building an alcove book case

RobAMerc

folks,

I am considering the following design for an alcove book case in our kitchen and would like some opinions.

I am going to baton the back and sides out,
put a length of ply up the sides nailed to the batons, use deal t&g strips for the back ( again, nailed to the batons) then build a carcass from 4*2 for the base unit with another sheet of ply across the front with 2 opes in it. I'll get 2 bought doors ( from the guy I bought my kitchen doors from ) and put them on the front.
For the top of the base unit I'll buy a length of worktop ( again matching the kitchen )
finally I would use a strip of pine around the whole lot and fit a few shelves with the pine strip across the front of them too.

Does this sound like a good/bad plan ?

Thanks
Rob

recipio

1. By using battens you are losing space unnecessarily from the sides and back. If you nail the unit in place its going to be a beggar to remove.
2. Using kitchen worktop in a piece of furniture ( even built in ) looks a bit odd. You would have to buy a full length of worktop unless you have a piece lying around.
3. I don't get the 'sheet of ply' in the base unit. Having doors made is fine but they have to hinge on something.
Really, all you need is two boxes, one on top of each other and a decent board in between.Hanging doors on a faceframe generally looks better than a bare 18 mm edged carcass - the so called European method.

RobAMerc

Thanks for the advice

So you suggest I just make a pair of boxes out of ply with some sort of hard wood "top" in the middle. lets call it the tv shelf

Would some window boards trimmed down and butted together make this perhaps?


My idea of the ply front...

Basically I was suggesting I close the bottom box at all 4 sides and cut 2 large holes in the front which the doors I bought would cover. That means I dont have to get the sides perfect and I could use whatever size doors I could get.

thanks again !

recipio

RobAMerc wrote: »

Thanks for the advice

So you suggest I just make a pair of boxes out of ply with some sort of hard wood "top" in the middle. lets call it the tv shelf

Would some window boards trimmed down and butted together make this perhaps?

Essentially yes, although you could just make shelves to span the width of the alcove. ?
For the bottom, I would make a face frame to match the doors. That means making a face frame with 40mm wide timber and joining it with say half lap or dowel joints. The doors can sit on this with overlay hinges - you can get self closing hinges everywhere - you don't have to use 'kitchen door' hinges.
For this kind of work a gadget called a pocket hole jig is invaluable- you could use one to screw a face frame together avoiding joints. Worth a look.

Calahonda52

Sounds like a lot of work for a few books and it could be very chunky looking.
Iff the gaffer is cool with this
How about leaving it open and get tempered glass shelving with supports like this

http://www.hafele.ie/hircat/templates/hafele/browse.asp?newrecordset=yes&classlevel=5957

recipio

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Sounds like a lot of work for a few books and it could be very chunky looking.
Iff the gaffer is cool with this
How about leaving it open and get tempered glass shelving with supports like this

http://www.hafele.ie/hircat/templates/hafele/browse.asp?newrecordset=yes&classlevel=5957

Its an idea - Woodies sell pre-cut tempered glass for shelves - they would have to be a near fit for the alcove obviously. Never light a candle and put it into a set of glass shelves - the upper shelf will probably shatter.