Can this be DIY'd? Curved bookcase

NewShadow

Greetings all, 

One of the lesser known consequences of Covid is getting excited by things you've found on the internet... 

In my house - that I WILL be buying SOON darn-it! - there's a silly maybe 6 inch deep 'closet' in the master bedroom that needs something doing with it as you need to leave a ton of space around it for the door to open and it's not really a usable size... 

I was following Doozer's repeatedly posted excellent advice and looking at Pinterest for ideas of how I want the room decorated/furnished, and I came across this: 



Any ideas? 

I don't need it to take a substantial amount of weight as it's only going to be for a couple of books, maybe a lamp and a couple of jewellery boxes. 

molerat

A DIY steam chamber, a former and some clamps. Build a timber  former, steam the ply, bend round the former and clamp.  Wait for it to cool / dry. Repeat another 5 times.

NewShadow

To curve some ply strips? I get that - I've actually done it before without a steamer by using a shedload of woodglue to laminate 3mm sheets together in a form using ratchet straps, then cut it to shape once set.

...but then I was trying to figure how you'd actually fix them to the backing/each other without visible brackets or bracing. Wood glue would hold them to start, but then do you think pre-drill/screw from the reverse and risk splitting the wood? Or give in and use brackets painted to match the wood? I was even thinking about seeing if I could find someone to make the whole thing in sheetmetal... 

See - I told you I had too much time on my hands  

GDB2222

The trouble is that the person who made the piece in the picture may have done it a few times before on simpler pieces. 

NewShadow

GDB2222 said:

The trouble is that the person who made the piece in the picture may have done it a few times before on simpler pieces. 

Are you suggesting I'm being overly ambitious...?

GDB2222

NewShadow said:

GDB2222 said:

The trouble is that the person who made the piece in the picture may have done it a few times before on simpler pieces. 

Are you suggesting I'm being overly ambitious...?

No idea about your skills, so this is no reflection on you.

I've not steamed ply, but I've seen oak being steamed. They over-bend the oak, because it straightens out a bit when it cools. Knowing how much to over-bend it is a matter of experience. So, whilst Molerat said repeat 5 times, you might actually be repeating a lot more than that before you get it right.

And, as you said, you can make your own ply, given enough patience.  

Andy_L

NewShadow said:

GDB2222 said:

The trouble is that the person who made the piece in the picture may have done it a few times before on simpler pieces. 

Are you suggesting I'm being overly ambitious...?

If you have to ask how to do it...

You could find a 70s style coffee table (shaped like a curved off rectangle from the side view) then chop it up to make the curved quadrants

ETA there are firms that will supply bent ply/furniture board to your spec. But that's not really DIY and, I suspect, pricy

Andy_L

Or...chicken wire and Papier mache

daivid

Do you have tools, any experience in woodworking/ the patience to make mistakes and learn as you go?

If you neither have the tools needed nor can borrow them I think making this from scratch would cost more than having it made for you. On the plus side if you bought good tools you would have them for your next project (and the next and the next...).

The curves could be made by steam bending or bonding thin layers of plywood clamped to a form. Perhaps though you could find a donor item that could be cannibalised but I cant think of anything in particular that would have the curves you want. 

NewShadow

Andy_L said:

Or...chicken wire and Papier mache

At one point I was seriously considering making basically a pegboard using 10mm dowel and bending and pining 3mm ply top and bottom... One way or another, I recon I can make the frame and the shapes easily enough - the thing I keep coming back to is the vertical strain against the backboard... 

daivid said:

[1] Do you have tools, [2] any experience in woodworking/ [3] the patience to make mistakes and learn as you go?

If you neither have the tools needed nor can borrow them I think making this from scratch would cost more than having it made for you. On the plus side if you bought good tools you would have them for your next project (and the next and the next...).

1. Nope - well... I've an axe and a pullsaw, plus assorted clamps and I should have a really nice set of woodturning chisels in a box somewhere... 
2. Yep, but all from about 10 years ago 'working with' my step-dad who made 'solid' furniture... 
3. variable

My step-dad's workshop all got sold when he died so I'm starting from scratch, but I'll be renovating the house and want to do as much myself as I can so I'll need some tools... hoping to rely on you kind folks as I repeatedly screw-up over the next couple of years

-taff

I'm not so sure that that is actually attached tp a backing board, I think it might just have been shaped and inserted and held in place by tension.