BOOK LIBRARY - ROOF

Son’s kindly volunteered to take on the role of chief door frame painter, leaving us free to concentrate efforts on creating a roof for the main library structure.

The original idea was to make one like this

The original drawing used as a blueprint for our little lending library shows a peaked roof held up by two triangular panels. The roof overhangs the main body of the book box to prevent rainwater dripping down it and is covered by some kind of waterproof material. Hmmm - how can we re-create something similar?

Firstly – we need to make the two triangular panels that will form the main support for the roof. Here’s how to do this:

Start by cutting two rectangles out of OSB or whatever material you are going to use for your roof structure. The rectangles should be the same width as your underlying book box.

The plan is to make 2 of these

Draw a pencil line on the OSB to mark the centre of the rectangle’s length. On each side edge, mark a point that is approx. 7 cms from the bottom. Join the mid-point mark to the side mark (see sketch) to determine your cutting line for the apex of the triangle.

Cut away the bits either side of your dotted line. Repeat for the second panel.

Cutting out your triangular shape 

Use chunky timber battens to cut smaller lengths for the sides of the roof structure.

Wood battens for sides

Your triangular panels are screwed onto these battens from the front. I’ve used one batten for each side and one in the middle for extra support. Use clamps to keep everything together as you work.

Making a roof truss

Clamps to hold it all together

The finished dimensions of the whole piece should be the same as the top of the underlying book box, nothing should overhang at this stage. I’ve left a small indent front and back to accommodate an identical panel made of white UPVC that will cover the OSB for additional waterproofing.

Truss should fit neatly on top of box

Permanently fix this triangular truss to the top of the main book box using long thin wood screws drilled in from the inside of the box. Countersink all the screw heads so nothing sticks out. Doesn’t look pretty but once painted they won’t really be visible from the outside.

Attach roof truss to top of box 

With the truss firmly fitted, time to make roof panels. Again, I’ve used OSB for this as I’m intending to cover the panels with some of the rubber roofing material leftover from our dormer refurbishment. You could also use felt or just paint them then coat in yacht varnish to waterproof.

Making the roof panels

Cut two OSB rectangles to sit on top of each side of the truss but this time each panel must be larger than the truss so that it creates an overhang on all sides.

Angle one side of the panel to create a mitred joint

As both bits of OSB need to join at the apex, cut an angle on one side to create a mitred joint.

Screw roof panel to truss

Make a tight joint at the apex

Secure each roofing panel to the truss using long thin wood screws. Again, countersink all the screw heads so nothing sticks out. Make sure your central mitred joint is nice and tight.

Roof attached

You should now have a book box with a nice overhanging roof ready to prime and cover with appropriate waterproof material of your choice. Here’s ours with its new rubber roof.

All primed up

Rubber roof stuck on

Now excuse me whilst I go off for a nice little drive to Somerset to drop off the finished book box to son who is waiting, paint brush in hand to spruce it up in a nice shade of rustic green.

BOOK LIBRARY DOOR PREP

Flip a coin. Heads or tails? Ah, tails it is - looks like we’re making the door for our little lending library book box first.

Materials needed for this part of the project are as follows:

• 2 x 2.4 metre lengths of par timber approx. 4.5 cm wide x 1.8 cm deep
• 1 x sheet of 2 mm thick clear Perspex
• 4 x 50mm angle plates for door corners
• 2 x 75mm tee plates for central door support
• 3 x small flush hinges
• 1 x door knob
• 1 x door hook clasp

Metal plates for extra bracing on the frame

Flush hinges and door clasp

Begin by making a mitred frame that fits on top of the box front.

Cut mitred pieces of timber to make a door frame

Glue the frame together at each corner.

Glue your frame together at each mitred corner

Add a wooden strut to the middle of the frame for extra support.

Adding extra support to the middle of the frame

On the inner side of the door frame, position your hinges along the left-hand edge of the frame to correspond with fixing position along the rim of the box. Don’t worry too much at this stage about fully fitting the hinge into place as this can’t really be done until the door frame has been painted.

Add hinges

A word here about hinges. Disclaimer - Being DIYers and not carpenters then it’s a job to know what type of hinge you should be using for this kind of thing or how best to fit them. If you know of a better/proper way of doing this bit then great but for us, this part is trial and error.

Put plastic on frame to work out sizing

With your hinges in place, lay your sheet of Perspex down on top of your frame to work out sizing. I bought my clear Perspex from an Ebay seller who specialized in cutting it down to size. However, as I didn’t have exact sizes at the time then there’s a small bit to lop off on one side.

Cutting the plastic

Two millimetre thickness doesn’t sound like much but when it comes to cutting plastic it can be a big deal especially if you don’t have specialist cutting tools and as always, there are a million and one ways to cut Perspex according to the internet.

