Beauty is in the details.  Click on the photos to see them in a larger size.  Use your browser's "Back" button to return.
February 29, 2016
Welcome, Kevin and Chris! These days, TV's and stereos aren't the same animals they were back in the day.  TV's are much thinner and lighter, and now you can store your entire music collection on your iPhone and listen to it through some head phones.  Kevin and Chris wanted to upgrade their Living Room entertainment center for their new TV, but they still prefer to kick it old-school with their stereo components (including a turntable!). If you haven't shopped for an entertainment center lately, you wouldn't know that they stopped making them extra deep.  TV's are so thin now that the extra depth is no longer needed.  But stereo components won't fit in them either.  This is my woodworking niche, I can make whatever is needed and in whatever size is desired. The Meyer's have a space in mind that this piece of furniture needs to fit.  They have a list of A/V equipment that needed to go in it.  I also took note of size of their CD and DVD (and album!) collection.  This design will maximize their storage.  The lower section will house their stereo components and their albums.  On the right will be some sub-divided drawers to organize CD's and DVD's.  The top TV "stage" will be a little shallower and allow room for the center speaker below it.  Everything will fit perfectly.
March 2, 2016
It's all about that base, 'bout that base.  Hey, gotta start somewhere.  The piece of furniture will be holding a lot of weight.  A solid structure like this will be able to accommodate it.  This cabinet will be a combination of stained wood, plastic laminate tops with a stone appearance, glass doors, and some solid black elements like this base, the interior shelves, and the pulls.  It will have a more dynamic look than being just a vast amount of monochromatic wood; mixin' it up a little.
March 9, 2016
First there will be a little prep work before things start taking on a recognizable shape.  The case will be made primarily from plywood.  Some folks scoff at plywood as somehow being fake and not real, solid wood.  But plywood doesn't warp like solid wood, and it doesn't expand and contract like solid wood.  For case sides, plywood is the way to go. However, one disadvantage to plywood is that you have to apply some edge banding so you don't see the less attractive plies at the edges of the plywood.  Furniture companies will use an iron on product which is about 1/32" thick.  I don't like that since it always tries to peel back off.  I make my own edge banding from solid wood, it's 1/8" thick, and I glue it on.  This process takes a little more time, but I want my furniture to last forever. While waiting for the edge banding to dry, I made another prep step.  I cut the door frames to dimension and routed a channel which will eventually hold the glass.  This will all start coming together and making more sense in the next couple weeks.
March 14, 2016
Before you can start slapping the case together, you have to make sure you have all the details covered first.  Notching for the shelf standards would be impossible to do after assembly, so those had to be laid out and dado'd in ahead of time. All of the case pieces were notched into their adjoining pieces.  This keeps everything true and square and makes for stronger joinery.
March 17, 2016
Time for the doors.  These will have glass fronts with little "muntin bar" dividers to make them look like individual panes of glass.  The glass will add a little weight, so I reinforced the corners with biscuits.  Then you need that crazy contraption to keep the door square while the glue dries. While waiting for the doors to dry, I threw in the drawer slides.  These have that cool soft-close feature so the drawers can never slam shut.
March 23, 2016
Speaking of drawers, I made those up tonight.  There are three drawers on the right side of the case plus one shallow one for the turntable.  Those little notches you see in the drawer sides are for the sub-dividers so CD's and DVD's will all have a home and be held secure.
March 26, 2016
The Meyer's wanted muntin bars in the glass doors, I think primarily to torment me.  Small parts and large power tools don't always mix.  The bars interlock and nest into the backs of the door stiles and rails.  The glass will then go in and hold the bars from moving around.
I made some mounts for the turntable drawer.  Who has a turntable anymore?  I guess at least Kevin and I.  This assembly will be completely removable so if Kevin's needs to change, he can quickly remove a few screws and be back in business with room for a different component. The drawer fronts went on along with some fancy pulls.
March 26, 2016
The Meyer's wanted muntin bars in the glass doors, I think primarily to torment me.  Small parts and large power tools don't always mix.  The bars interlock and nest into the backs of the door stiles and rails.  The glass will then go in and hold the bars from moving around.
April 13, 2016
Baby got back!  A good entertainment center has to have some venting to keep its cool.  There's a couple larger rectangular holes, and a few smaller round ones.  If needed, the round holes are sized perfectly to fit CPU fans.  Connect them to the receiver's power supply and they'll turn on along with the stereo.  Brilliant!
April 16, 2016
Time for the dress rehearsal.  I have to be sure everything is prepped and fits properly.  Trying to fix something after the finish is on could be problematic.  You don't want to scratch that new finish.  So the countertops are on and the TV stage fits perfectly. Then you take everything apart to apply the finish.  You don't realize how much surface area this is until you have to wipe stain on all 3 acres of it.  We're in the home stretch now!
May 21, 2016
Finally, Delivery Day!  Let's see if we got everything on the wish list.  It fits the wall perfectly.  It's stained to match the existing decor.  The interior fits the intended components (with room to grow) and there's a curved-front stage for the TV.  The top is high gloss, plastic laminate for years of use.  The doors have subdivided glass fronts.
A pull-out turntable shelf was added for some vintage tunes.  The drawers were subdivided for DVD's one way and CD's the other way.  Soft close doors and drawers mean no slamming.  I even helped Kevin & Chris get all the electronics hooked up and running.
I sign every piece I make.  I will never make anything that I'm not proud enough to put my name on.  You will not find this quality at the furniture store - period.  When I make you a custom piece, you get exactly what you want with every feature you can dream, and I build it to last forever.  That's why I have no problem giving a LIFETIME warranty on all my work.  Let's see the furniture store offer you that.