Carpentry for Amateurs

[Doghouse Riley]

For many it's very difficult to produce professional looking items, with just a bit of skill and basic tools.

An upgrade threw up a spare TV in our house, so I decided to put it in our tea-house I built, (exotic looking shed) at the bottom of the garden.

It replaced a twenty year-old CRT 14" TV that had been in there before. I wanted a shelf to sit it on as it might not be a permanent fixture.

I bought a piece of hardwood bullnosed window sill and just gave it a bit of a sand and a coat of beeswax. There was no change out of twenty quid, but I think it was worth it.

I made this bookcase twenty years ago. It's just screwed together with some brackets. Stood the test of time, no bowing of the shelves as you'd get with soft wood or Contiplas.

To build it again would probably cost around £200 or more now, such is the price of hardwood.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

An earlier use of window sills was this bookcase.

Forty years ago I panelled out this wall in our lounge with teak veneered 8' X 4' sheets of plywood. With the fireplace, these were glued to the platered wall, the rest was on 1" X 2" batons, which allowed me to fix downlighters without having to chase out the walls for the wiring.
A few years ago, my wife though the teak finish was too dark, so we had it all painted. But we had this bookcase I'd made from hardwood window sills, so we only had the bit above the shelves painted. So the effect was like a purpose built bookcase with a back rather than just some shelves.