Popular Post legenddc Posted October 17, 2021 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 After months and months of discussions and a possible refusal to build a farmhouse TV stand with barn doors, I'm finally ready to start working on my next big project, a sideboard TV stand. I must have gone through 500 pictures of TV stands before I finally found what my wife wanted, The Contemporary Sideboard from FineWoodworking #277. I did a rough full size sketch so we could make sure it fit where it's going. The TV is going to be mounted on the wall so I'm not concerned about the weight of it on the stand. Ours will be made from all cherry and will have 4 doors. The legs will be shorter so the TV isn't up too high. Since they're basically a stand for the cabinet I can always make taller ones if we want to repurpose it later. So picture the above in all cherry, another door wider and lower. After finding a new lumber dealer I finally have all of the wood that I need for this unless I really screw things up. I don't have a Domino (only biscuits) so the joinery for the miter joints and interior vertical divider will have to be improvised. I'd like to try mitering all 4 sides but Chestnut suggested just the tops with mitered trim all around. Depending on how the top two corners go that may change my mind. How to reinforce the miter? I need to come up with a way to clamp all of this. It will be about 64" wide so if I go full length clamps some more and extenders will have to be purchased/made. The doors will be inset and I'm not sure what door hinges I need. The trim on the case will stick out some so I need to find the right style. For the back of the case is it better to go with a 15"tall x 32" wide panel with the grain vertically or horizontally? I haven't fully thought through the wood movement issue. I'll have to test it when I get to the doors, but I'm debating on running the grain vertically for the panels. I think I have a wide enough board to only need one with continuous grain but I don't know how it will look. Hopefully after this week I can start on this. Being as I have a long panel to glue up and a short shop I'm going to be limited to working on this during the weekend when the kids are awake. Once those parts are sorted I can keep chipping away at night on things. Open and welcome to any suggestions, tips, criticism, etc. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wtnhighlander Posted October 17, 2021 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 This is going to be a great project! Looking forward to watching as you work. Regarding the case miters, our friend @derekcohen has done a couple of very similar projects. Try searching his journals for some good tips on the construction. For the back, I would be very tempted to make frame & panel assembly to mimic the front. That avoids having an 'ugly side' that needs to go against a wall. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted October 17, 2021 Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 5 hours ago, legenddc said: I need to come up with a way to clamp all of this. It will be about 64" wide so if I go full length clamps some more and extenders will have to be purchased/made. This is an old posting, but there are some ideas on how to clamp lengths too long for any one clamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted October 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 @wtnhighlander Thank you for the @derekcohen tip. I'm going through some of his old posts now. Would this work for the back or do you mean more of a door duplication? I'd like the back to be nice even though there's nowhere we could put this to see it. Maybe one day we'll have loads of space so it might as well be done right now. @Mark JThanks for that. I was looking at it earlier. I have 2 pipe clamps I could use that are long enough and 2 50" Bessey parallel clamps that could work with the extenders. I swear someone here had made their own. I'll find it eventually. I think I'll need some more 24" clamps for the top/bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 I was suggesting to make the back look like the front, but if it will likely never be seen, that is a lot of effort for little reward. The plywood panels should do nicely. I was going to suggest that a 2x4 with stop blocks and wedges is a cheap way to deal with a unique clamping situation, but with lumber prices still being a bit steep, pipe clamps might be cheaper! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 I really like that design and look. I'm not sure where you are concerned about strength but TVs are light. The 200 lb gorilla using the tv stand to hang a picture on the wall would be the largest load and i wouldn't think twice about it with your design. IMO your designed legs look to bulky and big. I strongly feel the design and look benefits from being delicate and light. A 1.5" leg tapered down to 1" would both be extremely stout and help the visual. As long as you kept grain run out to a minimum a 1.25" leg tapered to 0.75" would look pretty good and be more than strong enough as well. Ideally those legs would come from perfectly rift sawn material. Using 8/4 material you could rotate the blank inside the board to ensure proper grain orientation. In this post i showed some parallel clamp connectors, if you have parallel clamps. https://www.woodtalkonline.com/topic/29353-8-drawer-dresser-in-walnut/?do=findComment&comment=384638 Details on how I made them here. https://www.woodtalkonline.com/topic/29353-8-drawer-dresser-in-walnut/?do=findComment&comment=384753 The options above are suitable but I find myself in the situation where I need an extension more and more often and I use these a few times a year now. My only modification to them would be to glue on a top so the clamp bar is boxed on all 4 sides. It would just make them a bit easier to use. