Build You Own (BYO) TV Stand - Page 45

Welcome to the party!

It is a Panasonic PT-AE8000U. And what you are seeing in those pics is actually not making any justice to this projector/screen combo.

2D is amazing and 3D is pretty good overall. Really happy with this "my first" projector........

I'm sure. You can tell it would have a nice picture. Pretty pricey! How long do the bulbs last?

This is a brand new unit (released just few months ago, so you will have to go with what is listed by Panasonic:

"Lamp Life: 4000 Hour, 5000 Hour Economy Mode."

I guess that's not too bad if your not using it 24/7.

Correct!

For instance, I checked the numbers of hours that I put on the projector so far and it is 63. That is an average of 2.17 hours per day on the last 29 days.

So, if I keep this rate* using the Normal Mode (4000 hrs) the lamp should last me 1,841 days, or something around 5 years.


* Now bear in mind this is my first projector and therefore, I'm always looking for excuses to watch something at the big screen. So, the number of hours should decrease as soon things are back to normal. One more thing, I'm currently using the lamp on Eco mode and therefore, that should add another 1000 hours of life to the projector.

In any case, yeah it is not that bad. Finally, I'm expecting the price on the replacement lamps will decrease and as soon this happens, I'll buy a second lamp as a backup.

Cheers!

That's very true! Now.... Back on track I need to build or buy a tv stand that has a center channel speaker self that will fit a Bic PL-26 (22 x 8.5) and also has glass doors side doors that are big enough to fix a onkyo tx-nr616. I'm pulling my hair out over this

so I had (wife had) a baby in 2011 and no time to build in 2012.. but now my father in law has offered to help me build a tv stand.. so i'm pretty sure we will get done in a few months. But now i need to change my vision to help with baby proffing. One thought is to make the tv stand longer then I was going to before..so that is a plus.

I think that when there are 2 doors with the handles next to each other it is easy to put a safty tie that connect the 2 handles so toddler can't open doors. So if we go wtih around 84" long i can go 4 doors.

1st.. does anyone have any different ideas for baby proofing their tv stand? any good ideas for baby proofing a 3 door tv stand?

2nd.. I want drawers.. if I go wtith 4 doors i will either have 2 or 4 draws.. Anyone with ideas on how to set up the drawer so it is behind the cabinet door? So far i am considering cutting the wood on the front of the drawer so there is a spot at the top center where i can use my hand... there is always the door knocker design but I don't think the wife likes those.

3rd.. my father n law wants to use 2x8's or 2x10 then glue then together.. I don't think I have seen any plywood sheets 2 inch thick so that is a plus.. and if I use 3 2x10's and have 30" depth I can stop the shelves and drawers at 20-22 inches and have plenty of room to hide all cords and surge protectors with the stand pushed against the wall. My only concern is when I was looking at hardware the 2 inch boards seemed to all be rounded on their edges which would give me a long groove in the middle where each 2x10 is glued together. Anyone know if all 2inch boards are going to be rounded on their edges? Anything I can put in the groves that would look natural when we paint or stain the tv stand?

Thanks for all input.

If you're pushing the cabinet flush against the wall and have doors on the front, don't forget about factoring in some form of ventilation or you're going to fry all your components.

2x8's and 2x10's aren't actually 8 inches or 10 inches wide - they're actually 1-1/2" x 7-1/4" or 1-1/2" x 9-1/4" so keep that in mind when planning dimensions.

The idea of gluing 2x8's or 2x10's together to form a single wide board doesn't strike me as a good plan. I don't believe it would be structurally sound and as you mention, the rounded edges will be a problem.

As far as locking the doors so a toddler doesn't get into the cabinet, Rockler is one good source for that sort of thing - there are lots of options besides tying the door handles together.

Agree with gsr. I'll just add my $.02.

Building interior furniture with 2x material is, IMHO, a poor way to go. In order to get it right you have to cut/plane it down to get rid of the rounded corners, it is often not dried well and controlling warp is difficult. Use plywood.

