Mission Entertainment Center Complete [PICS]

[Jason Beam]

How the heck did my TV end up in your living room????

Man that's nice lookin, John. I've got plans for one of these myself - I'm going with cherry and more of frame & panel look but I struggle with the same issues on shelves meeting sides as you did. Floating isn't half bad for how you did it. Are the shelves adjustable any?

I love the drawer fronts, though. They might not blend with the adjacent members, but I'm not sure that they should. It's a very subtle contrast that I personally find appealing. I agree on the hardware, though. Those pulls somehow seem a little too modern or something. My wife and I have been pleased with the dark versions of these from Lee Valley. Maybe the hole patterns will line up?

The finish is fantastic, would you share your recipe? You've got just the right sheen and texture, I think. Edit: Woops, you covered this while I was typing!

I really like the look and I don't think you strayed too far from the traditional look at all. That's a very fine piece!

[John Thompson]

Very nicely done. I find there is no cut and dry rules with Mission, John. Odd-even slats are a matter of choice as long as proportion is maintained. I usually taper the inside of the bottom portion of the legs.. again just a matter of choice as I have seen them both ways.

So... if the wife likes what you did the matter would be laid to rest and I would move on to what the wife wants next and hope she likes it also. The bottom line is beauty is in the eyes of the beholder...
Sarge..

[Rick de Roque]

John,

Well done. You put a lot of thought into this piece and it shows.

Rick

[Saul Broadfoot]

Beautiful job. Any chance you could post a pic of the detail to the bottom of the feet? I seem to have missed that issue of FWW !

Saul

[Brent Ring]

Very Nice Work - I am impressed and love the Shaker/AC styles as well.

[John Hedges]

Any chance you could post a pic of the detail to the bottom of the feet? I seem to have missed that issue of FWW !

Saul, Here ya go.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I love the design and the finish....very nicely done!

Quartersawn Oak is a beautiful wood. I once saw a fireplace mantel made of it. The guy wanted to match it with a solid bookcase system 25 feet long. Imagine his face when I told him it would cost close to $20k!

[Gary Elore]

Excellent work! Definitely a keeper.

Gary

[Saul Broadfoot]

Thanks John for posting the pic -- that's exactly what I needed.

Saul

[Chris Padilla]

AHHH the top, I really agree with you there. I really had a nightmare doing the top. I started with a couple of beautiful 8/4 boards so I could resaw a bookmatch, but when I resawed them in half they released some nasty tension and were unusable (lesson learned there), not to mention that one board was full of knots on the inside even though there was nothing visible on the outside, cant say I've ever seen anything like that before. So I went with some 5/4, as I couldn't find any 6/4, but because it was so long, by the time it was milled flat it was thinner than I would have liked (5/8"). I would have liked something thicker in the 3/4 - 1" range, but that's how it goes sometimes. I ended up adding a spline to the joints for alignment and strength.

One thing I'm doing on my Tansu project in order to get thick-looking pieces is veneer. Since you did some resawing, I assume you could potentially resaw < 1/8" pieces for such work. I'm having a lot of fun resawing my 8/4, 10' long walnut down into enough veneers for this project. However, a drum sander and vacuum press help make this go along more nicely.

[Colin Giersberg]

Very nice. What are its dimensions. I estimate that it is around 60" long

Regards, Colin

[Eric Schniewind]

...is that Pittsburg was beating Baltimore as captured in one of the photos.

Great piece.

[John Hedges]

One thing I'm doing on my Tansu project in order to get thick-looking pieces is veneer. Since you did some resawing, I assume you could potentially resaw < 1/8" pieces for such work. I'm having a lot of fun resawing my 8/4, 10' long walnut down into enough veneers for this project. However, a drum sander and vacuum press help make this go along more nicely.

Chris, I originally debated doing a veneered top but decided against it because I really like the look of a solid top on these pieces. There this actually a lot of veneer on this piece. The interior panels and the rear panels are all hand resawn bookmatched veneers using Ply as the substraight.

Colin, the piece is 36" tall x 71" wide x 26" deep.

[Chris Padilla]

Chris, I originally debated doing a veneered top but decided against it because I really like the look of a solid top on these pieces. There this actually a lot of veneer on this piece. The interior panels and the rear panels are all hand resawn bookmatched veneers using Ply as the substraight.

If you edge-wrap a substrate in hardwood and then veneer over it, with careful planning, I think one ought to be able to achieve solid-looking boards. I'll give it a shot and see how I do.

[Russell Tribby]

Saul, Here ya go.

I love the design on the feet. I'll have to echo what a lot of people have said and that's that the finish looks great. I am not very good at finishing so I have a lot of respect for those that have managed to master that skill. Have you ever thought of using undermount slides? They're typically all I use now when I use slides. It changes the dimensions of your boxes a bit but it always seems like a shame to cover up some beautiful dovetails with slides. I've recently started purchasing the Hettich soft-close undermounts. They've worked well for me and they're reasonably priced.
Great job overall. Thanks for posting all the pics.