Hinni Home Theater - need help with the finishing touches - Page 5

Yes, it is a PITA. Having (2) people helps a lot -- one to hold tight, and one to staple.

I really like it. I have a similar space and I didn't know if I would be able to pull it off.

The upside to veneering is that you can hide seems better/easier. However, I think it's more time consuming to build. I'm also not sure it's cheaper, but I haven't found a good source for veneer yet.

With the plywood, you have to build it in a way that hides the seems/unfinished edges. I'm leaning towards a combination of plywood and solid stock (in red oak). That's how I did my bar.

Ed

Working with Veneer can me more of an "art - form", but the corners are easier. The ply saves you some work, (and usually some $$) but the corners are harder to deal with..... 6 of one,,, half dozen of the other. I've always used 1/2" ply "veneered" to 1/2" MDF

The first attempt at making my columns was a complete desaster. I used 3/4" maple ply. The 4'x8' sheet was only a little warped, but I knew that when I installed the "spine" bracing that it would pull the slight bow out.

BOY was I wrong!!

When I ripped the ply down it released the "rest of the bow"!! After spending the better part of 2 days making what ultimately turned out to be a bannana column, I scrapped it and went back to the way I do it when I make furniture. (1/2" ply + 1/2" MDF for side panels, solid stock for corners/front panels) It's a little overkill for most uses, but I'm used to making furniture like the piece pictured,,, so the more robust the better.

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Thanks Aaron. I probably wouldn't have designed the aquarium stand with all but joints,,, but when I asked my lady what she wanted her stand to look like,,, she pointed at our entertainment center towers and said,,, "I want it to match those." (right down to the aluminum inlay unfortunately) I built it with very "blocky" but joints everywhere to match the build design of pieces we purchased previously.

When I first started working with wood, I made a simple speaker stand out of Birch ply. Simple 4 sided box design,,, no biggie. I mitered the corners so that the veneer on the ply was the only thing that came together to make the 90 deg. corners. It came out "ok" but I was never happy with it at all.

I'm pretty sure anybody who paints the ceiling in a room that is dark 75% of the time with 7 coats to get it "just right" would not by happy with mitered ply corners. (It's comforting to read about fellow "anal's". )


As small as your pillar's wood sections are going to be, you could do the entire column out of solid stock (which I would do),,, or just do the front out of ply and make the sides with solid stock. If you profile the edge of of the solid stock side panels out to the front plane of the ply,,, you will be able to hide the edges of the ply and get the profile edge of your choice. This, however, would leave you with a slight seem on the front side of the column. If you do it this route, you need to ask yourself if you want the corner "seam" to be visible from the front or side of the column. The answer to that question will determine which side/s will be solid stock and which will be ply.

You could make a trim piece out of solid stock to make a "corner bead" and then use ply on the front and sides,,, but at a 5" depth that would be more work/time then just profiling one edge of a 1" x 5" piece of solid stock for the sides of the columns.

Here's a pic of what I mean by a corner bead. I ripped some maple down and profiled one edge to make my own maple corner bead,, but I would have made the entire front portion out of solid stock (as opposed to a trim piece) if the front of my columns were not open.



Good luck with our column build. I'm no expert, just a self taught dude,,, but if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to share my experience. I have learned many ways how NOT to do stuff.

Plainers and Jointers are always nice and they do a great job, but for what you are doing, glue, clamps, a tuned table saw, and an orbital sander is all you should need. If you don't have a TS, you could also get your wood from a "wood shop" such as woodworkers source etc., they can mill the wood to your specs. for a small additional charge. Unless you already have the tool/s, or are gonna do a bunch of woodworking,,, paying someone to mill it for you is pretty cost effective compared to the cost of a TS.

Woodworkers Source has a website as well, you can order it from them and they can deliver it to you if you're in the boonies. I think you can order it milled as well??

Just a thought.

Aaron--here's my praise for the pocket hole jig!!! Your previous post jogged my mind and made me go get one. I think I am getting a little carried away with it as my whole screen wall is pocket-holed. Great tool.

Aaron,

Don't give up on the pocket hole joinery with the mdf just yet. It takes a bit of practice. Mostly when you put glue on the mdf it makes it slippery I find that if I preclamp the joint it helps to keep the edges fairly flush.

If you like "cheats" I find that I can have one of the edges overlap the other by say a 16" of an inch or so (important that it's the edge of the piece being overlapped not the face of the other piece -- does that make any sense??). Then after it's screwed and glued you can hit it real quick with a trim bit on your router and now you have a perfectly smooth joint

If you're looking for advice on putting veneer on the MDF send a PM to SWithey as he's done a lot of this and is very helpful with advice.

Good luck!
Mike

Hey Aaron, its been awhile since I've been by your thread. Looks like you're making some good progress. Make sure you post some pics of the columns! On the joinery, have you considered using biscuits?

Aaron,

Looks like you've got some decisions to make on the veneer or ply. The cost to do both is about the same but here are a few items to consider:

1) Sheet of MDF is $20. If you mess up the column before you veneer, your out very little (except your time). I had to remake 4 of my 6 columns (long story) so it was not much money wasted on the re-do.

2) I used wood glue, brads and a piece of ripped down 2x4 (final piece was 1.5" x 1.5") on my columns. It worked out pretty well and was solid as a rock. They can get a bit heavy but I managed to carry them up and down my stairs about 4-5 times during the HT build process without any issue (other than being a little winded once I reached my destination).

3) Veneer allows you to cover up a TON of mistakes. I learned Mike's technique of trimming them down with a router trim bit a little too late when I built my columns. I had to take some of the lows and fill them in with bondo. A major PITA because of the mess and the time involved but you would never know about it looking at them now. I used the router trim technique on my star ceiling unit and I built that in record time.

4) With veneer, it is easier to pick just the right section out of the piece of veneer to make everything look just perfect. There might be a bad place, etc you want to avoid and it is easy to cut the veneer wide and trim that part off.

5) The only issue I've found is the extra steps to veneer do take a bit more time.

Oh and I follow you on wearing shoes when working in the garage. I did the same thing and dropped a hammer on my little toe (claw side down). It bled like crazy. I was in such a groove, I wrapped it with a paper towel, taped it with masking tape and continued my work on the wood piece (something for the HT but can't remember what it was). It was not until later that eve after I finished (probably 1am) that I looked down, saw that the paper towel was all red and finally took a look at the damage. All I can say is its over a year later and my toe nail is finally grown out. I always wear shoes now

Good luck at whatever you decide.

Thats it. Simple and saves a lot of time. I used this technique on my DIY speakers as well and it worked out great. Get ready for a big mess, though.

I hear you on the Domino - I've had my eye on that for awhile. I just don't have a project to justify it at the moment. My wife has been talking about built-ins in the Family room, so that might be my ticket

Wow! I'm totally jealous -- Festool! I'm quite impressed

Yeah, I didn't do so hot in shop either but now I love woodworking, whoda thunk!

Can't wait to hear how the domino works for ya.

Mike

What exactly is this technique? Does the router trim bit make it so you have a nice straight edge both with the veneer and the mdf?

Thanks,

Ed

I used the trim bit just to trim the MDF. I then apply the veneer after the fact and trim it with a very sharp blade. I've thought about using a trim bit to trim the veneer but never did it for fear I might mess it up.

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