves to hold books. I guess the back will have to be pretty thick with deep grooves to hold the edge of the shelves. Maybe even some strategically placed supporting blocks or even steel pegs drilled through the back into the shelves? Or maybe it's just for small, exotic objects? Really interesting project.


Tom this will actually be more of a nick knack shelf but he will have a few books included. I did allow for book storage in the lower portion by the neck to help add a little weight to stabilize the bookcase.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

TwoSkies57 said:


> always love a good challenge, and you certainly got one here... excellent approach thus far...
> 
> did you consider steam bending?


Bill I don't think I could have laminated pieces that wide to get the shape but with the right equipment it might be feasible for about 80% of it. The building the jigs would add quite a bit to the cost of the project but then I would be closer to mass producing this.:smile:


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Glued up sub-assembles using clamps and tape to draw the joints together. Then glued sub-assembles to sub-assembles to get the head shape.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Glued up blanks for shelves and bottom panel then trimmed the panels.

I use glue and pocket hole screws to build the riser base. Rounder the front corners and eased the edges with a 1/8" roundover bit. Sand the base to 220.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

I left the sides of the head shape proud of the bottom panel so they could be trimmed flush with the panel.

I set up an offset router base to trim the bottom edges of the head shape flush with the bottom panel.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

I set up a router to cut the rabbit in the back inside of the head shape for the back panel. The long arm rides on the edge of the head shape to help stabilize the router and keep it from tipping sideways. The rabbit was cut in three passes.

Finished up the rabbit with a chisel at the lower corners.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

I cut the back panel out of 3/4" Red Oak plywood using a jigsaw. I taped a straight edge along the bottom edge of the panel to help locate the shelves. I used painters tape to mark the shelf ends and bottoms. 

Then I started building the stair step shelf using glue and counter-bored screws and face grained plugs cut for project material. 

I mounted the back panel loose in the rabbit of the head shape using 2 1/2" long washer-head screws every 4" along the edge.

I trimmed the ends of all the shelves to fit the head shape and mounted them with 2" long counter-bored screws and face grained plugs on the sides and used 2 1/2" counter sunk screws every 4" thru the back panel into the back edges of all the shelves.

I pre-drilled all or the screw holes to avoid splitting the hard red oak lumber.

I added the Sapele Mahogany plaque with black epoxy inlay in the back per the customer's request (signature, name and year).

Hand sanded everything up to 220, vacuumed dust then blew off with compressor air gun and finally tack raged everything.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Mike that is beyond anything I could ever do in my life time . Turned put unbelievable well imo. I was a bit skeptical on how you were going to acquire the depth for the outside head , but you pulled it off and it looks fantastic


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Sprayed 5 coats of General Finishes EF High Performance Polyurethane Top Coat-Semi-Gloss sanding with 400 grit between coats and blown off with air gun and tack ragged each time. The finish was allowed to cure for three weeks before delivery so it would be fully cured and ready for heavy use.

The grain was not filled so that the open grain would show and add the element of texture to the project.

Customer could not get the grin off his face when it was delivered.

He gave me 2 more jobs to do before i left his house, a riser with drawer to hold his daily journal on his desk and a special display stand for a large book. Then he called Saturday and wanted to come see my shop where the bookshelf was built and to deliver some special framed art work he just received form a frame shop. The 4 pieces have metal frames on each and 2 hold together with magnets in the back of the frames to make them 2 sided. He wants 2 rotating holders made to display them. 

So when I get caught up with other projects I'll start the designs for his new projects.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Sounds like ome happy customer Mike ,and I can see why . Wow is that big too! 
This must be one your harder creations ?


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> Mike that is beyond anything I could ever do in my life time . Turned put unbelievable well imo. I was a bit skeptical on how you were going to acquire the depth for the outside head , but you pulled it off and it looks fantastic


Rick I wondered how I could make it deep enough to hold books because my band saw only has a 6" capacity and I tried to get him to have a large cabinet shop do it for him. I even offered my design files to him for free but he wanted me to build it for him. So I cut all those head shapes twice and glued them up to get the depth. 

More work than I really wanted to do but I can now say I built a HEAD SHAPED BOOKCASE all by my self. :smile::laugh2:


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> Sounds like ome happy customer Mike ,and I can see why . Wow is that big too!
> This must be one your harder creations ?


Rick I use to work for a company that did one of a kind custom aircraft cabinetry and interiors for large wide bodied jets (737 up to 777). I built credenzas about 18 foot long that had TV sets that stored in the credenza and raised up on electric lifts when a button on the remote was pressed, wardrobe units with 6 doors and 8 1/2 foot tall, 5 foot wide desks with dual computer monitors built into the wall with electric doors that closed to hide the monitors when not in use and a lot of other over the top cabinetry. BUT I never build a head shaped bookcase for one of them.:laugh2:


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

MEBCWD said:


> Rick I use to work for a company that did one of a kind custom aircraft cabinetry and interiors for large wide bodied jets (737 up to 777). I built credenzas about 18 foot long that had TV sets that stored in the credenza and raised up on electric lifts when a button on the remote was pressed, wardrobe units with 6 doors and 8 1/2 foot tall, 5 foot wide desks with dual computer monitors built into the wall with electric doors that closed to hide the monitors when not in use and a lot of other over the top cabinetry. BUT I never build a head shaped bookcase for one of them.:laugh2:


Mike,congratulations on the Head Shaped Book Shelf..It's no wonder the guy was tickled pink with the job,it's just so classy.Jamesjj


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Mike, that is one special creation - you should be proud, using your head to create a head. I think I get the concept of storing books in a head, but is there a special reason your customer wanted a head-shaped bookcase, other than my thoughts?


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

Head and shoulders above any bookcase I built!


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

vchiarelli said:


> Mike, that is one special creation - you should be proud, using your head to create a head. I think I get the concept of storing books in a head, but is there a special reason your customer wanted a head-shaped bookcase, other than my thoughts?


Vince the customer found a picture on the internet of a head shaped bookcase but that one was between 8 and 9 feet tall. He was thinking along the same line about knowledge being stored in the head. This is a scaled down version of that bookcase made to fit the width of a location in his house where he wanted to place it. I added the neck section to make it taller and make book storage at the bottom and added the riser to bring it up off the floor. He did want the stair step shelf to represent the brain and the eye shelf so he could add a nick knack to represent the eye. He also wanted the name plaque added in the back of the bookcase.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Excellent job - I can imagine you put in quite a few hours for the build. Nice when the customer get what they want.


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

You did it!!! Had my doubts when it first was mentioned. Now you can rest your brain for a day or two. You deserve it.

I know you cut enough parts to slap 10 or 12 more together real quick.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Whew, your workbench was just barely large enough. Great job.
Herb


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## bcfunburst (Jan 14, 2012)

*Head Space*

Amazing job, Mike! I think this is a way beyond anything I'd have patience to do. Gives me a head ache just thinking about all the angles and calculations. The end product is fabulous! Thanks for showing your skills and your great projects. :surprise:


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Herb Stoops said:


> Whew, your workbench was just barely large enough. Great job.
> Herb


The work bench it is on is actually two benches set back to back just for this project. The bookcase hung over the sides a couple of inches and was moved around as needed. It was on and off of the bench many times so I had room to work on other parts and projects. If you notice in some of the pictures there is a end grained cutting board in the middle of the head shape, an inlay project for another customer. The benches are on rollers like 90% of the stuff in my shop. 

I am constantly moving tools from one place to another so I can get enough room to use each tool, that is what I do the most of in my shop, move stuff around and then move more stuff around! I miss my 24x40 shop.


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