New Entertainment Center to Replace An Old One.

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  • Jim Frye
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 1051
    • Maumee, OH, USA.
    • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

    New Entertainment Center to Replace An Old One.

    SWMBO's video collection out grew the cabinet I made back in 1995, and it would only handle a 42" TV. The new one is 84" tall, 60" wide, and 17" deep to hold a 60" TV in the future. It's made from hard maple and maple veneered ply. It weighs in at 265 pounds empty. Yes, I made it in my new basement shop, but had to assemble and finish it in the garage as it would not fit up the basement stairs. Lockwood's water based aniline dye, Watco Medium Walnut Danish Oil, and Minwax wiping polyurethane varnish. Rubbed out with a white non-woven pad and liquid wax. The CD cabinet to the right is also a design of mine and is maple also. Finished like the entertainment center.

    Jim Frye
    The Nut in the Cellar.
    ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”
  • Black walnut
    Administrator
    • Aug 2015
    • 5438
    • BT3K

    #2
    That looks great Jim! I was able to find a flat panel that fits into my entertainment center. I recall Norm in Fujino offering advice back around the turn of the century to not make entertainment centers due to the future growth of the size of tv's. He was so right.

    It is great to see a post from you! Hope you and yours are well.
    just another brick in the wall...

    Boycott McAfee. They placed an unresponsive popup on my pc.

    Comment

    • BadeMillsap
      Senior Member
      • Dec 2005
      • 868
      • Bulverde, Texas, USA.
      • Grizzly G1023SL

      #3
      VERY VERY Nice work Jim!
      "Like an old desperado, I paint the town beige ..." REK
      Bade Millsap
      Bulverde, Texas
      => Bade's Personal Web Log
      => Bade's Lutherie Web Log

      Comment

      • LCHIEN
        Internet Fact Checker
        • Dec 2002
        • 20914
        • Katy, TX, USA.
        • BT3000 vintage 1999

        #4
        Nice work!
        Loring in Katy, TX USA
        If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
        BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

        Comment

        • atgcpaul
          Veteran Member
          • Aug 2003
          • 4055
          • Maryland
          • Grizzly 1023SLX

          #5
          Jim, nice work and welcome back.

          Comment

          • Haninga
            Forum Newbie
            • Jan 2018
            • 12

            #6
            Nice one Jim and the 42" fits perfectly.

            Comment

            • Two Much
              Established Member
              • Mar 2003
              • 365
              • Long Island, NY
              • (two) Ryobe BT-3's

              #7
              That looks wonderful, neat and clean. Is that a DVD cabinet to the right?

              Comment

              • leehljp
                Just me
                • Dec 2002
                • 8429
                • Tunica, MS
                • BT3000/3100

                #8
                I noticed this was posted back in February. I don't know how I missed it, but I'm glad this was brought up again. That is NICE. LOML needs a DVD rack too.

                Jim, I'm glad that you prepared for the future by making it with the intentions of handling a large size screen (60 inches). When I joined the Ryobi forum and then this forum, about 1 or 2 people per year between 2001 and 2010 would ask about and begin making an entertainment center. I would usually suggest "prepare for the future, because it will be here before you know it"! Instead they would make a 36" to 42" wide 2ft deep entertainment center for the old huge tube TVs. They sure looked nice but they quickly were relegated to something other than a family room TV entertainment center, OR the next TVs had to be purchased with the size determined by the space.

                Hank Lee

                Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

                Comment

                • Jim Frye
                  Veteran Member
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 1051
                  • Maumee, OH, USA.
                  • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                  #9
                  Well, for once, I did something right. Last month, SWMBO decided the 24" LED set in the bedroom was too small, so the 42" from the entertainment center was moved there on top of a wardrobe. There is now a 55" LED unit in the entertainment center. The 24" set was sent to the basement exercise area to replace a 9" CRT TV. Now I have to pay Best Buy to get rid of the CRT unit, because no recycling center will take them. The CD cabinet was sized to hold 244 jewel boxes, which I thought we'd never out grow. The overflow is now stored in a 15 drawer apothecary unit from Sturbridge Yankee Workshop. Oddly enough, the CD cabinet style I built was copied from the same catalog company.
                  Jim Frye
                  The Nut in the Cellar.
                  ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                  Comment

                  • cwsmith
                    Veteran Member
                    • Dec 2005
                    • 2737
                    • NY Southern Tier, USA.
                    • BT3100-1

                    #10
                    I also missed this when it was first posted. Don't know how that happened, but obviously I missed a really great piece work.

                    Thanks for the post Jim, very nice!

                    CWS
                    Think it Through Before You Do!

                    Comment

                    • capncarl
                      Veteran Member
                      • Jan 2007
                      • 3564
                      • Leesburg Georgia USA
                      • SawStop CTS

                      #11
                      I’ve been procrastinating building an entertainment center in my house since BEFORE we built it 11 years ago. Our house plans called for a pre-fab fireplace in the great room. During the build I canceled the fireplace and opted for a 50” wide finished rectangular opening. The opening is the same size as the closets in the adjoining bedroom, so I had a closet door installed in this opening, into the bedroom. The plan was to build an entertainment center in the opening and the door would provide access to all of the electronics back sides. At that time the opening was plenty wide to push in a monster Hitachi rear projection tv so life went on without me building a proper entertainment center. When the monster died I searched to find a flat screen that would fit the hole, and finally found a 49 3/4” wide Hitachi that just barely fit. I’m still re-thinking the entertainment center thing, now I am convinced that it will be a thin cabinet with movable shelves that will fill the finished opening and will have modular cabinets with doors and some with drawers that can be moved around to adapt to the electronics of the day, and the tv can be mounted on a wall mount attached to the back of the cabinet. That way the size of the tv is only limited by my checkbook, not by the cabinet size. The back wall of the cabinet will have removable panels that will allow access to the back of the electronics. This is kinda like the “ULTIMATE WORKBENCH”, a continuing changing thing. By the time that I get around to building the entertainment center none of the electronics we know of today will not fit the area I planned for it. Thus the movable shelves. At least when I do get it built I will be able to use the extra closet that now opens into the back of my tv!

