[Slink22]

I'm (hopefully) going to be building 3 wooden stands, in the following order (easiest to most difficult):

1. A projector stand (I have a Sony AW15 that needs a place to sit on)
2. A tv stand (without the tv) that will fit underneath my projection screen to house my components (a receiver, dvd player, xbox, vcr, center speaker)
3. A tv stand to sit my 50" Sony RPTV ontop of and also house my components (dvd player, vcr, center speaker, receiver)

I'm somewhat of a noob when it comes to building, so any suggestions/tips/advice are appreciated.


I read every page in this thread . Its got some great info and I'm going to be modelling the wooden stands they have there.


The Projector Stand (rough idea)

Requirements:

The projector is 15" wide, 13" deep, and 5" high. Will add 3" depth for wire-space, and 3" height to let heat escape.

The bottom of the projector needs to be atleast 12 inches off ground to line up with my screen; and actually I need to measure the light path to make sure I make it high enough such that Stand #2 doesn't interfere.
My Plan (edit: This plan is obsolete. You can skip over this section as my next post will have a new plan)

A small, 2 shelf stand out of mdf (to save money and also because it'll be an easier introduction to woodworking than plywood). Projector goes on the upper shelf; the top and bottom will be left empty for now.

Shelf dimensions will be something like 19"width x 19"depth x 22"height


Question: I'm thinking of leaving some space between the middle shelf and the back panel so that I can snake the wires down to the bottom while in the cabinet, then out a small hole on the lower side of the back panel? Good or Bad Idea?


Any comments on the plan?



Construction Plans

• I've got a table to work on, a circular saw, a tape measure.
• I'm going to buy some clamps, and build some saw guides to help with cutting
• In Joining the wood, I'll use butt joints with glue and screws. Will This be strong enough? If I can get my hands on a router, I'll make dado joints. If not, and the butt joints with screws aren't strong enough; what are some suggestions that will make it sturdy?

For the Edge/Finish

• MDF -- will paint. Do I need to sand first? Paint/Finish suggestions welcome. I don't need any special edging (like I would with plywood) do I?
• Plywood -- will read "Understanding Wood Finishing" by Flexnor then decide how to proceed

Once I have the exact measurements, I'll post them here. Hopefully the projector stand finishes up quick and I can proceed to designing Stand #2.

 

[imjay]

Sounds like you have better plans than we did before we built component shelves, a bar and various component stands.


We chose to buy oak planks from Lowes and just made it up as we went along so far as design and assembly and finally stain and finishing.


Just be confident and do it OR you can buy plans and/or plan books - like "Entertainment Centers" at DYI places.


Circular saw only? Think you will need finer cutting capability like jig saw and even some manual fine blade saws.

GoodLuck