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 That's a great looking sideboard, but when we're watching TV, I want the center of the screen right at eye height when we're sitting down. I don't want to look up at it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted October 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 On 10/17/2021 at 10:45 PM, wtnhighlander said: I was suggesting to make the back look like the front, but if it will likely never be seen, that is a lot of effort for little reward. The plywood panels should do nicely. I was going to suggest that a 2x4 with stop blocks and wedges is a cheap way to deal with a unique clamping situation, but with lumber prices still being a bit steep, pipe clamps might be cheaper! Pipe is up too I think. A 10' pipe is $28 around here now and 6' is around $18. On 10/18/2021 at 9:25 AM, Chestnut said: I really like that design and look. I'm not sure where you are concerned about strength but TVs are light. The 200 lb gorilla using the tv stand to hang a picture on the wall would be the largest load and i wouldn't think twice about it with your design. IMO your designed legs look to bulky and big. I strongly feel the design and look benefits from being delicate and light. A 1.5" leg tapered down to 1" would both be extremely stout and help the visual. As long as you kept grain run out to a minimum a 1.25" leg tapered to 0.75" would look pretty good and be more than strong enough as well. Ideally those legs would come from perfectly rift sawn material. Using 8/4 material you could rotate the blank inside the board to ensure proper grain orientation. In this post i showed some parallel clamp connectors, if you have parallel clamps. https://www.woodtalkonline.com/topic/29353-8-drawer-dresser-in-walnut/?do=findComment&comment=384638 Details on how I made them here. https://www.woodtalkonline.com/topic/29353-8-drawer-dresser-in-walnut/?do=findComment&comment=384753 The options above are suitable but I find myself in the situation where I need an extension more and more often and I use these a few times a year now. My only modification to them would be to glue on a top so the clamp bar is boxed on all 4 sides. It would just make them a bit easier to use. Thank you for the input. I didn't scale down the legs, but since they're 7" shorter than the original design they'll need some work. Once the case is done I will pick up some 2x4s and do some mockups both for height and leg thickness. I'm unsure still if I'll do the Barnsley joint or not. The Shaker End Table I made will be right by this so I'd like to light. I did find a Shaker-ish version of this but the "client" rejected it. I thought it was you who made the extensions. I'll have to make some and will burn up some Home Depot gift cards on more clamps. On 10/18/2021 at 9:44 AM, Tom King said: That's a great looking sideboard, but when we're watching TV, I want the center of the screen right at eye height when we're sitting down. I don't want to look up at it. TV should be at the same height it's at now, which I think is a little high. Will try to lower it some if I can and test before I make the legs. Had a thought in the shower this morning to use a track saw for the miters instead of the table saw. Keeping at 9' long board square with a table saw blade could be challenging. Will have to test it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradpotts Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 On 10/18/2021 at 8:27 AM, legenddc said: Had a thought in the shower this morning to use a track saw for the miters instead of the table saw. Keeping at 9' long board square with a table saw blade could be challenging. Will have to test it. I agree, I would also use a track saw to make this miter cut. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 11 minutes ago, legenddc said: Thank you for the input. I didn't scale down the legs, but since they're 7" shorter than the original design they'll need some work. Once the case is done I will pick up some 2x4s and do some mockups both for height and leg thickness. I'm unsure still if I'll do the Barnsley joint or not. The Shaker End Table I made will be right by this so I'd like to light. I did find a Shaker-ish version of this but the "client" rejected it. I thought it was you who made the extensions. I'll have to make some and will burn up some Home Depot gift cards on more clamps. Yes full scale mock ups will go a LONG way in helping visualize the proportions. Also i was guessing at dimensions just based off the thumb in the picture. I know my thumb is dang near a perfect inch wide. I end up using my thumb to measure things more often that I probably should... Not sure if i mentioned this in my post, make sure to use a rugged hardwood. Hickory, Elm, white oak, ash, any dense hard wood that resists splitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradpotts Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 For the back panel, I would go horizontally. The hinges, you would want frameless inset hinges. If you are worried about it hitting the trim, you could go with a 95 degree. