TV Cabinet (WIP)

[D L Ames]

My MIL asked me to design a corner TV cabinet for her. Here is a rendering of the design I came up with and a couple of WIP pix. I am making the face frames and raised panels out of poplar and the cabinet will be painted white (by request) upon completion. I am currently planning to use Melamine covered ply for the carcass if I can find a source for some. All I have found so far is Melamine covered PB which I believe will be too heavy for this project. This has been an interesting project so far for me and has given me an opportunity to build a few more jigs and fences for the shaping of the panels and flutes.....not to mention a couple new power tool accessories.:lol:

Thanks for looking,
D L




(Click thumbnails for larger photo.)

 

[woodguy1975]

That is going to be one very nice looking cabinet. :icon_thum

 

[skeeter]

Looking good! Keep posting, really want to see the final shots.

 

[DavidF]

Nice! Isn't it useful to have PC rendering to show the purchaser? love it.

 

[cpowell]

Looking good DL. I really like the design as seen in your rendering. Pretty cool!

Chuck

 

[Travis Porter]

Looking good DL. What did you do the rendering with?

 

[dancam]

Great CAD work and the design is great. Looking forward to more pics.

Dan C.

 

[dozer]

That is going to look great when its finished looking forward to more pics. I would also like to know what program you used to make the drawing.

 

[Monty]

Nice! Looks like you've got the hang of CAD now! Kind of fun, ain't it? ;-) Great start on your project - looking forward to more pics.

 

[Steve D]

DL,

That looks awesome and will make for a great entertainment center. Too bad this is a "P" word project :lol: but you have to satisfy the client, especially when it is a MIL.

 

[D L Ames]

Thanks for the comments folks. I used TurboCAD Professional v.12 to design and render the project. I recently upgraded from TurboCAD Deluxe v.10 when the professional version went on sale. You can get the deluxe version for about $89 IIRC and the upgrade runs about $300. Here is a link to the company that sells the programs.

D L

 

[sapwood]

Well rendered D L! That's a big project and I'm confident the extra planning effort will pay off.

Looking forward to more progress,
Roger

 

[clowman]

Pretty sharp looking so far DL... I'm interested in the flutted piece in the middle. I've always wondered how those are done to get them so straight and lined up. Got a jig?

 

[D L Ames]

Pretty sharp looking so far DL... I'm interested in the fluted piece in the middle. I've always wondered how those are done to get them so straight and lined up. Got a jig?

Clay,
Actually I designed a jig to make the stopped flutes. I had a total of 20 flutes to cut (10 in each stile) and was able to do them all with only having to move the jig twice. I am planing to shoot some pix of the jig and write up a description for submission to a couple WW mags as a shop tip.

D L

 

[D L Ames]

TV Cabinet (WIP)....from the start

Well, since some of you asked me to keep you updated on my progress I figured I would include a few construction photos that got me to the point of the first WIP photos I posted.

After I got the final nod on the design of the TV Cabinet I stated off by milling all of my rough lumber to size. (Sorry, no boring pics of this part of the operation.) I cut the flutes for the stiles using a jig I built for my shaper.



I will post more about this jig in another thread if anyone is interested.

Once the fluting was completed I turned to shaping the rails and stiles. Here are a few shots of the profile I am using and the dry fitting of the rail and stile.

This profile will give a fair amount of glue surface when gluing the rails and stiles together.



A couple of shots of the rail and stile dry fitted. I am using Space balls to assist with maintaining panel alignment.

Although I knew better I made the mistake of cutting the stiles first and the cope cuts last. Needless to say I had some tear out with my cope cuts:BangHead: and ended up remaking a few of the rails but this time around I cut all of the copes in the end grain first.

Before I started to raise my panels I made a "box fence" for my shaper by following an example in The Shaper Book by Lonnie Bird. This fence is designed to totally enclose the large diameter cutters and keep your figures a safe distance from the cutter. The adjustable front fence also serves as a hold down. I have a 4" dust port at the back of the box fence and it picked up every bit of the shavings while raising six panels. The Plexiglas top provides plenty of visibility when making fence adjustments.



Here is one of the raised panels along with the profile I am using.



And both side panels glued up and in the clamps.



I also managed to get the face frame completed today.



Thanks for looking.

........to be continued.

D L

 

[stoneskippers]

Re: TV Cabinet (WIP)....from the start

Nice work DL. Your jig for the flutes must have been fun coming up with. Keep us informed.

 

[Monty]

Re: TV Cabinet (WIP)....from the start

That's cool! I like your flute jig. Did you just use marks on the fence to keep the start/stop uniform? Also... seeing your RP bit setup like that makes me want a shaper!!! ;-) Keep up the good work.

 

[Dutchman]

Great looking project! I love that rendering. Can you add any color or grain to that?
I appreciate everyones taking the time to chronicle and photograph some of thier projects. We all have our own way of doing things, and it is very informative to see other approaches. Time is short enough as it is and it does take time to take pictures and post them so I thank you for sharing.

 

[McRabbet]

Great progress pics, DL. The fluting jig looks straight forward and could work on either a shaper or a router table. I have done fluting like this against my JoinTech fence -- it just take patience and care. I also like your panel raising jig that combines effective chip collection with a fence and hold-down. Looks like I'll need to make one for my shaper.

Rob

 

[D L Ames]

Great looking project! I love that rendering. Can you add any color or grain to that?

Buddy,
You can add various types of wood grain and finishes to the rendering but it takes a bit of tinkering to get it to look right and I have not completely figured out that part of the program yet. I rendered it in white since that is the way my MIL wants it finished.

D L