Media Center Cabinet

[Zbart]

Greetings,

I don't post much, but I find myself wanting some input. My brother has asked me to build him a small cabinet to hold his cable box and blu ray player. He just wants a basic box, no frills. He personally does not care how it is assembled, just that it works.

The dimensions he wants are 19" wide, 18" tall and 14" deep. He also wants it made out of walnut. I am thinking I will probably add a drawer for storage at the bottom and then drill holes for a floating shelf in the top half. I am also considering making the top overhang the front and sides.

The timeframe on the project is short as is the amount of time I will have to work on it. Normally, i wouldn't hesitate to throw it together with some pocket screws and call it a day, but because of the walnut, I wonder if this calls for a more thoughtful solution. Who knows, i may even learn something too.

My question is, what would be the preferred method to assemble this cabinet? rabbets and dados? Other?

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott

[greenacres2]

How ever you do it, just make sure there's plenty of air flow. Surprising amount of heat generated by those even when they are "off". Not good for the components, and in extreme cases a fire hazard. One of the nice things about flat screen TV's is that people don't seem to stack clothes on top of them before going to bed. Can't tell you how many times i've gone out in the middle of the night for fires originating in TV's. Not so much the past few years.
earl

[radhak]

The size of your cabinet is pretty small, so pocket-hole joinery should serve plenty well, I'd think. No structural reason to go fancier, unless you want to.

My personal scale of joinery in order of increasing strength, looks, and time-taken, are pocket-holes --> dowels --> half-laps --> mortise/tenon or dovetails (whichever applicable).

FWW gives this nice video, might help generate ideas : http://www.finewoodworking.com/small...video-preview/

Btw, I am sure you have this down, but to add to the above advice of air-flow, you'll also need to plan for either an open front, or with glass, to allow remotes to work with those players.

[cabinetman]

For a "box" like that, and with walnut, I would use dadoes and rabbets (if there's a back), only because I wouldn't want to see any mechanical fasteners. Since there will be a slight overhang for the top, you could do the same for the bottom. For that configuration, machining and assembly would be very easy...just glue and clamps.

[pelligrini]

My question is, what would be the preferred method to assemble this cabinet? rabbets and dados? Other?

I like rabbets and dados. The're easy to do, they can create a pretty strong joint with just glue, and really help during assembly for alignment.

I did a couple quick component stands last year. One was for a cable box, blue ray, and the reciever with similar dimensions. http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=53162 Just a couple dados per leg and some edge banding on the ply. I can access the back of the components easily when hooking up wires and there aren't any heat issues due to the open sides and back.

[Zbart]

Thanks everyone for the input. I think I'm going to try stopped dados. Might as well learn something new. I will let you know how it works out.

Scott

[cabinetman]

Thanks everyone for the input. I think I'm going to try stopped dados. Might as well learn something new. I will let you know how it works out.

Scott

You can do them on the table saw with marking for where to stop. With small pieces, using a router works well. If by handheld, you can see your stop marks. If done on a table, stop marks are similar.

The balance of the dado can be cleared out (for the square cut end of the dado) with a chisel. Crank neck paring chisels work very well to pare clean bottom dadoes because of the working angle.

.

[leehljp]

Two cautions:

1. What Greenacres said about space inside for heat to escape.

2. Make sure the constructed measurements are large enough INSIDE.
Does his exterior dimensions allow for the size of the box? I have been in that situation before when the person did not allow for walled thicknesses or explain that the dimensions were the "inside" minimum.

[JimD]

If you are going to use solid walnut (as opposed to walnut plywood) I would use dovetails (assuming less than 12 inch width, the width of my jig). They look nice, are quite strong, and with a jig I think they would take less time than dados.

I made speakers of walnut plywood that have solid walnut at the intersections so I could round over the corners. They are biscuit joints and are holding up very well. A spline might be better for something with a lot more weight, however.

Dados are another good choice, however. I use both the table saw and a home-made jig with the router depending on my mood and the workpiece (bigger workpieces call for the router).

Jim

[Zbart]

ome Progress

An update on my project that got derailed by life. It is now going to be a Christmas present so it's getting down to crunch time. I have all the panels glued up and sized. I'm fairly happy with the results so far. I cut the stopped dado for the 2 shelves. Despite my care in glue up and flattening, it appears the side panels developed a very very slight twist. This i causing the bottom shelf to have less than a 1/32" gap. I am thinking that will close up when i glue and clamp. Would this be a correct assumption? If not, what is the best solution? Am i being too picky?

[Black wallnut]

It looks good. The gaps may close or they may not. You might try shaving a smidgen off each end of the shelves so they do not bottom in the dadoes if you've not already glued them. If after assembly you have a gap cut some thin strips of the same lumber, coat them with yellow glue and inset them in the gap. let dry and then trim flush with a very sharp chisel. I have used this method on more than one occasion to fix board that seemed to shorten during assembly.

[JimD]

I would clamp it and see. Assembling "dry",without glue is a good idea anyway.

Jim

[cabinetman]

I would clamp it and see. Assembling "dry",without glue is a good idea anyway.

Jim

+1. That will tell you. If the gap doesn't close up take Mark's suggestion to take a small amount off the edge of the shelf until the gap will close on another test clamp up. Make sure there are no other obstructions in the fit.

.

[Zbart]

It does close up when i clamp it. The issue appears to be that because of the slight twist of the side, when i seat the shelf in the dado and square everything up, it pulls away and makes the gap. A medium amount of pressure by hand gets it to close up so it appears that the shelf is not bottoming out in the dado.

[dusty]

It does close up when i clamp it. The issue appears to be that because of the slight twist of the side, when i seat the shelf in the dado and square everything up, it pulls away and makes the gap. A medium amount of pressure by hand gets it to close up so it appears that the shelf is not bottoming out in the dado.

This is a good point for me to ask a foolish question (hijack may be the word).

When a gap, such as this but maybe a bit more significant, is pulled closed during glue up does that weaken the overall structure? Will the joint last as long as it would have had there been no need for pressing the gap closed.