We tried scoring it with a sharp knife. (Who is Stanley and why did he invent a knife?) Using brute force and ignorance, scoring barely touched the sides. But it did leave a nice line clearly marked out on which to try something else.

A small fine-toothed hack-saw, our next tool of choice, did little other than splinter some of the edging. Pants!

Having almost given up the ghost, the other half dug into his box of power tool tricks and brought out a Dremel multi-tool. Using a small rotary blade to slice through the plastic, slowly but surely, finally the bugger was cut down to size.

With your plastic sheet cut to fit inside the wooden door frame, place your angle and tee plates on top and mark out their fixing positions using a sharp pencil. Mark the location of screw holes as these will need to be drilled first before fitting.

Mark out screw holes for drilling

Drilling into plastic is less of a headache than cutting it and can be easily achieved with a small drill bit. Drilling or cutting plastic can leave a hard residue/ridge around each cut likely due to the plastic ‘fusing’ from friction. This can be easily chipped off with a long finger nail.

Clean off plastic ridges around holes

Right.  I think that covers all the fiddly parts. Before anything else can be done, the door frame needs to be primed and painted so I’ll return to door assembly later on after I’ve tarted up my frame.

BOOK LIBRARY - MAIN BODY

Whether you’re making a tortoise enclosure or tractor, most of our woodworking projects begin with a box and this one is no different.

‘Take 3 planks a day for the next few weeks’ said the DIY doctor reaching for a glass of Pimms in temperatures worthy of San Tropez.

To construct a simple box something like the one in my diagram - use 2 pieces of pine board 1150 mm long x 200 mm wide then chop each length in half so that you have 4 smaller pieces approx 57 cm long.

Something that looks roughly like this

Join the four sections together at each corner using wood screws to create a basic square frame.

Cut a smaller length of pine board (53.5 cm long x 20 cm wide) to fashion a shelf that will fit inside your timber frame. 

I have centred the shelf to create a gap big enough for an averagely sized hardback book.  Screw this into position from the back and sides.

Square frame with centred shelf

Finally, cut a backing board the size of your completed frame. We’ve used some leftover OSB board as this is nice and sturdy. Attach the board to the frame from the back using long thin wood screws. Don’t forget to countersink all the holes so no screw heads stick out.

Attach OSB backing board

Hey presto, basic book box completed and ready for part II – door or roof. Haven’t decided which yet.

OUTDOOR BOOK LIBRARY

Number of times I’ve thought about work since retiring – ZERO.

Has boredom set in yet? NO.

Another weekend of reading articles extolling the virtues of working past retirement age or urging punters to invest their nest eggs in shares rather than cash accounts. Just who are you kidding?

Lacking the imagination to make something of your life when you give up work is no excuse to just continue that same life in servitude to the Tax Man because in reality that is all you are doing.

Persuading people to work longer is not about alleviating their boredom, giving them a purpose, countering loneliness with an office social life or water-cooler gossip, funding a cushier retirement – it’s because the State needs as many taxpayers as possible to balance its books. Work if you must but count me out.

Anyhow, this post is not about the whys or wherefores of whether to give up work or not but is about outdoor book libraries.

One of our neighbours very kindly set up a mini lending library in her front garden which being a life-long lover of reading, I loudly applaud. I've been an active contributor since its inception.

Neighbourhood book exchange

Encouraging others to read instead of spending hours with nose buried in a gadget is top of my list of things that should actively be pursued. Books are a wonderful form of escapism and libraries (indoor or outdoor) can transport you to other worlds energy free.  Nothing beats a well crafted novel or crime thriller.  Not even chocolate or sex comes close.

My son it seems has the same idea in mind, wanting to pop one outside his front door. A free book exchange for anyone who has a hankering for a good read. Shocked by the cost of acquiring one of these little lending libraries online, it’s time to head to the timber merchants for a bit of wood. Hey boys, I’m back!!

Guess what my son’s getting for his birthday this summer? Yep, a little lending library loving crafted by the workshop of mum and dad.

I’ve already found a simplistic design for an outdoor book cabinet to be used as a model for ours because the best ideas are always someone else’s.

Could we make one of these?

Our little lending library will be fashioned using principles and skills applied to a whole host of previous projects. It will be made from pine board, finished in a couple of coats of exterior weatherproof paint with a waterproof roof then mounted on sturdy posts cemented into the ground.

Sounds simple but for a pair of old duffers with the carpentry skills of a plug-in air freshener, it’ll be like trying to broker a ceasefire deal in the Middle East or understanding the new Make Tax Difficult rules. Complicated to say the least.

I hope this next series of posts will inspire you to make your own little book library but let’s get this project off the ground while we wait for the flooring quote to arrive.