From: brianw@writer.yorku.ca (Brian Whittaker)
Subject: Re: Bookcases
Summary: photocopier spools instead of cinder blocks
Organization: Computer Assisted Writing Centre, York University, Toronto, Canada
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 06:40:14 GMT


One of the problems with cinder blocks would be the constant powdering
of dust and grit. I would expect some abrasive action on the first and
last book of each shelf as well. In my parents home and two subsequent
appartments I used bricks for a similar type of construction. The
bricks were more expensive but were glazed white house bricks and so
were somewhat cleaner and more attractive. The biggest problems with
all of these solutions are the weight involved in moving the bricks or
blocks and the difficulty of disposing of them if you don't want to
move them (down the garbage shute at the end of the hall?).

Then I found an alternative that was light weight, clean and free.
What more can you ask for? I found that the duplicating department at
my college was throwing away the cardboard spools on which paper rolls
for the photocopier machines came. These spools were 8 1/2" long (of
course) and about 4" in diameter. Two spools, one in front and one
behind, replaced four bricks or one cinder block. Nor was the 8 1/2"
length a problem: I made a custom-sized miter box and with my backsaw
I cut short spools which I could attach to the end of a standard spool
with scotch tape to make any height I wanted. In this way I made floor
to ceiling, wall to wall bookcases for three walls of my office (don't
ask why a university would put literature professors in offices with
shelf track on only one wall). The spools were actually superior to
blocks or bricks in that the ends were more square and less prone to
wobble. As for strength, not only did I never have one deform under
the weight of the books (compression strength would be greatest end to
end), but I would demonstrate their strength to nervous visitors by
hitting one of the spools from the side (weaker direction) full force
with a 16 oz. hammer--never made a dent. When I moved after twenty
years to an office with proper shelving installed last fall I took my
hoard of spools home in shopping bags... try that with cinder blocks.

(Do note, by the way, that over the course of years a tall bookcase
made by any of these methods can develop an alarming lean away from
the wall. This tendency can be counteracted, but not entirely
eliminated, by shimming the front of each shelf to build in a backward
tilt.)

A further benefit of this type of construction (blocks/bricks/spools)
is that by the time you have the tools, time, skills and workshop to
do some serious cabinet making, you have a nice inventory of very
well seasoned lumber. A year ago I started building the dovetailed
bookcases I described earlier out of twenty-five year old pine 1x12
boards from the brick and boards bookcase of my high-school days.Then
there's the supply of fifteen year old Philippino mahogany from the
spool and boards bookcase of my old office--as easy to work as pine
and a nice colour match to the store-bought teak bed in my son's room.
The mahogany gets several coats of Watco oil. The pine gets spar
varnish, so that it will eventually develop a warm colour. My only
regret is that I didn't buy white oak and Honduras mahogany at the time.

Brian

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Brian Whittaker
English Dept., Atkinson College, York University
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