Frame and Carcass Design/Planning Question

[JohnM Martin]

Where would one go to find plans for frame and carcass construction? I'm specifically looking to find plans for a tv/media stand. Googling for tv/media stand this pops up from pottery barn -> https://www.potterybarn.com/products/parker-media-console/ Looking for plans on how something like this is constructed, especially with hand tools. I'm not so much interested in a particular plan but more so on learning how the joinery for furniture of this type is best constructed... especially the internals for things like drawer dividers how to incorporate doors - things of that nature. Any links or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Rick Malakoff]

You Tube will have more info than you'll ever need!

[David Eisenhauer]

You might sift through all of the plans available for purchase on something like the FWW web site and see if one of their furniture designs has the details you are looking for. It may be that the actual furniture piece is not what you want, but it may contain inner case details that will apply to your design ideas. Also, some of the more "antique" or "early American" furniture design books have plans in them that could be used in the same manner.

[glenn bradley]

Go to Fine Woodworking online and look at Chrisitian Becksvoort's 'Classic Shaker Cupboard' or 'Shaker chest of Drawers'. If you are not a member it would be well worth paying for the trial membership just to download thee plans/articles. Joinery, frames, movement allowance and other factors are covered. Christian is the man when it comes to classic carcass construction designed to last.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Let me repeat what I think you said with emphasis on the important parts:



You want to build a carcass
You want to use (mostly) hand tools
You want advice oh techniques for the joinery


Do you mean things like...

How to the carcass? Well, that depends on what would you use. When I use plywood, I use pocket holes and screws. When I use regular wood, I usually use hand cut dovetails; some people prefer mortise and tenon.

How to attach shelves? I usually use a jig to drill shelf pin holes For a fixed shelf, much depends on time and aesthetics. I have run a dado to hold the shelves. Last time I did it, I screwed and glued a support bar to the back and sides and, dropped the shelf on top of it, and then screwed from behind the cabinet to hold it in place. As the wood expands and contracts, there may be issues if you drop the shelf into the dado and make it all tight, take that into consideration. I think that Derek Cohen usually does sliding dovetails for his shelves; he for sure has more talent than I do.

What to do for the base?

Are you looking for those sorts of things?

[Bruce Haugen]

Where would one go to find plans for frame and carcass construction? I'm specifically looking to find plans for a tv/media stand. (major snippage).

You won't get handtool specific instruction, but the Woodsmith magazine carries plans like you want very frequently. Check your library or try the Woodsmith site online index.

[James Pallas]

Where would one go to find plans for frame and carcass construction? I'm specifically looking to find plans for a tv/media stand. Googling for tv/media stand this pops up from pottery barn -> https://www.potterybarn.com/products/parker-media-console/ Looking for plans on how something like this is constructed, especially with hand tools. I'm not so much interested in a particular plan but more so on learning how the joinery for furniture of this type is best constructed... especially the internals for things like drawer dividers how to incorporate doors - things of that nature. Any links or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

John, Take a look at Brian Holcombe's site. He built a media center recently. It is a nicely done piece. It may or not be exactly what you want. Brian does a good job of describing the build. It was posted here on SMC. He actually did two of them I believe, one wall mount and one on a stand.
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

I'm not so much interested in a particular plan but more so on learning how the joinery for furniture of this type is best constructed...

The Pottery Barn console doesn't look right to me. It may just be my eyes, but the rail at the bottom seems to be bowed. That is a long span without support in the middle.

Knowing how much a particular wood can span would be my first consideration in building a carcass. I use a lot of pine, 36" is about the maximum for something that is going to be holding up much more than air.

The rest all comes down to how you want your cabinet to look. Frame and panel is a bit different than a structure made with solid panels for the sides.

It might be a good idea to wander through many of the build threads here on SMC to see how others made cabinet carcasses.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

Many books in your local library will have plans for furniture that might come close to what you want to build. And you've already paid for them with your taxes, so why not make use of them?

[Dave Richards]

As Glenn suggested, plans for Christian Becksvoort's case pieces will give you what you need to know about building a case like that. There are digital plans available from the Taunton Store for many of his pieces. As for developing a plan for a case like that one from Pottery Barn, it wouldn't be a difficult thing to do with the basics sorted out.

[JohnM Martin]

Go to Fine Woodworking online and look at Chrisitian Becksvoort's 'Classic Shaker Cupboard' or 'Shaker chest of Drawers'. If you are not a member it would be well worth paying for the trial membership just to download thee plans/articles. Joinery, frames, movement allowance and other factors are covered. Christian is the man when it comes to classic carcass construction designed to last.

Thanks, Glenn. This is just the sort of thing I was looking for. Something just to get me started.

[JohnM Martin]

John, Take a look at Brian Holcombe's site. He built a media center recently. It is a nicely done piece. It may or not be exactly what you want. Brian does a good job of describing the build. It was posted here on SMC. He actually did two of them I believe, one wall mount and one on a stand.
Jim

Awesome suggestion, Jim. I just stumbled through the Build threads section... a lot of information to soak up there.