Barrister Bookcases

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patlaw

Mike
Corporate Member
Does anyone know where to find a SketchUp plan for barrister bookcases?

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Dave Richards

Dave
Senior User
Do you have access to the cases in your photo so you could get a few dimensions? If so, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to make a SketchUp model from them and then develop that into plans.

Bill's link to the 3D Warehouse shows some models that might be usable to create plans. A quick look indicates that the quality and level of detail is variable so you'd need to poke around a bit. If you search for 'barrister bookcase plans' you can find a number of different ones you could use to make your own SketchUp model from. Then you can detail it as needed to create a plan.

You might also take a look at this site. There are scans of catalogs which provide dimensions for various cases and other parts, I think there's enough info there to work out your own models for plans.

I have to build a base for a set of cases in my mother-in-law's house. Waiting for my wife to clean one of them out so I can measure the bottom to make sure I get everything correct. (don't know the brand of these cases so I don't know the exact dimension of the cleat on the bottom.)
 
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Jeff

New User
Jeff
From the WoodWhisperer link that Chris provided. There are 3 cases and each case is 16" high. The $90 fee for the whole package is a good deal.

The dimensions of the bookcase (stacked three high) are: 34” Wide x 16” High (12 1/2” interior) x 15” Depth (14” interior).

And this link might help to roughly size the individual components to play around with in SU.

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/simple_barrister_bookcases

3 or 4 cases of the same size or slightly different heights for 1 or 2 of them?
 

patlaw

Mike
Corporate Member
I will dig into these suggestions soon. Thanks for the suggestions. I don't have the correct dimensions. At present, because I have so/too many books, we have a variety of bookcases around the house. And I need more. At some point, the barrister bookcases might be worth trying.
 

thrt15nc

New User
Tom
I've got the Woodsmith magazine #134 with plans for barrister bookcases. Would that help you?

Tom
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
You might also take a look at this site. There are scans of catalogs which provide dimensions for various cases and other parts, I think there's enough info there to work out your own models for plans.

The links to the catalogs are within the site snd contain a lot of useful information including dimensions and pictures (1899 catalog, p.5 and the 1922 catalog). Check out the +100 year old prices too.

A single complete modular unit contains 3 basic pieces: the base to sit the case on, the case, and a top. The construction locks all 3 together for stability. Pretty innovative, and looks a lot like Mike's pic with 4 cases.
 
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patlaw

Mike
Corporate Member
I had to go to a funeral today, so I'll take a look at these sites soon (tomorrow hopefully). Thanks again for the suggestions.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
Mike, FWIW, gave up on measured plans a long time ago and I certainly would never pay $90 for a set of plans, unless that instructional video and cutlist really mean that much to you.

For me, I find the design process almost as much fun as the build. I do not use Sketchup. I do all my drawings on a drafting table as well as joinery layouts and cutlists.

I start by looking for a design that I like. I f ind it best to search for images then proportion and build accordingly. A general Google search for images and Pinterest are the two sources I use most.

For example, something like a book case might be determined by the wall space and/or other aspects of where its going.

Just offering a different route that might be valuable.
 

patlaw

Mike
Corporate Member
Bob, I hear you. The SketchUp plans would be useful, but there is certainly a level of customization necessary for most projects. Designing in SketchUp is almost as much fun as making sawdust.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
Bob, I hear you. The SketchUp plans would be useful, but there is certainly a level of customization necessary for most projects. Designing in SketchUp is almost as much fun as making sawdust.

So you take a an interesting SketchUp model (it's not a plan at this point) and customize it according to your needs (change the dimensions, how many individual cases for your wall space, etc). It's not too hard.

If you send me your current version of SU I can save my model in your version and email it to you to experiment with. Your call and I already have your private email address.
 
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patlaw

Mike
Corporate Member
So you take a an interesting SketchUp model (it's not a plan at this point) and customize it according to your needs (change the dimensions, how many individual cases for your wall space, etc). It's not too hard.

If you send me your current version of SU I can save my model in your version and email it to you to experiment with. Your call.

15. Thanks.
 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
Ours stands a little over 6' tall, and has five individual cases and base. Case is oak, with medium brown stain. It was built somewhere around 1920. I think Rockler sells a hardware kit for barrister book cases.
 
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Joe Scharle

New User
Joe
+1 on the Rockler plan. When I built one of these, Rockler included the plans in the hardware kit. The hardware kit was an absolute for me. As I remember, the glass and hardware cost far more than the lumber.
 

Grimmy2016

Administrator
Scott
Too many books is never an issue in our household. Its just where do we store them. We do shelves for books thta we have READ, books in PROGRESS, books waiting to be STARTED. and then piles of books elsewhere. I LOVE IT
 

CDPeters

Master of None
Chris
A little of topic, but the bottom case in the original post picture looks like some beautiful quarter sawn oak in the back panel, nice ray fleck!
 
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