The material doesn't have to be 2" thick. You can build the carcase with 3/4 (or 23/32) plywood. Use a router with a straight edge (or table saw) to cut dadoes to partition the case and to cut rabbits to receive the sides. If you feel that the bottom is not firm enough then double up the plywood. My experience is that as long as the span is not too great (you are going to partition the interior, right?) then plywood wiill work.

As long as you're going to paint it, if there are any gaps in the plywood, they can be filled with drywall compound, sanded, primed and painted. I've done this with fireplace surrounds with absolutely no indication that the undelying material was not solid wood. A better way to go is to use hardwood trim pieces around the openings. They will paint up smooth and add strength to the final assembly and prevent warping. I've used box store poplar for this with no issues.

Drawers behind the door only requrire that you set them back to allow for the door to close. I would recommend not putting pulls on them and agree that a scallop at the top of the front to create room to pull from is best.

As for child security, there are latches made for cabinets that fit inside and just require you to reach inside and depress the finger. If they're good enough for kitchen and bathroom cabinets they'll work for your cabinet and are out of sight.
Edited by billybobg - 1/4/13 at 9:54am

Just thought I'd ask.... Why is this thread under the Rear Projection TV forum? Seems it would be better if placed in the Home Theater Forum. I'm subsribed to this thread and wouldn't have found it if it wasn't linked to the email with the post. Just asking????

Because the original intent was to find a TV stand both wide enough and strong enough to use with the Mitsubishi 62 inch DLP TV, which is a rear projection TV. It was also one of the largest TVs available back then.

Thank you to you and gsr for the comments.

I would rather use plywood.. but welcome my father in laws help and experience.. so I want to tread lightly on not using his ideas. I don't want to hurt his feelings or come across as I know more (cause he knows lots more then me). I thought wood glues said they dry harder then wood? I do see where warping might be an issue. My FIL built his receiver stand with 2x8's and 2x10's but it was lumber he had on hand so probably dry...plus the dimensions is probably 2.5 feet by 2.5 feet and about 4 or 5 feet tall... where as my tv stand will be about 7 feet long and 2.5 feet deep. His media stand has the groove between the boads but looks ok on the small top.

If we go with stain.. does the drywall compond work too?

Acouple years ago when I was first looking at building a tv stand.. I was looknig at trim but (at least at the stores I went to) the trim was different sizes then the plywood..since the plywood was not really 3/4 inch think and the trim was.

I would rather hade the visable safty ties on the outside for a couple years.. then removing them when my son is older (wife says no more children) so that should be the last we need to use the safty ties.. as opposed to putting holes (even though on the inside) in the tv stand.

I'm going to need to look up partition and rabbits to see what that is before I know if doing that.

Thanks again

Given what gsr said about ventilation.. maybe i will keep it 2 or 3 inchs from wall but still have the surg protector hidden inside the back of the tv stand.
Edited by porsche1207 - 1/8/13 at 4:12am

Well.....Family is family. I don't know your circumstances or the decor that the stand will occupy so I won't comment. The small stand he built would be less prone to the isssues of warping.

As for the stain. NO you cannot stain over the drywall compound it will look like crap. Don't try to fill large gaps with wood filler either. I suggest trimming the boards down to square the edges and then joining them. That will give you the best possible result.

I would also reassess the depth of the stand. 2 1/2 ft. is very deep. Think about your kitchen cabinets at 24". Again, I don't know your house or your interior decor, but take another look at it. Lay your electronics out and measure how deep they are and how much room you need for wiring. My cabinet is about 20" deep with the electronics on sliding shelves. I'm not telling you what you need, just to examine it and consider how deep 30" is.

