1 reply to this topic

[dale rex]

I need to build a 5' x 5' freestanding room divider to hide the back of a very large flat screen TV. One side will have 3/16" beadboard paneling painted black, and the other will be 3/16" Masonite and get covered with a fine grasscloth material to give it an Asian look. It will rest on two flat feet and have a custom made band molding around the perimeter of the panel. The total thickness I want is about 1.25" so I need a 3/4" thick core. My question is about constructing the core so it is lightweight but will stay straight. Torsion box? My idea is for 1" x 2" or 1" x 3" quarter sawn oak on the flat for the perimeter( for stiffness and stability) and 3/4" x 3/4" plywood or MDF strips on edge for the webbing spaced at around 6 inches. You guys think this will work and stay light weight and straight? Gotta start on it an Monday so I need to finalize the construction details over the weekend. Thanks , Dale

[rmac]

Your plan sounds good to me. For the web, I think I would use 3/4" x 3/4" plywood for stiffness. (3/4" x 3/4" MDF sticks would be sort of bendy, I think.) I would assemble the web using a whole bunch of half lap joints so that the sticks are continuous from one edge of the panel to the other in both directions. In other words, I would NOT have long strips running in one direction and a bunch of little short sticks going the other way. As long as you get it all flat when you glue it up, I think it will stay that way with no problem.

The other thought I had was to use a piece of 3/4" foam insulation for the core instead of the web made out of plywood sticks. That would be easier to build, but you'd need to figure out how to bond the foam to the skins on both sides. Otherwise you'd lose the torsion box effect and the panel might not stay flat. So if you already know how to bond the skins to the foam (or if you have time to experiment), it might be worth thinking about to save some work. Otherwise, I'd stick with the sticks. We know how to glue wood to wood!

-- Russ