Ron pulled off the highway in Flagstaff, AZ to help Mark Zweifel build the entertainment center of his dreams. This was more than just a piece of furniture; in fact, it looked like it was built into the house. Ron loved the unique idea that Mark had described and was happy to help him build it.
Click Here For a list of what
you will need in order to complete this project.
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1. Design:
- Ron created a simple design based on what Mark had told him. The cabinet they were going to build would consist of sides, top and bottom and two shelves.
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- First they would need to cut out the parts. Next they would assemble the cabinet and then finally attach a front panel, in which they would cut openings for the TV and various components.
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- Once the cabinet was assembled, they would apply a texturing material to the outside and paint it to match the wall, giving the whole unit a built in look.
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- They measured the depth of the television to determine the necessary width for the two sides. After they had decided on all of the dimensions, they began to cut the pieces to construct the cabinet.
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2. Cut wood:
- They began by attaching a self-clamping straight edge to the plywood and then ran the base of the circular saw along the straight edge. The straight edge guaranteed a perfectly straight cut. After cutting the panels to the proper width they attached a shorter straight edge and cross cut each piece to length.
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- The cabinet shelves were cut to size using the same techniques, but the front panel would be a bit trickier.
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3. Cut openings:
- They needed to cut two openings into the front panel. One opening would be for the television and the other for the components. Ron measured and marked down the sides and across the top and bottom, the location for those openings.
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- The first mark was for the top of the opening for the TV, the second for the bottom of the TV opening, the third, for the top of the component opening and so on. Ron and Mark connected the marks from one side to the other using the straight edge.
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- They created a starter hole in one corner of the marked opening that was to be cut out.
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- Ron showed Mark how to drop the jigsaw into the hole and then cut along the line they had drawn on the wood.
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- Once the rough openings were cut, they needed to clean up the edges with a tool called a router.
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- The router is a rotary cutting tool with a spinning cutter. They set the straight edge as a guide. The distance from the straight edge to the line was exactly the same as the distance from the router blade to the edge of the cutting line.
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4. Dados:
- The next step was to again use the router to create grooves or dados in the cabinet sides.
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- The cabinet top, bottom and shelves were designed to slip into the dados. This would serve two purposes; the dados would make it easier to assemble the cabinet and they would help to create a stronger joint.
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- Mark used the router once again to cut all of the dados.
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