Bookshelf Stool (2023) | Byun Kyung Min Archive

Bookshelf Stool

2023, Personal Work

Furniture

Woodwork

This was the first wooden piece of furniture I made after beginning woodworking, the Bookshelf Stool. I wanted the space beneath the seat not to be wasted, but instead to serve a function, completing the stool with the books it holds. Depending on what the owner chooses to read and place within it, the piece gains new layers of meaning. It was crafted from cherry wood and finished with natural Auro oil.

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Behind

This was the very first piece of wooden furniture I made. To avoid wasting material, it’s important to plan carefully how the wood will be used. Most of the stock in the workshop came in lengths of about 2480 mm, 1.5 inches thick, and 170 mm wide—standard dimensions for shipping in a container!

The wood is cut according to plan. When marking rough guidelines on raw timber, chalk is handy. Scribbling quickly across the surface has its own satisfying feel.

A hand plane is used first to level and flatten the timber.

Since most boards are only around 160 mm wide, larger panels are created by joining pieces together.

I printed out drawings and cutting layouts. Back then I couldn’t use AutoCAD at all, so I relied on Rhino for measurements and transferred everything into Illustrator just to mimic the look.

I cut the wood according to the finished design. Sounds simple, but there are many steps in between: making sure all twelve edges are square, and aligning the wood grain properly when joining.

For me, sanding is the most enjoyable part. As the piece nears completion, quietly sanding while imagining how it will look gives a deep sense of satisfaction. With wood, sanding twice—first with #120 grit and then with #320—produces a pleasantly smooth surface.

This was actually the initial design. In the 3D model, it looked well-balanced and stable, but once built it wasn’t. I ended up adding extra legs.

In woodworking, the machine that drills those oval holes is called a “domino.” The domino tenons used in the joints are best made from the same type of wood as the piece itself, so they’re usually handmade.

I did a trial assembly to check if everything fit as planned. Once the joints are glued, these surfaces will never be seen again.

After carefully aligning everything, I glued the parts together using domino tenons. A very rewarding moment.

Once all the parts were joined, I sanded off the glue marks and finished with oil.

It also has a function for holding books like this. Being my first piece of furniture, there were mistakes and plenty of regrets. But it became valuable nourishment for me.