The Bookcase Project

My job at work is to be an HR Generalist. That pretty much just means I need to be versed in a little bit of everything related to HR – benefits, payroll, compensation, compliance, recruiting/staffing, leave administration, employee relations, employment law, policy administration, and anything else thrown on our plates. I’m not a specialist in any of those areas per say, but I know enough to be dangerous.

At home, I fancy myself a generalist as well. I can cook, clean, sew, decorate, organize, fix minor home repair and computer issues, paint, craft, garden (in progress), and open jars without help…usually. But what I haven’t spent much time with is something my dad has mastered – wood working.

So I decided to round out my personal resume by convincing my dad to teach me “how to build stuff.” I decided to start with a bookcase as our first project. It’s something I need and it seemed fairly easy to make. (besides the H&G shows build one in 5 minutes!)

After deciding on a design, dad created a drawing, cut list, and priced out our project materials. So far I have used a table saw, router, jig saw, skill saw, and power sander. I'm also learning the lingo! For example, notch thingys = dado.

(Dad has been a very patient teacher.)

We are not quite done, but here is our progress so far:








This was the dry fit to make sure our cuts were correct. Next step is to use wood glue and a nail gun to put everything together and add the feet. Then we stain and varnish!