I was not considering standard trim when I mentioned edge trim, my thoughts were of using the poplar lumber that is available from the box store. It is 3/4" thick. How wide a piece you would use covering the edges of plywood depends on the design of the piece. I'm kind of assuming that your FIL has a table saw and that the pieces could be cut to width. ( Ryobi table saws start at about $100. One of these was my first table saw.) If not, 1 1/2" material is decent for frame and for making stiles and rails for doors. Picture building a box with plywood, then lining the front openings with 3/4" x 1 1/2" pieces of wood trim that stabilizes the front. Tack a piece of thin 1/4" plywood, that you have cut out cooling and cable access holes in (they can be pretty large holes), to the back to make the box stable and strong. Finally, poplar has a lot of variations in grain and color, so painting is the preferred finish. If you want to stain it, pick the grain and color carefully.


Messing with safety ties is going to get old fast, IMO. It's your furniture in your house, so you're the only one that needs to be happy with it.

As for the partitions. They are essentially intermediate walls within the piece that add to the overal strength and stability of the structure. A seven foot wide piece of furniture (even one made of 2X material) needs these and at the very least you will be hanging your drawer slides and shelves on them. Dadoes are slots that the partition can sit in. Rabbits are basically the same thing, but are on the edges to support the sides and usually on the back of furniture to accept a thin sheet of material for a back. The back stabilizes the structure from racking. A frame around the front also adds stability and prevents the carcase from racking. You can build a box without dadoes and rabbits, they do it all the time on DIY shows on tv. The furntirue will be more durable with the dadoes and rabbits, but they are not required.

Building cabinets is basically building boxes. Buy some books on building cabinets at your local big box store. I started home improvement and furniture projects with very little stuff years ago and slowly built up my library and my shop. You won't learn everything the first time and you will make mistakes, but try to learn how to do it right. You'll like the results so much better. And don't forget the most important rule of DIY: No job is worth doing if you can't buy a new tool.

You'll have more luck if you look up rabbet instead of rabbit.

I stand corrected and appreciate the feedback. I questioned myself but I was too lazy to look it up. Then again, no matter how I spell it, I'll cut it the same way. Thanks for the correction.

Hi guys:

I've been looking at some of the photos, trying to get an idea of how to build a tv stand for my tv.

I don't have much skill in this field, so I will be going to Home Depot for the wood and have it pre cut so I can just screw it together.

I only want to build a basic stand, enough for my 42" lcd tv, one game system, blu ray player, pvr box, small speakers and storage for small items. I want a completely open design, no doors.

I currently have a large wall unit that sits in the corner, but it's awkward. It's falling apart and would never survive being moved again.

This is the current unit, very bulky and I don't need all that bulk to be honest.

There used to be doors on this unit, but the 2 bottom ones broke, and the ones that were on the top weren't on the unit when I got it.

The current unit is 45" wide, 25" deep with the top trim.

I would like to keep the built one similar, but completely open. I don't need fancy trim, just a simple shelf, with the option of casters on the bottom.

I have borrowed this from http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2495082 that page. I want to build something simple like that. The one pictured doesn't have shelves, but in the post below it, the finished product does have shelves.

I'm looking at using 3/4" pine boards, cut to the sizes I need, maximum 18" deep.

I can't find any designs to fit my basic idea, I guess it's too simple for online searches.

I'm open to any suggestions.

Make sure whatever material you use is actually flat. And that Home Depot is capable of cutting accurately and square.Other than that, what could possibly go wrong?

Clear pine is actually quite expensive. It's used for door and window trim mostly.

Many times at the end of a project I end up concluding that I should have used better materials. Better material makes all the manual labor worthwhile in the end. I would use 3/4" oak plywood if I were building something like what you have shown. It also desperately needs a back to it, otherwise it will have zero strength.

Since you can't cut rabbets, you need a back that fits closely inside what is shown (except on the bottom), so use 1/2" oak plywood. Take the back all the way down to floor level. You don't want screws showing so you also need some 1x1" solid oak sticks to screw into the sides and top, then you screw the back to the sticks. Use those to hold the top to the sides as well. Predrill all screw holes and don't use cheap drywall screws. Glue everything as well.

For the edges that show in front, get some oak iron-on edging veneer. Use some 1x4" or so solid oak on three sides of the bottom, apron style, to cover all the edges and give it a finished look. Some solid oak molding might look good around the edges of the top vs the iron-on.

