Another job completed

[Leon]

On August 27 I started buying white oak for an entertainment center that I build for a customer. In the middle I took a week vacation so this job took me about 8 weeks.

Approximately 83" wide x 82" tall. And it weighs a ton, well maybe not quite that much. The towers and center upper cabinet are all one piece and bolted to the bottom cabinet top through slots made with the Domino. The slots will allow the solid oak top expand and contract. I used

5/16" x 2" bolts threaded into inserts on the bottoms of each tower.

Old master gel varnish for the finish, 3 separate coats and 3 separate wipe on's and down's for each coat.

Please take a look and any comments or questions are welcome.

Starting at the top, Double click the pics to enlarge.

[woodchucker]

Nice job, but one piece top, how do you carry that without breaking it. There doesn't seem to be enough meet to hold that together without twisting it.

Why not make it 3 pieces to transport???? Just asking, not criticizing. I assume you have something up your sleeve.

[Leon]

Well I sure wanted the towers to stand by them selves but the customer wanted crown molding, and that was a good thing for appearances sake. I did not want to have to deal with attaching the crown to the towers after delivery as something would have gone wrong. ;~) Rather than leave it up to chance I make it all one unit.

It is however rock solid and not about to twist. The center shelf unit has a top that extends 3/4" on both sides so that it actually hangs on top and in between the towers. From there, on the back sides of the center shelf unit's stiles, front and back, are 28 pocket hole screws, 7 on each stile.

A picture is worth a 1000000 words.

When I get to the customers house I just have to set that unit back up on top and attach the 4 anchoring bolts to hold it in place on the bottom cabinet, rehang the doors and insert the drawers.

[Leon]

Oh, and thank you.

[Ed Pawlowski]

The woodworking is excellent, of course. The customer's design may be a bit shortsighted though. I've seen quite a few entertainment centers hacked up to fit a larger flat screen. The future looks like wide 21:9 aspect ratio.

[Leon]

Thank you!

She only calls it an entertainment center because he is going to put a radio of some sort in the bottom cabinet. I would have called it a display cabinet. She has an Indian temple carving that will sit between the towers and nick knacks will be in the towers.

If you will notice, the big screen is above the fireplace to the left of the cabinet.

FWIW this is what I did at our home, good for at least a 90" wide screen.

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------------------------- As always, NEAT!!!

I have just one question.

Where do you hide the mover genie?

The one with the extra set of hands that assists in moving finished pieces to customers.

Lew

[Leon]

I start calling in favors.. ;~) Thanks Lew.

[Ed Pawlowski]

OK, then no restrictions. Although above the fireplace can be uncomfortable, it sees very common.

It won't be long that the 90" screen is about $199. I like that setup.

[dadiOH]

Lord, Leon, you sure do nice crisp work. It appears that the recent discussion here about glue and saw dust was totally wasted on you :)

[dadiOH]

Leon, what did you use to get the black finish on the wood? And is it actually as black as it looks?

[Sonny]

I like it. Always, nice job.

As for as molding vs separate crown: A design idea - a separate crown, not permanately attached to the towers, etal., but just sits on top, held in p osition with non-glued dowels, pins or a recessed fitting, of some sort; If the SketchUp mantle pic is correct, matching the crown's design, to the mantle, would have coordinated the overall view of the two. Would the mant le/surround happen to be made of white oak, also (just wondering)?

I would have had confidence in your work, Leon, not to have had anything go "wrong" with either an attached crown or a separate crown. I would think, though, the assembling of the additional (and awkward?) weight of a separa te crown, that high up, would be a bit of a task, even with a little help. Though I have not built it yet, I'm anticipating this kind of assembly dif ficulty with the separate crown for my entertainment center, 12' long and a bout 24" deep, even with the expected help I hope to get.

Sonny

[Leon]

Thank you!

With building this particular project I did see how I could have probably built the crown assembly as a separate unit. I typically build my crowns up as layers of strips of wood. This particular crown was a 3 pieces attached to a base cap. I probably would screw it to attach, there are several screws holding this all together with the smaller two strips, part of the crown, hiding the screws.

As for matching the mantle, this piece also is relatively close to the kitchen, which has another style crown altogether. She was not wanting to match so much as just have a crown top. The mantel is painted white as is the fireplace. The piece I built blends well with the floor and wall color.

The top cabinets were sitting on the floor when I attached the crown, the top is approximately 55" up from the floor. Attaching the crown was easy at the height. The crown is rock solid and you can actually lift the upper cabinet assembly by the crown.

My thought was that if I separated and reassembled the 3 top cabinet units that there might be some displacement somewhere and getting the crown, a separate unit to fit might be problematic, something I do not want to tackle at a customers home. Through the years of delivering pieces that I have built I steer more towards getting in and getting out. I would much rather tackle a logistics problem at my shop than in front of the customer.

Good luck with your endeavor.

[Leon]

NO kidding. We waited for what seemed forever several years back to buy our original wide screen, a 40 incher. We paid less for the 65 inch internet smart TV model than that 40 inch model.

[Michael]

That's some beautiful work, Leon!

[Leon]

Black Lamp milk paint with a couple of coats of gel varnish on the cabinet. Regular latex flat black paint on the wall and edges of the walnut wall panels. Yes it is quite black.

[Leon]

Thank you, and no discussion is a waste, I was there at one time. ;~)

[Leon]

Thank you!

[Doug Winterburn]

...and the pictures show how crisp and sharp the product is.

[Leon]

Thank you for noticing Doug. I often just use the iPhone for pictures but the "regular" camera was used for these. It does show details much better.