That is the order of the 12 steps in our demo bookcase, an 80 × 28 × 202 cm bookcase with a fixed middle shelf and four adjustable ones. It takes one person about 35 minutes, with a Phillips screwdriver, a hammer and a pencil. These are the mistakes it guards against, step by step:
- Step 1. Lay both side panels raw-edge up. That edge faces the back.
- Step 2. The 8 cam bolts go into the inner face, the one with all the small holes. Hand-tight, no force.
- Step 3. The 14 dowels, 8 × 34 mm, go into the panel ends, not the faces.
- Step 4. Each cam lock's arrow points toward the side panel before you turn it clockwise. A second pair of hands helps to stand the first side up.
- Step 7. Both sides sit flush at the front before you turn the cams. A 2 mm overhang becomes a wobbly back panel later.
- Step 9. Equal diagonals before the first nail, because the back panel locks in whatever shape you nail.
- Step 10. Count the shelf-pin holes from the bottom on both sides and pencil the row. The manual calls uneven pins the number one cause of a wobbly shelf.
- Step 12. Anchor it to the wall, even if it looks stable. A tall bookcase can fall on a child in seconds.
Before you start, lay everything on a soft surface; the flattened box works. Tip the hardware bags into bowls so nothing rolls away. Two weeks after the build, give every cam lock a quarter turn clockwise, because particleboard settles in the first fortnight.
Your bookcase may differ from ours in sizes and counts, so keep its paper manual open beside you. Its safety warnings come first.