Bookend

We have an open bookshelf which is not fully filled with books, and on the brink there was nothing to keep the books standing. This inspired me to create a bookend to maintain order on this shelf.

The plan was a "pushing man" holding the books. For this I needed two pieces of flat wood joined together in 90 degrees and a figure who is connected to these pieces.

I wanted a strong holding for the joint, but I did not want it to be visible. So I decided to use a blind dovetail join.

This was one of my first joints, so it took a long time (almost a whole afternoon) to create proper shape of the pieces, but finally they fit quite well.

When I had the joint I just needed a figure. I wanted a simple, not too detailed one who is just struggling with the books. I glued together some pieces of wood and carved a simple figure. When it was ready I glued his legs to the base and his hands to the vertical part of the bookend.

The following picture shows it in action: