Entertainment Center - quartersawn red oak

[Joe Aliperti]

This was my first major woodworking project since deciding to take up the hobby in my basement. I based the design on a project featured in Woodsmith No. 169:

http://www.woodsmith.com/images/plans/wide-screen-tv-cabinet/left-1.jpg

http://www.woodsmith.com/images/plans/wide-screen-tv-cabinet/left-2.jpg

The plans are also available for download here:

http://www.woodsmith.com/plans/wide-screen-tv-cabinet/

------------------------------

It was a great learning experience, and certainly paved the way for more projects to come. A few "firsts" encountered during the project:

- pocket hole joinery
- splined miter joinery
- hardwood edging on shelves
- gluing up a large panel
- inset doors
- 35mm cup hinges
- finishing with Danish Oil / paste wax


Anyway, on to the pics:

Carcass construction / glueup:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6117_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6121_b.jpg

Face frame glueup:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6145_b.jpg

[Joe Aliperti]

Splined mitered corner blocks:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6143_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6149_b.jpg

Pocket-hole joined base:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6153_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6154_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6156_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6157_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6160_b.jpg

[Joe Aliperti]

Raised panel door construction:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6163_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6167_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6168_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6170_b.jpg

Top glueup:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6175_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6176_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6184_b.jpg

[Joe Aliperti]

Complete!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6245_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6250_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6258_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/tv_cabinet/_IMG_6257_b.jpg


Thanks for looking!

[Matt Meiser]

Very nice! Personally, I think yours is a lot nicer than the original.

[Rob Haskell]

good all the way, from design to finish
congrads on getting it done

[Von Bickley]

Very nice! Personally, I think yours is a lot nicer than the original.

I agree with Matt. That QS oak is some beautiful wood..... :)

[Jason Tuinstra]

Joe, great first 'major' project! Your focus on the finer details really shows. I like how you centered the grain in the door panels. Nice touch. Thanks for showing it off.

[Duncan Potter]

Very nice. Great looking finish.

[Salem Ganzhorn]

First major project?!? Really? Where is all the glue squeeze out? Where are the poorly fitting miters? I am not sure I believe you :)

[Bob Oehler]

Great 1st project. I too like yours more then the original. Nice joinery also. I too suspect the 1st project :-) especially the splined miters. Just joking. Great Job and enjoyed the pics.

[Joe Chritz]

I posted in the finish section on this project also but just wanted to add that 1/4 sawn red oak is a very under appreciated wood.

I have a library and a clothes hamper that are made from it and I like it a lot.

It has the added bonus of machining great because of the 1/4 sawn grain. Good choice.

Joe

[Mike Wilkins]

WOW!! Hard to believe this is a first project. Nice choice on the wood also. Not easy to find 1/4 sawn Red Oak. It's also not often I see a fish tank in the wood shop. Bet they don't complain about the noise.

[scott spencer]

Excellent job with that piece, and great timing for the pics. I'm researching entertainment centers right now in anticipation of a spring project. Thanks!

[Joe Aliperti]

Thanks for all of the comments!


First major project?!? Really? Where is all the glue squeeze out? Where are the poorly fitting miters? I am not sure I believe you :)

To practice/prepare for this project, I built this fish tank cabinet, and you can find plenty of glue sqeezeout, poorly fitting miters, and a blotchy finish here. :o

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/stand_finished.jpg

With the entertainment center, I just took my time (started the project in October), and made sure I had the right tools for each step. There were a few mistakes during the process, but overall I feel pretty lucky with how it turned out.


Nice choice on the wood also. Not easy to find 1/4 sawn Red Oak. It's also not often I see a fish tank in the wood shop. Bet they don't complain about the noise.

I can't seem to find a good hardwood supplier in my area, so I ordered all of the wood from the Hardwood Store of North Carolina. I was very happy with the selection and quality of the stock. And I found the shipping to be fairly reasonable. I will definitely be ordering from them again in the future:

http://www.hardwoodstore.com/

[Jim Becker]

Great work!

