TV / Game Cabinet


wtnhighlander

Recommended Posts

So, being my birthday, I was allowed some play time in the shop this afternoon. I spent most of it fine-tuning the fit of the rails and stiles that form the end walls of the cabinet. Then I moved on to making panels to float in the frames. My bandsaw is tiny, so resawing these 10 3/4" wide pieces is a challenge.

First, I cut a kerf about 1.5" deep all the way around, using my tablesaw.

1ccebb68c4e526ce45d9a80c842bd519.jpg

At the end of this step, I have some nice grooves to help guide another saw.

f00306d3a219aeb15b9332532604eca6.jpg

I wanted to experiment a little, so piece #1 was cut with the japanese-style saw on the left of this photo. It is a Harbor Freight $7 special.

ec21633372ea8839113da29646640f2c.jpg

I timed the cut; it took me 12 minutes, 34 seconds to saw the panel in two. The cheap saw (using the coarse tooth side) did pretty well in this soft pine. Of coarse, dental floss would probably cut this stuff!

Here is the result:

cf62ffd1d0c4723b5f7768153eee95eb.jpg

1cecbecb14045eaeff502acbceb9fb95.jpg

Notice that the saw wandered out of the intended plane rather badly, in the middle if the panel. I am attributing this to the saw blade being too short to reach all the way across the panel, allowing the end to wander as it wanted. For the next one, I'm going to try one of Grandpa's old hand saws, if one is still reasonably sharp. At least they are long enough. Maybe I can avoid ruining the next panel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Happy birthday Ross! How old ? I guess 43. Hope you had a great day in your shop. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

Ha! I think YOU need some old man glasses, if you saw my video, and guessed me to be 43!

I just turned 51, you young whipper-snapper!

Get off my grass!

?

Haha! Well you look like a young 51 !

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, I don't want to poo poo on your work cause I think you're doing awesome!  Just a question tho..  Should the bottom left panel be flipped over so the cathedral points up?

I'm sure that would look much better. I was in such a rush to make them fit, I paid no attention to grain direction. Thanks for pointing that out!

Oh, wait ..... she wants it painted ..... doh!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After blowing half of a beautiful Saturday in "household chores", I did get a little more progress made on this piece.

I made a quick jig to route mortices with. Just a scrap of plywood with a slot for a guide bushing. Screwed directly to my bench, overhanging the end vise to hold the work pieces in place.

8546eae86a544504d0c845d9cab00c00.jpg

That's one advantage of building a cheap bench. Screw holes don't matter.

I also had to spend some time repairing my nearly-new plunge router. The speed control knob on this Hitachi is just a molded plastic wheel, with a tiny hexagon shaft that drops into a hole in the actual potentiometer. The shaft had snapped off, leaving me stuck at low speed. Fortunately, I have a drawer full of random allen keys that my late FIL had collected. I located one if the correct size, cut it to length, and glued it to the knob. Back in business!

Anyway, I routed a bunch if mortices, then squared the ends with a chisel. I had to finess the tenons a bit, as I had cut them a little thick. Finally, though, I was able to do a dry fit if the parts so far.

954d0277414f50cf4f12993b3e074caa.jpg

The blue tape is to ensure it all stays together. The weather has been swinging from sweat to freeze and back, with rain thrown in occasionally. Whoever says softwoods are less affected by humidity change must be off their rocker.

Next up: shelves, back panels, and doors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great progress Ross. Who needs besseys when you have blue tape !

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

Yeah, this time my clamp collection failed me. My longest F style or parallel jaw clamps are 36", I have pipe clamps that are 48", but only clear about 45.5. I did join a couple together in order to pull one joint up tight. But the tape should keep it together until I get back to it.

I hope to never again work with white pine. This stuff is like working with styrofoam, except for planing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I have a question for all you experts. I will be adding a center vertical member to the front face frame, which will strengthen the front, and provide a place to hang doors. Originally, I planned to use m&t for this piece, as it was only to extend between the shelves. However, I am now thinking to extend it all the way to the top rail above the open shelf. Given that the shelf sub-assembly is already glued up, I would need to use a half-lap across the horizontal shelf 'apron'. If it were to be stained, would that joint look odd? And given that it is supposed to be painted, will it matter? Will the joint line telegraph through the paint?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Second tablesaws and second router tables are wonderful things to have. Set up a cut and leave it for the rest of the build. Yea it's a luxury but maybe you need a goal to work for ?

Its coming along nicely. Thanks for the updates, keep em coming.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a quick illustration.

66a84a0a6d0d2d1fdb24ad8eb877843d.jpg

The piece clamped in the center was meant to go just between the shelves, but now I think it should extend to the apron at the top. Will doing that with half-laps, with joint edges running vertically, look odd? If so, is it likely to show under the paint?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   0 Members, 0 Anonymous, 40 Guests (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    422k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,773
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    rojmwq4e
    Newest Member
    rojmwq4e
    Joined