Entertainment Unit Part 2

Here is the completed entertainment unit in place.

Completed unit

The simple plywood doors run in an aluminium channel routed into the base and top. 

Aluminium track and sliding door

The handles are pieces of solid oak, tapered to match the chamfer on the top.

Oak sliding door handle

The cables run in a 100mm wide gallery at the back of the unit.  Here is a photo with the top slid out slightly.

Power points, aerial and phone sockets in the gallery behind the plywood back prior to cable installation.

The next step is to make the bookshelves which will sit on top of the unit and be attached to the wall.  After this, access to the cables will be through holes in the back of the unit.

Another Beautiful Misty Autumn Morning

Taken from the same spot as the previous blog, outside our bedroom window.  We are very lucky to live where we do.

View From The Bedroom This Morning

Entertainment Unit Part 1

This is a project that I have been working on sporadically for the last few months.  It's a built-in entertainment unit for our living area.  This is the first piece of furniture of any significant size that I have worked on - over 2.4m (8 feet) long.  My other projects have been small tables, chopping boards and a wall cabinet (blogged about previously here).  

Front Elevation

It is intended as a multifunctional piece of cabinetry with the following features:

• Central open shelves for the Freeview box, DVD player or whatever piece of technology replaces them.  The shelves are open to allow the infra-red remote controls to work.
• Storage for DVDs and CDs on the left behind a sliding door.
• Storage for our small stereo on the right, also behind a sliding door.
• A false back to hide the cables, with access to the power points, phone jack and aerial sockets in the wall behind.
• Bookshelves above, random sizes to fit our books and other objects.
• A wide enough lower unit to sit a flat screen TV on, with space each side for guests to sit/perch on during parties.

End Elevation and Sections

The main part of the work is in the lower unit, which is made from oak veneered onto MDF (main carcase), solid oak (trim around the edges) and meranti plywood for the back and doors.

These are not necessarily the ideal materials to use.  It's more a case of what is available and also what is appropriate.  Because the unit is going to be 'built-in' like kitchen cupboards and also because of its significant size the carcase needed to be stable.  Hence oak veneered MDF was used - not my favourite material to work with but it allowed the bottom, sides and back to be fully glued together for strength.

Gluing up the ends to the base

The back and doors are made from inexpensive plywood, which is a little bit splintery as I have discovered, but hopefully will be ok with a few coats of shellac and some wax.

Gluing the partitions, shelves and pre-stained backs in place

The rest of the unit is finished in Danish oil.

First coat of Danish oil applied

Once the second coat of oil has been applied I will bring it inside to see how well it fits against the wall.  Hopefully I've got my measurements correct for the positions of the power points etc, directly behind the central section.  Fingers crossed!