[Kyle Tucker]

Nice work, especially on the doors. Very nice piece!

[Craig T. Smith]

Joe, Very nice. I saw that project in the mag. and remember not caring for it. What a difference the right changes can make. Bravo. Also I might have to relocate my fish tank to my shop, I guess they eat the saw dust. Also the first Woodshop I've seen with carpet and throw rugs. Just kidding. Exellant work and design changes. Happy Woodworking, Craig

[Jim Kountz]

Holy bejeezus, this was your first major project? I think you have a future here!!
Excellent job, the finished product looks amazing, well done!!

[Stephan Postmus]

Very Nice


Stephan

[Todd Bin]

Great project. The only question I have is how do you keep all the sawdust out of the aquarium?:)

[Joe Aliperti]

Thanks again for all the positive comments. I can tell already that this is a supportive community and I look forward to learning a lot here and contributing what I can.

My fiancee and I are renting a 2 bedroom house, and I'm using the small finished basement as my shop. The room used to be my music room, but as the focus of my hobbies is changing, it's slowly turning into my wood shop.

I enjoy the aquarium down there with me, even though the cabinet does get covered in sawdust. A little ends up in the tank, but it seems to get filtered out within a day.

[RickT Harding]

Very cool, I've got the same plans sitting on my desk. My space has me cutting out one of the shelf columns just as you did. The ply for the case arrived yesterday.

I was just going to do a plain floating panel in the doors, but your doors have me looking for router bit kits now. :D

[Joe Aliperti]

Very cool, I've got the same plans sitting on my desk. My space has me cutting out one of the shelf columns just as you did. The ply for the case arrived yesterday.

I was just going to do a plain floating panel in the doors, but your doors have me looking for router bit kits now. :D

Cool, what type of wood will you be using? Ash like in the plans or something else?

A few tips on the project that you might find useful:

1. The plans called for 1/8" gap around the doors, and you could probably get away with a slightly smaller gap like 3/32".

2. The plans also have hinge blocks flush with the inside of the face frame so that you can use non-face-frame hinges. That's what I did, and the whole hinge setup seems kind of bulky. This was my first time installing blum cup hinges, and I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to just use face frame hinges without the hinge blocks. But maybe there's a good reason for that. I'll take a picture of the inside of the doors and post it up so you can see what I mean.

3. I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I figured out a cool trick to minimize the gap on either side of the shelves. I routed a narrow rabbet on the bottom side edges of each shelf the width of the shelf pins, so that the shelf pin shoulders have room, but the visible portion of the shelf extends the full width.

Good luck with your project!

[RickT Harding]

Cool, what type of wood will you be using? Ash like in the plans or something else?

A few tips on the project that you might find useful:

1. The plans called for 1/8" gap around the doors, and you could probably get away with a slightly smaller gap like 3/32".

2. The plans also have hinge blocks flush with the inside of the face frame so that you can use non-face-frame hinges. That's what I did, and the whole hinge setup seems kind of bulky. This was my first time installing blum cup hinges, and I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to just use face frame hinges without the hinge blocks. But maybe there's a good reason for that. I'll take a picture of the inside of the doors and post it up so you can see what I mean.

3. I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I figured out a cool trick to minimize the gap on either side of the shelves. I routed a narrow rabbet on the bottom side edges of each shelf the width of the shelf pins, so that the shelf pin shoulders have room, but the visible portion of the shelf extends the full width.

Good luck with your project!

I have walnut and soft white maple on hand so I'm going to use walnut for the base and top and then do the body in soft maple.

I wasn't going to go with the cup hinges. I planned on trying to do my first insert doors with something like these:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5136&filter=hinges

Thanks for the tip on the shelves. I've not done adjustable shelves yet and figured it would take some playing to figure out how best to do them. In the end, I've redimensioned the plans to fit my space and equipment so part of me is still debating on fixed shelves, but I know 10 years from now I'll like the adjustable better.

[John Shuk]

QS thats how I like oak best. Nice work.

[Dewey Torres]

Looking forward to future projects!