Looking for feedback...

Getting ready to start a project (tv stand) and have a SketchUp file of the plans. There are no details on the drawing yet as I haven't decided on the joinery to use. If you have SketchUp and a couple of minutes, please download the file and take a look. Since many of you no longer have access to the a.b.p.w group I've posted the file on my website. The direct link to the file is

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questions...

-What joinery would you use and where?

-Would you use plywood for the shelves or make them out of solid wood?

-I'm considering using mahogany. Any drawbacks?

-Comments on the general construction?

Constructive feedback appreciated.

Thanks Larry

Reply to
Larry
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Very nice design. A little non-standard in terms of structure but it should work exactly like you have sketched it.

  1. It seems obvious that the end panels en two interior panels are either cope and stick panels or M&T. You can make the tenons on the frame the same width as the panle so the dado for the panel also acts as the mortise for the top and bottom rails.

  1. I think you are missing a little structure that might make things a little sturdier. Unless the back is a full 3/4" think ply you don't have much stiffness. I would add a rail across the top and bottom on the back and I would also add a rail all the way across the top on the front. It could just be 1 or 1 1/2" inches deep or even as deep as the center rail and could run behind the little short center rail or replace it\extend it. In fact, maybe the back could be a rail and panel structure as well, then you can put additional stiles in line with the interior panels\walls.

  2. I would tenon the bottom rail into the legs, and any other rails you add.

  1. I would make the end panels have full length tenon at front and back that sits in a slot\mortise in the legs.

  2. I would use plywood for the shelves with hard wood edging. Even of you don't want adjustable shelves, I would use typical adjustable shelf attachment with shelf pegs in holes.

  1. I would attached the top with table irons
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    front and back rails at the top would make this easier

  2. The big danger with mahogany is that I'll want to steal it when you are done. ;^). See if you can find true African mahogany. Nice stuff.

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

Center face frame: bridle or half lap if you don't mind seeing end grain (I don't, like it), M&T if you do.

End & center panels to legs/face frame: I'd use a tenon into a dado. ________________

I'd use ply, see no advantage to solid. Ditto the bottom. Top could be either, my preference would be solid. _________________

What kind of mahogany? Honduras? Cuban (good luck in finding *that*)? Santos? Khaya (African)? Sapele maybe?

Doesn't matter, all are nice but each is different. I like Khaya even though it is somewhat coarser. It is generally a bit darker - more red than orange - and ribbon stripe is very common (and available) on quartered stock. On ply too. ____________________

Are your end panels actually sloped? Angled toward the bottom? If so, I wouldn't. IMO they would look really wierd. Best kept vertical both for appearance and ease in making/joining.

Reply to
dadiOH

Larry . Post on abpw also for those that can still see it. I can't get the system to come up that you show. I also am buildung a TV / Audio set up so am interested in what you have. WW

Reply to
WW

"dadiOH" wrote in news:07zbn.350256$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe18.ams:

I don't mind the end grain but was thinking about a stop tongue and groove.

My preference on the end panel to legs was floating tenons though your method would be easier to setup and cut. It would need to be a stop dado though.

Originally I was going to use ply but then I check the price. They're pretty proud of it. Add in the cost of a router bit for the banding and I've got over $150 in just the shelves. My concern with the solid panels is warpage.

I was thinking about African mahogany. I've use it on a couple of small projects and seems easy to work and doesn't have problems with tearout.

Yes, the legs are sloped. That's what attracted SWMBO to the design. Regardless of difficulty they're going to stay that way.

How would you attach the top. Figure 8 to the end panels and dividers?

Would you be concerned about sagging in the front? There is likely to be 150 lbs plus on a 54" span. A short leg in the middle? The back rail would be supported by the plywood back so that shouldn't be a concern.

Thanks for your input.

Larry

Reply to
Larry

"WW" wrote in news:qpOdnc5Ti5NYa_PWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@bresnan.com:

I'm not sure that will help you but check there in a couple of minutes...

Reply to
Larry

On Sat, 6 Feb 2010 22:39:40 -0800 (PST), the infamous "SonomaProducts.com" scrawled the following:

Egad! Not that zebra-striped stuff they're selling now as mahogany! They're cutting down what appear to be 3-5" diameter trees, fer chrissake.

