Artistic mockup nook amongst my books

29 March 2023

Received this Nook kit from Tom & Sam for my 70th.

The kit comes in a compact box that belies the amount of work required - the fourth image below is of step 16 and describes making 50 miniature books followed by a further 10 with different covers.

The kit comes with LEDs to light up the interior and when complete should resemble something like my mashup above …

31 August 2023

Now is the time to start building the kit. The first stage is very straightforward, pasting some pictures on the wall.

The paste is not included in the kit, and Amazon has a bewildering range to choose from. Eventually plump for Noble Craft PVA Strong Craft Glue. However a 500ml bottle was a bit excessive (at a later stage, where much of the gluing is wood to wood, swap to my existing Evo-stik wood adhesive).

The second step is to fix the lantern. This has a very narrow connection at the base, and although removed with care at some stage of construction it becomes weak. This is resolved by attaching a strengthening sliver of wood to the back. (In the event, the lantern is knocked off a number of times during construction, and is finally put to one side until near completion; it does not actually need to be fitted this early)

1 September 2023

Time to fit the rear wall. This section includes a small door through which the battery for the lights can be accessed. The kit supplies a screwdriver to fit the tiny screws, but it proves less effective than using a bit from my own.

The instructions are to 'button down the plank', which is less than clear. Fortunately Google© Translate understands the Chinese wording!

The strengthened lantern is glued on; as mentioned earlier it is repeatedly dislodged during later works!

3 September 2023

Create some furniture and position one of the LED lights. Have decided not to place the battery holder inside the nook, but to have it located outside so that lights are easier to switch on and off. This requires extending the battery leads, which is easily done once the connectors have been identified as type JST PH.

JST is the Japanese producer (originally Japan Solderless Terminal) and PH is the series designation.

Some of these kits have a sensor switch to enable the lights to be turned on from inside the front of the building. However as the plan is to dust-proof the interior using a 'glass' front this would not be practical. Another option would be to add a timer, as used by LED Christmas lights for example. One of these timers could be repurposed, but it would require a better understanding of electronics than mine to ensure that the LED bulbs did not blow.

4 September 2023

Time for some book making. In practice this involves cutting out paper covers, pressing out wooden blanks and gluing the two together.

All wooden components have to be deburred using the supplied 'nail file'. In the case of the book blanks, the spine edge was also rounded slightly using one of Linda's unwanted emery nail files to give a more realistic profile.

Another useful tool provided by Linda is a brown felt tip pen. This is ideal to cover light areas of wood, such as where burrs have been removed.

6 September 2023

The downstairs fireplace and mirror are now installed. The mantelpiece should have candlesticks mounted towards the front edge as shown, but these proved vulnerable and difficult to align accurately, and were later moved closer to the wall.

The upstairs bookcase is now assembled and fitted.

10 September 2023

Today sees the only item damaged while being removed. Fortunately it is located at the back of the right hand bookshelves and will not be visible.

Downstairs now sports a chair, table, rug and a freshly populated book shelf.

11 September 2023

Today sees the completion of the right hand bookshelf unit. These particular books comprise a length of printed board, and do not need making individually.

12 September 2023

The instructions require the right hand bookshelf and adjacent columns to be glued to the wall before the wall is fitted. However one of the pillars has a cut-out for the lighting flex, and it is difficult to see how this can be fitted as directed.

Decide to fit this column to the main structure in advance, through careful measurement, as illustrated. A length of scrap wood is glued into the gap at the top to provide a more robust fitting.

13 September 2023

All components are now glued to the right hand wall, bar the left hand column mentioned previously. Start to position books on the shelves in a suitably haphazard fashion.

14 September 2023

The bookshelves are now fully stocked and the right hand wall carefully positioned and glued in place. Fortunately it neatly abuts the left hand column as planned.

18 September 2023

With two of the LED bulbs now in place it is possible to get a taste of the nook's night time appearance.

21 September 2023

Spend a while investigating the books that come with this kit. It is an eclectic mix, ranging from vintage tomes (such as the marvellous Pictorial Cabinet of Marvels) to modern prints of classics such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

There are two particularly interesting titles: Rust, Smut, Mildew and Mould is an introduction to the study of microscopic fungi by author Mordecai Cubitt Cooke (1825-1914). Secondly, the illustrated book Shakspeare appears at first sight to be misspelt, but is actually correct.

Finally, Fight Fire with Fire does not even appear to be a book, but is sold on the Shutterstock website as a Vintage card with floral frame, Western style.

As can be seen, most of these books end up stacked on the floor or shelves with their titles obscured. It is even more surprising that the Chinese designers sourced a diverse range of titles that would not actually be visible.

23 September 2023

As part of the dust-proofing mentioned earlier, the roof section will be lined with a 0.5mm clear thin sheet of PETG. The full name for this thermoplastic polyester is polyethylene terephthalate glycol, but PETG is easier to say.

The sheet is attached to the roof section using wood glue.

24 September 2023

Remove protective film from the plastic window and fit the nook roof.

Attach the small wooden mounts to hold the front LED flex in position.

25 September 2023

As this kit does not include a front window, work out how best to fit one. Decide to construct a front slot, so that the 'glass' can be lifted out if necessary. Glue on some spare sections of wood to provide the necessary frame.

This time will use a thicker 1.5mm clear perspex sheet to provide the required rigidity.

26 September 2023

And that's it, job done!

It has been an enjoyable build, helped by the high quality of the laser cut wood. The choice of books and newspapers has been interesting to see and there is plenty of scope for personalising the project. In this case the books were stacked largely as illustrated in the instructions. However the small dog was omitted, wiring and ornament layouts modified and dust covers added.