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted October 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 That might be a 6 year old's thumb so I wouldn't use it to scale. Just measure the drawing and I have the case at 7/8" and the stretcher is a full 2". Will have to be scaled down no matter what. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post legenddc Posted November 1, 2021 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 Well, I started to post this up yesterday but got caught up with the kids. Finally making some slow progress on this. Started milling up some of the boards last week. Had a 10 minute session until kid #1 said it was too loud and she couldn't sleep. Magically on Wednesday it was fine. Ran into an issue with my jointer. I think this is the first time I've used it on a large project since I bought it right before I spent 2-3 months on our door project. One of the blades must be off so after screwing around Wednesday night and then again some on Thursday with my dad, we decided to stop and continue at his house on Friday. Jointer pal should be here this week and hopefully I can get it 100%. Came to the realization that jointing a 9'x11" board on a 6" jointer with a 45" bed was unrealistic. Unfortunately this will no longer have grain matched waterfall edges. With all that being said, the top and sides have been milled and glued up. I'll glue up the center divider and bottom tonight and will finish milling the back panel this week. Will be out of town this weekend but will hopefully be able to get the case assembled next week and start on some prototyping. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted November 1, 2021 Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 I feel you pain about the noise, and the jointer. I am at the point where initial milling of the lumber is the biggest hurdle to starting a new project, because NOBODY wants to listen to my planer run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted November 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2021 I think Kid 1 just didn't want to sleep. We're in a townhouse and the family room is right above the shop. If it's too annoying my wife goes up to our room to watch TV, but she also knows I'm building things for us so she's okay with it. We're soon getting our floors redone so I might throw some insulation under the subfloor above the shop. Seems easier than a second layer of drywall on the ceiling if the subfloor is up. If you take any measures to quiet the noise and it works let me know! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted November 2, 2021 Report Share Posted November 2, 2021 Did you abandon the waterfall all together or did you still keep the material sorted to try and somewhat achieve the effect? For larger boards that aren't feasible to joint I've reduced the size rough but kept the boards organized and the waterfall effect still worked out pretty well. 1 hour ago, legenddc said: If you take any measures to quiet the noise and it works let me know! I did the denim insulation in the open ceiling of my shop and it helped knock the noise down to the house. Going helical heads and induction motor planer also went a long way to reduce noise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted November 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2021 On 11/2/2021 at 10:19 AM, Chestnut said: Did you abandon the waterfall all together or did you still keep the material sorted to try and somewhat achieve the effect? For larger boards that aren't feasible to joint I've reduced the size rough but kept the boards organized and the waterfall effect still worked out pretty well. I did the denim insulation in the open ceiling of my shop and it helped knock the noise down to the house. Going helical heads and induction motor planer also went a long way to reduce noise. I kept everything sorted and it will be close, but not perfect. Hopefully insulation will help some. I've heard upgrading to helical heads will help but right now I don't want to throw more money at the problem. Insulation is more of a one time option if the flooring gets ripped out. When I have more than 160 sq. ft. some tools will get upgraded 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted November 3, 2021 Report Share Posted November 3, 2021 20 hours ago, legenddc said: I kept everything sorted and it will be close, but not perfect. Hopefully insulation will help some. I've heard upgrading to helical heads will help but right now I don't want to throw more money at the problem. Insulation is more of a one time option if the flooring gets ripped out. When I have more than 160 sq. ft. some tools will get upgraded Just to note rock wool or denim is better than fiberglass. Something that has some density. If your shop has