Honduras mahogany is my idea of a beautiful wood. Endangered and quite expensive, when you can find any.

I Notes to Larry:

M&T where possible, dadoes for shelving.

Ply with solid front edging?

Only the steep price and hard local availability.

I think it'd look excellent in unfilled-pore, fumed, QSWO and finished in satin Waterlox, too.

I put in a little Brazilian (not a number) cherry (jatoba) entryway in this old house. It's beautiful wood. It's also very, very hard (228% harder than red oak) and is solid stuff. Consider it, too.

Don't forget a place for a UPS, power strips and cable run holes. For the hotter amps, install a small pair of muffin fans in the top corners of the back of that slot for a cooling flow of air.

-- We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. -- Marcel Proust

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Like the ideas expressed in your SU file on ABPW.

What concerns me most about your SU design is the span between the legs (54"), coupled with the frame and panel ends and the two frame and panel dividers as designed.

IME, the basic idea behind your design would benefit from at least a look at some other ideas concerning the actual casework, and that can mitigate future problems of racking forces and sag inherent with wide, four legged pieces of furniture, particularly if they are to carry a load.

Take a look at this link on my website, and pay particular attention to the casework itself:

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food for thought, you should also grab a copy of Will Neptune's FWW article that I linked to on that page.

In short, I think your project would benefit from a similar approach with regard to the actual casework, and in particular the "2020 Hindsight" blurb at the bottom of the page.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Reply to
Swingman

I like as much glue surface as possible. _________

Why go to the rigamore of making floating tenons and two dadoes? Stopping a dado is simple. ______________

Wow, man...how big *is* this thing? Surely, the shelves aren't bigger than

24x24? Four of those and you've got a half sheet of ply. Add in a bottom and you have one sheet +. Lumber isn't going to cost any less. If you have a source for less, please share :)

You can get less than full sheets here (and others)

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need no router bit for banding, just a small plane. _____________

That would be mine too. Ditto the bottom.

________________

Then it is on her head :) ____________

I see no figure 8. Or is that a method? I'd use purchased metal or fabricated wood clip, in slot on vertical parts, screwed (sloppy hole if solid lumber) to bottom of top. _____________

OK, it is 54" wide +-. Buy the plywood :)

No, I wouldn't worry about sagging. I'd attach the center panels with glue and screws (from the bottom). Top of bottom would have about 1/2 wide x

1/4-3/8" deep dados (assuming center panels are 3/4") and bottom of center panels would have a tongue with double shoulders. It ain't a-gonna sag.
Reply to
dadiOH

Swingman wrote in news:RtmdnSqTqb-xgvLWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Sagging is my biggest concern. If I add a top rail at the back and cover the entire back with plywood that would absolutely stop any sagging on the rear. Truthfully, I thought about adding a foot in the center about 8" back from the front. Since the lower rail is only 2" from the floor, I doubt anyone would see it.

I'm still in the thinking stage. I'll post a final drawing for "approval" before I start making sawdust.

Thanks for the feedback.

Larry

Reply to
Larry

I disagree; I like that look. More difficult to construct certainly, but I would never let that deter me from following through on a design I thought was worth the effort. I enjoy a good challenge.

Reply to
Steve Turner

Agreed. My local supplier can't get Honduras any more, and they're selling African instead. It ain't the same, Eugene.

Reply to
Steve Turner

That's what she said. :)

Reply to
CW

Find a new supplier. It is readily available at around $9.00/bf. African is about half that.

Reply to
dadiOH

On Sun, 7 Feb 2010 20:25:44 -0800, the infamous "CW" scrawled the following:

Which reminds me of the joke I got via email last night:

--snip-- A couple had been married for 50 years.

They were sitting at the breakfast table one morning when the wife says 'Just think, fifty years ago we were sitting here at this breakfast table together.'

'I know,' the old man said. 'We were probably sitting here naked as a jaybird fifty years ago.'

'Well,' Granny snickered 'let's relive some old times.'

Whereupon the two stripped to the buff and sat down at the table.

'You know, honey,' the little old lady breathlessly replied, 'My nipples are as hot for you today as they were fifty years ago.'

'I wouldn't be surprised,' replied Gramps. 'One's in your coffee and the other is in your oatmeal.'

--snip--

-- We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. -- Marcel Proust

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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