TV Stand Project and Cabinetry

I built one with several component shelves so I left about a 3/4" gap at the back of each shelf so the hot air could get to the escape at the top.

Reply to
Larry Blanchard
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I alternated looking at picture 3 and 4 of the base for at least a half hour before I figured out how complicated, or simple, the base really is depending on one's point of view. At first I thought the cabinetry rested on top of the base (silly me!) Really remarkable construction (and evidently rock-solid).

If there are any other newbes reading who like cabinetry, I suggest they not pass up this great lessson (and I think it's a tough one).

BTW, I don't think you learn technique like this at the table saw... and I just proved that you don't need a table saw to learn this technique. Wonderfully satisfying "solution"...

Bill

Reply to
Bill

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>>>>> Here's the casework with base attached:

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>>>>> Here's what the base looks like from bottom side:

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>>>> I alternated looking at picture 3 and 4 of the base for at least a half

This was a commissioned piece for a client who lives about 150 miles from here. Last thing I want to do is to get a call from a client in the future with a problem, so I tend to overbuild with a belt and suspenders approach. I don't mind being invited back to "touch" years and more down the road, but certainly never want to go back for a "fix" of any kind.

This particular piece your were talking about above, the base is an integral part of the bottom, and was actually built around, and attached to, the bottom cabinet as it was applied.

On the first example in the previous post (Tansu stack-able cabinets), the base and the bottom cabinets are separate units, to make it easy to move around, and facilitate stacking the parts in different configurations:

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bases are built with the same approach, one that is certainly not my invention, but an old one which I basically copied/picked up from a cabinetmaker I had to good fortune to work with in England for a while, whose family had been in the business for a few hundred years.

Reply to
Swingman

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>>>>>>>> Here's the casework with base attached:

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>>>>>>>> Here's what the base looks like from bottom side:

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>>>>>>> I alternated looking at picture 3 and 4 of the base for at least a half

The first time you showed this it went in my saved file. When my destruction team of Samoyed brothers are gone, now 13, I will be redoing the kitchen where they have chewed the corners of drawers, and eaten thru one wall. I know the floor isn't level so this is an elegant solution.

Mike M

Reply to
Mike M

-- Thank you for including that little morsal! In my mind, I had been struggling to make the case fit the base. Given what can go wrong at assembly, it seems like the dado groove for the floor should be cut just a tad deep (less than 1/16" say), so that the corners of the base can meet perfectly. Is that reasonable thinking?

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--- But the latter one just has a rebate to hold the carcase right? Or did you add more wood to the base (like in the "belt w/suspenders" approach?) The hardware that you used in the corners of the first example appears stronger than the 2 pieces of wood (which appear just butt-jointed together) under the levelers in the 2nd example (which I assume have the same reinforcing intent). Is anything else reinforcing the corners of the base that I can't see, like biscuits?

Maybe you have a hunch what the next incarnation of my TV-Stand will look like?

The only other new thing that occured to me is that for an inset cabinet door, a hungarian hinge attaches to the inside wall, I believe. Presently my "inside wall" is also the end of my case and will be a about 2 inches away or so. I assume that there is a hinge for an inset cabinet door that attaches to the back and edge of the faceframe. I need to learn more about them. Classes resume Monday, so I can mostly just think and draw for the time being anyway. A detailed SketchUp parts diagram will be a reasonable short term goal. I won't comit to a design until I locate my hinges! I feel like I made some big steps this week!

Cheers, Bill

Reply to
Bill

Swingman wrote in news:KridnZ0e2_5TE3DNnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

+1 for everything. Gave me the best idea yet of how to attach the shelves of my coffeetable ...
Reply to
Han

Yes, if I understand your question correctly.

In this one below, the cabinet/casework simply sits upon the ledge formed by the rabbet in the removable base, but you still want a reasonably close fit for the visual aspect, but with a bit of wiggle room for ease of use, say 1/8" all around:

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type of base is easy to make because you can route/cut rabbets in long pieces the stock you use for the sides, then "cut to fit with miters" the base sides, just as you would with trim on a table top.

I do like to reinforce the corners of this type of base, either with wood blocks, angled corner braces of wood, or, as in the photo, I used leftover metal corner braces from a previous project ... suit yourself.

In this one, instead of a rabbet edge for the casework to sit on, I simply used a 1 x 2 x 3/4 "ledger board", glued and screwed to the back of the base sides:

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idea in both examples is to form a ledge for the cabinet/casework to sit upon.

I prefer this method when the superstructure will be very heavy and I want the base to be an integral part of the structure.

You decision entirely, based on your design.

That "ledger board" is mitered in the corners, and glued and screwed to the visible sides of the base, as well as the spacer blocks for the levelers ... no butt joints. ;)

IOW, by gluing all these components to the four sides of the base itself, you are effectively making a single component out of all the parts.

My rationale for making an effort to create a "single component", is that I like to transfer all weight to the floor/ground in as straight and direct a manner as possible, just as you would do with beams and headers in a construction project.

Yes ... when I do mitered corners in furniture and casework of any kind, I always reinforce the inherently weak miter joint in some manner; in this particular case with biscuits, because I own a plate jointer.

Doing so makes it easier to align during assembly and glue-up, and you do indeed get added strength from the biscuits in this application (regardless of what some will proclaim to the contrary).

You could also use any of the other traditional methods to reinforce miter joints ... splines, etc.

Absolutely do all your research and choose, and insure availability of your hinges and slides well before you decide upon a final design.

You've come a long way toward getting the idea handsomely, Bill! :)

Reply to
Swingman

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