Media Cabinet (Stereo Cabinet / TV Stand)

[gee-dub]

Some of you may have noticed an abrupt stoppage on my G&G Dresser build thread.  I hurt my back and am only lately able to sit at the computer.  I'll lengthen this unnecessary intro by adding an apology for my poor posts of late as I find posting to the forum from my phone difficult .

In an attempt to stay active and add some content I go back . . . to 2014 for a build thread on a cabinet to hold my stereo gear and my CD's.  The target is something like this.

First off, always my favorite, selecting stock.

I use a jig saw as a cut-off tool of choice when breaking down various thicknesses of hardwood stock.

And I gang plane some stock to glue up a large panel for the carcass horizontal divider.

Some of the stock exceeds my jointer so I get the planer sled down from the lumber rack and move along.

While selecting leg/corner post stock I get an on-the-fly design idea . . .. hmmm, just check out that sapwood pattern.

I decide I am on to something.  More on that later.  I decide on some more parts and where they will come from and mill things down to 'oversize'.

So back to that sapwood inspiration . . . I decide to make this a design element and run the pattern right down into the front feet.

A quick diversion look at the ZCI benefits for tablesaw sleds . . .

And a shop made height gauge . . .

I create tenons on the end of each leg.

Chisel an accepting socket into each foot.

Take advantage of a Forstner bit for a given curve.

And here's where  I'm headed.

I use a lot of floating tenons on this build that I make with a Mortise Pal.

The skeleton of the sides start to take shape.

Here are the feet in rough, router table and hand shaped stages.

Add some rails and the form starts to peek out of the wreckage.

I choose the flaoting panel parts out of the stock selected early on.

I rough cut them on the bandsaw, joint one side and cut to final size on the tablesaw / sled.  I then use a Millers Falls No. 9 (No. 4 equivalent) to raise these panels.

Now that I've made some room by assembling part of this thing I can breakdown some more stock so I can keep going.

That large panel I made for the horizontal divider came out great except for one thing.  I forgot to account for the back structure. I'll get to that in a minute but, for now I cut out the notches that I did account for.

Then I test fit the divider.  All is well so I move on.

Back to the . . . er . . . back.  I want plenty of airflow and easy access for cables and so forth.  This is what I decided after I had already started the build (we need an emoti for 'embarrassed').

Here's the divider in what I think is a nearly ready to install state.

There's a Bosch Colt buried under there somewhere and I use it to cut the vertical slots that will accept part of the floating rear panels.

These intersect the mortises for the floating tenon construction mentioned earlier.

I use the same curve via a template to make the horizontal panels.

The dry fit is good so I pre-finish and glue it up.

I start to layout parts for the doors and drawers.

I make sure I don't want any last minute changes or substitutions and then do the joinery for the doors.  I most often use bridal joints for doors but, went floating tenon on these on a whim.

Random tip; get yourself a tube winder from an artists supply house.  It will pay for itself in short order.

The horizontal divider gets glued to one side assembly.

Of course I discover my design oversight the day after I glue the divider in place.  I need to cut a relief on both sides of the curve that serves as air and cable access about this big.

I calculate "this big" into something I can actually cut, lay it out and remove the now offending stock.

And it almost looks like I planned it that way.  Even if I would have tanked hard, this location is deep within the inner chambers of the cabinet.

I need rabbets to accept frames and grill cloth.  There are plenty of ways to achieve this result.  I assemble the frames first, scribe with a cutting wheel and use the router table.

Then I use a cutter out of a "corner chisel" that Lee Valley sells to finish up.  I will do this on certain types of picture frames as well.

I've glued up a bunch of stuff so while I'm stopped, I can start thinking about the pulls.

I select the stock, cut it to width and thickness and clamp it to one edge of the bench.  Ah!  You can see my old bench from 2014 ;-)  I tape down a framing square to keep it put and use an inexpensive beam compass to mark my curves.

The point of the compass can set right into the stamped divider marks on the framers square.

and I draw my curve.

A little bandsaw, rasp and other shaping implements get me here; two doors, two drawers.

