Basement Entertainment Center
June 14th, 2009 in The Gallery
Vern P., member
11 users recommend
This project required me to solve several problems. These included a part of the concrete foundation extending almost 30" into the room on the left side, overhead duct work, fireplace, a 26" deep cathode ray 38" HDTV, and a window extending to within 15" from the wall on the right side. Further, I wanted a moderately deep built-in china cabinet. I solved these problems by staggering the unit in five sections with a 4" staggers starting on the left side of the cabinets. On the closed cabinets I used push driven magnetic catches and hidden hinges so that no hardware shows and one can not tell where I have cabinets and where there is panelling over the duct work and fireplace. The staggering fits the overall outside house design which is also staggered. I also used Frank Lloyd Wright's note/half note design on the shelves and magazine storage shelves on the right side and the china cabinet windows on the left. The 250 lb TV slides out for service and the satellite remote control works thru the two decorated opening above the TV.
The unit is built from 3/4" maple MDF and bloodwood. The bloodwood mantle and hearth was veneered while the accent strips are solid bloodwood cut into 1/4" strips. Veneering was done using a vacuum press and a 4'x15' vinyl bag. Construction was done using a series of 27x17" maple MDF boxes stacked on top of each other with a 1/4" gap between for the bloodwood accent. This allowed me to handle and stack the boxes without outside help. The unit measures 17'x9'. It was a fun project to design and built and a big learning experience as well. It was my first veneering effort.
Design or Plan used: My own design - Vern Patterson
posted in: The Gallery, cabinet, bookcase, built-in
Congratulations to our winners!
Congratulations to Michael McCoy, Craig Thibodeau, and Nelson Howe who won the Bostitch Build It In to Win gallery contest.
Comments (7)
I have added some more pictures. To answer some of your questions. The stacked box design allowed me to make some design changes as I put things together. Originally I thought of having a third bloodstrip higher up but quickly changed my mind as I stacked the boxes and installed the mantle and hearth. These both were looked wider than I thought they would look and provided the horizontal flow I wanted so dropped the thrid strip. The boxes were set on a 2x4 frame set off the floor and raised around the hole the Tv would fit into to support the cabinets above. The hearth and mantle were built in a U-shape such that they fix over an extension of the 2x4 frame. This offered me a lot of strength as the hearth can be stood on to reach some of the upper cabinets over the bookcase. I had also planned to run the staggers to the ceiling but after having put the boxes inplace I decided that this would emphasize the vertical flow more than desired. The bloodwood had to be finished separate from the maple as it would have bled onto the maple. Bloodwood adds a deep rich color but is very hard and will dull your cutting tools quickly. It will splinter easily and working with solid wood or veneer can be challenging. The china cabinet doors are made of solid maple.
I also built a similar maple/bloodwood bedroom unit for my daughter which I transported out of state in prefinished form and assembled on site. This worked surprisingly well but required careful measurements. Posted: 3:39 pm on July 1st
Vern Posted: 3:35 pm on June 18th
If this was your first attempt at veneering, I would have to say I think you have figured it out. The works of Frank Lloyd Wright has allways fasinated me. You have done a wonderful job with challenging room.
You say you built this as boxes that you stacked, did you stack them on site? It would be a real treat if you were able to do a presentation of the job with pictures.
Taigert Posted: 11:57 pm on June 17th
I love this piece - MORE PHOTOS PLEASE! Posted: 3:05 pm on June 17th