sheet rock ceiling it might also help making some acoustic panels. I know the best way is to decouple everything like Paul did on his home theater but despite that reducing the sound bouncing around might help some. DIY acoustic panels can't be that hard or expensive. A frame faced with some fabric filled with insulation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted November 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2021 Can't believe it's been so long but I guess I was gone for a few weekends. Finally got some time on this yesterday and will have some more today. My goal is a dry-assembly of the case before the day ends. Finished milling the back panels yesterday and glued them up as well as cut the case to final width. After some coffee here I'll be cutting the grooves and rabbets for the back panel. Then mitering the case and the dado for the middle panel. Went down the rabbit hole last night trying to find hinges. Is there another brand people like for Euro hinges better than Blum? If not, where's everyone buying them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted November 21, 2021 Report Share Posted November 21, 2021 https://www.woodworkerexpress.com/ Best price I've been able to find as of April of this year. I've used other brands or tried to. I always went back to blum. Why not a high quality butt hinge like Bruso or Horton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted November 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2021 That's certainly a possibility. I was thinking of a clean look on the outside without hinges showing. Possibly even no knobs and a push release but I'm not 100% either way. Just want to make sure I get something ordered and it will be here relatively soon so I'm not stuck waiting on hinges before I can move forward. Just looked at the sideboard you did and I like it with the Horton hinges. 4" of hinges on a 14-15" door might be too much. I'll ask my wife when she's home, until then it's time to get some work in the shop done before my kids get home. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted November 21, 2021 Report Share Posted November 21, 2021 I used the Blum euro self close hinges on an armoire I recently built and they are the cat’s meow. As I have a Rockler not so close by, I bought mine there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted November 22, 2021 Report Share Posted November 22, 2021 17 hours ago, Coop said: I used the Blum euro self close hinges on an armoire I recently built and they are the cat’s meow. As I have a Rockler not so close by, I bought mine there. Rockler is a good source. When I'm buying 40 for a large set of cabinets i have to find a less expensive source though. Good hardware is expensive, but worth it. On 11/21/2021 at 7:55 AM, legenddc said: Possibly even no knobs and a push release but I'm not 100% either way. I love the push release on the sideboard I made. It makes the front look cleaner and with an odd number of doors the lack of symmetry with the knobs would bother me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted November 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2021 Yesterday was frustrating. First after a ton of careful layout, I cut the miter on the wrong side. 2nd time the track jumped some. Had my wife help hold it for the 3rd time and it somehow ended up out of square. Realizing now I should confirm the track itself is straight. I also think cutting both the top/bottom side-by-side (32" wide instead of 16") isn't helping. Will give it one more go one at a time, if not I'll M&T the vertical pieces instead the horizontal ones and then add a small overhang with a slight chamfer like Chestnut's sideboard. On 11/22/2021 at 9:22 AM, Chestnut said: Rockler is a good source. When I'm buying 40 for a large set of cabinets i have to find a less expensive source though. Good hardware is expensive, but worth it. I love the push release on the sideboard I made. It makes the front look cleaner and with an odd number of doors the lack of symmetry with the knobs would bother me. I spoke with my wife about hinges. Sensing my frustration from the failed miter joints she asked which were easier. I informed her I'm equally incompetent at both so pick whichever she wanted. Euro-hinges it is. For the Blum hinges I've learned I need the clip, mounting plate and screws, but there are 8 different mounting plates for a frameless 0mm height for an inset door. Any recommendations? This one is the most popular if that matters. I know I need to switch from soft-close to free swing if I do the push release. My dad has the Kreg jig for the clip install. I'll pick up a jig for the mounting plate too since I'm sure I'll use it again. Finally, thanks everyone for all of the help, feedback and suggestions. Really really appreciate it as I try to advance my woodworking skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted November 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2021 As I daydream at work, I'm wondering if it wouldn't make more sense to use the tablesaw? I would need to make a sled so I don't destroy my Incra Miter Express but that's not the end of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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