The home centers have oak plywoods, and their birch plywoods are nice too. Getting them to precut plywood is always iffy. They tend to make very rough cuts on panel saws. How well that works out just depends on how patient and considerate a person you end up with.

PS So many folks are moving away from rear-projector to LCDs that stands like this are plentiful and cheap on Craigslist.
Edited by ChuckF. - 3/3/13 at 9:53am

The other idea was to use dimensional or framing lumber, it is far cheaper, but doesn't look as good. 4x8 plywood of any type here is anywhere from $30-$50 per sheet. Keeping that in mind, for the other project I was going to undertake, the pine route would keep the total project cost under $50 for a double bookcase headboard.

For the tv stand though, given how Home Depot lumber staff cut wood, and I've watched it first hand, plywood would be out of the question for that reason.

I don't have access to power tools with the exception of drills and a reciprocating saw, so I am limited as to what I can do with finishing and holes for cables and cords.

Given my limited experience, is this possible to do after all the wood is cut?

Given what you've told us, I don't see how you're going to get results you woud be proud of...

I'm not necessarily looking for results I can be proud of, more just for functionality. I'm not planning on going all out like some of you guys do, nor am I looking at making this into a hobby.

I do appreciate the honest input though.

Wow, it's beautiful!

That's fine--I'm not trying to be harsh either. But things have to be flat, and strong, to be functional. That's very hard to do with Home Depot doing the cutting, and nothing in the way of tools but a screwdriver and a drill.

Why don't you look on Rockler.com, and check out their I-Semble shelf blocks?

They look good, and all you'll need is something flat and cut to your length. Great precision won't be required, and they may just get you exactly what you need.

At any rate, I do wish you the best.

I've been lurking around these DIY AV rack threads learning how to build my own and I finally have it all together so I wanted to post some pics. It is similar to certain lizard company's design, but I use baltic birch for all the shelves. I decided to build it so I had a rack that could take the weight of some equipment I plan to upgrade to in the near future. I still plan to get side panels for the top portion and will be putting a dark tinted glass door on the bottom section (still need to figure out exactly how I'm going to do that). I had a buddy do a custom, but subtle, routing of the edges for the supporting shelves (bottom, top, one in the middle).
I bought the aluminum T-slot extrusions from 80/20 and tapped the ends myself with a hand tool. Easier than I thought it was going to be, but I did bust a tap screw inside one of them and had to order a replacement t-slot. The shelf pegs and wheels were bought through salamander. Side panels on the bottom I got from 80/20.

Once I get my new equipment I will get things straightened out, and do some things to better conceal the wires.

Let me know what you think, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

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Very nice job, there, Masker.

Nice job Masker, nice to see something other than a lowboy.

Thanks for the compliments.

The baltic birch plywood is crazy strong. When I was putting it together I set two 50lb dumbbells on one of the shelves and it didn't appear to even stress the shelf at all. Can't wait to fill it up with new components, especially some large amps!!

Nice setup. I am considering doing something similar with 80/20. I have been disappointed with the offerings for TV stands that I have found. Most seem to be either too small (I recently got a rather large amp/receiver) or too expensive. I therefore decided to look into making my own. I liked the salamander designs Twin 20, but not the price. I have used 80/20 before for various projects at work, so it seemed like a good staring point. Here is a model of what I had in mind.



I have a question for all the woodworking experts on the wooden parts of the design. My local hardware store has 2'x4'x.75" (actual dimensions) hardwood boards for a reasonable price. I see most people here using plywood. Is there a reason to use plywood over the real wood? I like the idea of using the hardwood boards as they will not require cutting and I am extremely lazy. I don't know if the hardwood boards will be more prone to warping than the plywood, however.

Don't know what you are looking at but that's not a piece of solid hardwood in that size. Possibly laminated pine shelving. Plywood will be stronger. straighter and less prone to bowing, warping shouldn't be an issue if dry and assembled properly.

Sorry for the confusion. It is not a single piece of hardwood. I assume it is a bunch of joined sections. Something like this is what I am looking at.