14' wall unit entertainment center

[Jerry Nettrour]

OK, here it is finally done. Took me all of 3 months, mostly waiting around for materials and redoing the 1/2 round pillars 3 different times. I had more problems with this project than I care to think about. Just real glad it is over. I think I need to get into something easier and try to stay away from curves in the wood. I built the 1/2 round out of solid hard maple. I cut the staves 2" wide, cut a 10 degree bevel on each side, pocket screwed and glued them all together to form the 1/2 round, belt sanded until I had a real nice constant curve. Turned out great. The customer wanted the black color so I used black transtint with some brown mahogany mixed in. The unit looks bigger and even nicer up close. I don't think the pics are very good quality.

Also, the customer had a projector screen that was electric. I built the screen into the crown molding so it is not seen unless he lowers the screen. The unit was built to house the customer's sony tv and sound system perfectly.

[Craig D Peltier]

OK, here it is finally done. Took me all of 3 months, mostly waiting around for materials and redoing the 1/2 round pillars 3 different times. I had more problems with this project than I care to think about. Just real glad it is over. I think I need to get into something easier and try to stay away from curves in the wood. I built the 1/2 round out of solid hard maple. I cut the staves 2" wide, cut a 10 degree bevel on each side, pocket screwed and glued them all together to form the 1/2 round, belt sanded until I had a real nice constant curve. Turned out great. The customer wanted the black color so I used black transtint with some brown mahogany mixed in. The unit looks bigger and even nicer up close. I don't think the pics are very good quality.

Also, the customer had a projector screen that was electric. I built the screen into the crown molding so it is not seen unless he lowers the screen. The unit was built to house the customer's sony tv and sound system perfectly.

Looks like alot of work.
Did you ever think about cutting a sono tube in half or using wiggle board and then covering with a thin veneer.Looks like wood was just stained.
Nice job!

[John Thompson]

Excellent work....

Sarge..

[Jerry Nettrour]

Yeah, I built the pillars 3 times. First time with using luan 1/4" board. The luan did not bend well and buckled in places and when I laminated over the luan the areas where it buckled showed up very well and looked awful. My second attempt I used econo flex board. This method was very easy to do and the curve formed really nice with no buckling. I would use this econo flex again if needed to. I laminated the econo flex but when I applied the transtint dye, mixed with denatured alcohol and water, the laminate bubbled severely. A chemical reaction. My laminate was PSA so that may have been an issue. Who knows but it was a bad experience. Out the money for the first two attempts I decided to use a technique I was 95% sure would work and work well and it did. It really did not take long to build the 1/2 rounds with 3/4" maple stock, just rip them to 2" and then put a 10 degree bevel on each side and then I pocket screwed and glued them all together, as opposed to trying to properly clamp boards that were in a curved form. I seen Mark do something similar to this on wood works one time but he clamped and used bisquits. My way worked just as good and was quicker. After assembling with pocket screws I was able to sand to perfect form immediately using a hause of a sander in a 4 by 24 porter cable. I did not have to use any muscle, just held the sander in place where I wanted it and it worked like a dream.

The finish is a gloss poly I sprayed on and gives it that shiny / wet look. You can see a reflection in it up close. I am still experimenting with finishes, this customer liked the high gloss look. My friend is trying to get me to use lacquer.

Thanks for looking,

Jerry

[Dustin Powers]

Wow looks awesome! Maybe when you're on vacation you could come to Virginia, donate the materials, and build one of those in my house!

[Steve Clardy]

Very nice.

[Jerry Nettrour]

thanks for the compliments.

[Jacob Mac]

Outstanding work