To quote Shawshank Redemption; "And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further". The adjustable shelf that will hold equipment is quite thick.  Even though it is behind the doors I did not like the "weight" of it.  I put an unbalanced bull nose on it to give the appearance of a thinner shelf while maintaining the strength I needed for who-knows-what equipment across a 36" span.

I wish I had better shots of how I used this walnut trim to tie in the floating splines on the breadboards and the pulls.  You'll get a better look later.  This does let you see how that unbalanced bullnose (3/16" radius on top, 3/8" radius below) gives the moveable shelf a lighter look.

Here's a good shot of the curves on the horizontal divider, moveable shelf and the horizontal back panels.  You can see that the eventual design varied slightly from the plan as I decided to go with fixed positions instead of movable horizontal panels (it was a dumb initial idea I got sidetracked on . . . ).

The top is glued up and long tongues are cut to accept the breadboards.  Breadboards are another area where there is more than one way to skin the cat and I use several.  On this one I kept them full length and drilled a round hole up front, a slotted hole in the middle and a more slotted hole at the rear to accept pegs from underneath to affix the breadboards.

I bevel the breadboards to get the look I am after,

I route a pocket to accept the splines.  The spline will glue to the top and float in the breadboard.  The round holes at the front keep things aligned and the breadboard's slot is open at the rear to allow for movement throughout the year.

The spline is a bit wedge shaped.

and goes in here.

and looks like so from the front.

Possibly a better look at the thin walnut strips that peek out to emphasize the horizontal lines of the piece.

If you look closely you can see the walnut pegs front, middle and rear on the breadboard.  I sometimes miss taking pictures of some steps and am always sorry later when I am trying to share a method or a result.  Round holes in the breadboards, holes and slots in the tongues.

The feet get clamped into position for this next phase.

Now for the stretcher.  This will not use floating tenons.  It will use dovetails for structural attachment and for a subtle detail at floor level that only some folks notice.  Its always fun when someone who has seen the piece a dozen times suddenly points at the feet and says "Hey . . . "

The dovetail is not full depth.  A rabbet removes much of the waste.

Dry fit for length.

Rough out the dovetail on the bandsaw and dress with a chisel.

I mark the feet using the finished dovetails for patterns and then freehand route most of the spoil in the socket.

Clean up the rest with chisels and you get this.

Whew . . . on to the drawers.  The front and rear of the drawers have slots for dividers; three rows of CD's per drawer, front to back.

I get a little fancy with the drawer boxes just because it's fun.  I stop-chamfer the top edges.

The drawer fronts are taken from one board (of course) and looks about like this.

Here's the drawer boxes without the false fronts.

Add the fronts, layout for the pulls and put 'em on.

The dividers are 1/8" hardboard and simply spring into the slots.

The pulls for the doors are made from a single piece to keep grain flow nice and tidy.

The grills go in and some walnut mitered trim frames make things look clean when you open the doors for whatever reason.

The doors catch with magnets and cups that are covered with a felt dot.

Here you can see the thin walnut trim set off the splines (and pulls).

The sapwood flow from leg to foot meets my satisfaction; and it is a piece for my house ;-)

Some overall shots.

I forgot to mention that I echoed the sapwood on the legs/feet by meeting two halves of sapwood pattern at the centerline of the top.

And you can see how the CD's go in.  I made little wooden file-tabs for dividers.

And that's, that.

 

[Immortan D]

Extra Nice!  

Hope you recover soon.

[shaneymack]

Very nice !

You took all these photos back in 2014 knowing that one day you'd be on WTO and be able to share it with us. You are one thoughtful dude !

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

[davewyo]

Nicely done GD! Your demonstrations are always chock full of useful tips.

[drzaius]

I'm just loving you're journals. Thanks much for making the effort to post them.

[Chet]

Great project.  I really like how the handles came out.

[gee-dub]

Thanks everybody.  I was a little unsure about the pulls but, after living with the piece for a couple of years I'm very happy with it.

[wtnhighlander]

Gee-Dub, that is certainly well within your standard level of awesomeness. Thanks for sharing all the details, it gives us mere mortals hope for the future!

[prov163]

Really nice but more importantly get better quick!

[MisterDrow]

Very nice, @gee-dub! You do beautiful work, sir! Now just get better soon so you can make more amazing things!