An Adjustable Desktop Bookshelf

    I don't have a Face Book account.   I'm aways afraid that I won't have enough "friends" to justify having one.    When you are writing a blog you are kind of in a world of your own.    You don't have to worry if any one out there is going to click "like" or not.  You just write your little story and move on to the next chunk of wood.    (I suppose my hand sander could be my friend.   I could tell it what I think and I would never have to click "like" when I read something about it.) 

    When it comes to reading,  I will say that anymore I do receive a fair amount of e-mails in regards to woodworking stuff.   There are always tools for sale.   Tools that you wish you could purchase, yet tools you can't afford.    There are also e-mails that have woodworking plans that make you think - Oh yeah - someday I could build one of those.   The other day I stumbled onto this one; an adjustable desktop bookshelf.   I happened to have some scrap walnut and maple wood lying around so I decided to make one of these.  

   My oldest granddaughter is leaving for college tomorrow so I'm thinking this is something that I will send along with her.   (If she doesn't like the bookshelf idea she could turn it into a cutting board.)  
    I have done the mixture of using walnut and maple wood before on some other projects or toys and the contrast between the two woods can be a pretty sweet pattern.    The picture to the right shows the finished lumber after being glued together.


   I have to wonder if this is not a 1960's project.  I mean who today has a need for book ends or a book shelf?   Everything is pretty much digital and carried around in ones' lap top or in an ipad of some sort.   I wonder if there is even a need for text books anymore.   I will have to ask her after she is settled in.  
 
This bookshelf is held together with wedged tenons that you can slide into holes on one end to keep one end upright.  The other end can slide back and forth depending on how many books you place on it.    You can simply pull those wedges out and collapse the whole shelf.  That way you can fit the pieces into a plastic grocery bag or something.   That should be an advantage if you have to move around a lot.  

   Like most projects - sometimes I think that something is a great idea, and then discover that maybe it is not so practical.   (We'll see.  It should only take the same space requirement as a lap top?)
 
    Anyway, I had to try it out.  And like I said -  "It doesn't have to be a bookshelf.   It could be a cutting board.   It could be a pizza peel.  It could be a campfire starter."    (When you are in college you don't have a lot of material possessions, so one can be very creative.)   

Adjustable Desktop Bookshelf --- or whatever