                      Comment

                      • Jim Frye
                        Veteran Member
                        • Dec 2002
                        • 1051
                        • Maumee, OH, USA.
                        • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                        #12
                        One of the design items I wish I had thought of when I was designing this one was a more sturdy cabinet back. The center portion is a full width sheet of 1/4" maple plywood.rabbited into the side stiles of solid wood. Had I made the center section sturdier, I could have mounted a wall mount on it and done away with the feet or stand of the TVs. This would have given me 3 - 4 additional inches of vertical space, allowed the TV to be flush with the front of the cabinet, and made access to the back of the TV really easy. Live and learn.
                        Jim Frye
                        The Nut in the Cellar.
                        ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                        Comment

                        • Two Much
                          Established Member
                          • Mar 2003
                          • 365
                          • Long Island, NY
                          • (two) Ryobe BT-3's

                          #13
                          Originally posted by capncarl
                          I’ve been procrastinating building an entertainment center in my house since BEFORE we built it 11 years ago. Our house plans called for a pre-fab fireplace in the great room. During the build I canceled the fireplace and opted for a 50” wide finished rectangular opening. The opening is the same size as the closets in the adjoining bedroom, so I had a closet door installed in this opening, into the bedroom. The plan was to build an entertainment center in the opening and the door would provide access to all of the electronics back sides. At that time the opening was plenty wide to push in a monster Hitachi rear projection tv so life went on without me building a proper entertainment center. When the monster died I searched to find a flat screen that would fit the hole, and finally found a 49 3/4” wide Hitachi that just barely fit. I’m still re-thinking the entertainment center thing, now I am convinced that it will be a thin cabinet with movable shelves that will fill the finished opening and will have modular cabinets with doors and some with drawers that can be moved around to adapt to the electronics of the day, and the tv can be mounted on a wall mount attached to the back of the cabinet. That way the size of the tv is only limited by my checkbook, not by the cabinet size. The back wall of the cabinet will have removable panels that will allow access to the back of the electronics. This is kinda like the “ULTIMATE WORKBENCH”, a continuing changing thing. By the time that I get around to building the entertainment center none of the electronics we know of today will not fit the area I planned for it. Thus the movable shelves. At least when I do get it built I will be able to use the extra closet that now opens into the back of my tv!
                          I've been trying to visualize your set up. There is a 49 3/4" wide tv in the opening now? We had a 50" then 52" and our last upgrade
                          was a 65" ... The new smart TV's are very thin...1" or less? You could buy whatever size you want place it in front of the opening
                          and then build the cabinet around it...Lets say for discussion purposes you buy a 65" tv...and build something underneith to place the
                          tv on ... let's say you build a cabinet 75" long and it would only stick into the room 10 to 12" ( or less) ... however, in the back it could be
                          20" deep X 5' long (the part that fits into the closet in the back...this way in the remaining 15" part in the closet you could have the cable box, surround
                          sound system and the DVD partially into the closet in the back. This way everything is accessible from the inside of the closet for hook up
                          etc...and accessible from the front as well.
                          It might involve some Sheetrock work on the top...am I making myself clear?



                          Comment

                          • Two Much
                            Established Member
                            • Mar 2003
                            • 365
                            • Long Island, NY
                            • (two) Ryobe BT-3's

                            #14
                            I have a couple of pics for visual aid...if I remember how to post pics from my computer...
                            ok, I think I got it...
                            this is a 65" tv -- the mantle on top is 9 1/2" deep and about 75" long...we had to build this new mantle
                            cause our 50 & 52" tv had sides and a top and of course didn't fit...

                            Im thinking that you could build a bottom cabinet for the TV to sit on ...however, since 5 foot of it
                            would be in the closet...you could built it to have a front that is only lets say 12" deep...
                            the entire cabinet would be lets say 75" long X 12" deep...however, inside the 5 foot wide closet
                            the center 5' of the cabinet would be about 21" deep to accomidate the components and the
                            wolfer as well...

                            Our bottom cabinet is 21" deep X about 58" wide...We made this to fit our original 50" tv.

                            I hope this is clear...you can buy any size tv you want, you are not restricted by the width of the
                            closet.
                            .

                            Comment

                            • Two Much
                              Established Member
                              • Mar 2003
                              • 365
                              • Long Island, NY
                              • (two) Ryobe BT-3's

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Jim Frye
                              One of the design items I wish I had thought of when I was designing this one was a more sturdy cabinet back. The center portion is a full width sheet of 1/4" maple plywood.rabbited into the side stiles of solid wood. Had I made the center section sturdier, I could have mounted a wall mount on it and done away with the feet or stand of the TVs. This would have given me 3 - 4 additional inches of vertical space, allowed the TV to be flush with the front of the cabinet, and made access to the back of the TV really easy. Live and learn.
                              Jim, not sure what you mean? You have 60" tv in there now and it's on feet? You want to eliminate the feet?
                              Can you post another pic? You want to have the tv flush with the front of the cabinet?

                              Comment

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