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Changing Table Build..

8K views 27 replies 12 participants last post by  Airframer 
#1 ·
Getting Started

About a week ago my wife and mother were out thrift store shopping when they came across an old radio cabinet. It was originally marked $195 but was marked down to $50. Add to that a 50% off all furniture sale and this ended up costing us $25 when it was all said and done.

It appears to be an old 1940's - 1950's radio cabinet with radio, speakers and turn table still intact (though the functionality is in question). The wife wants me to covert it into a changing table/dresser type of a piece for the baby room. I said I would see what I could do and it looks like it should be somewhat a simple thing to do. MY only request was that I be allowed to try to keep it as original looking as possible because it really is a gorgeous piece of furniture.

So here it is. I would really like some suggestions on how to approach this project and also how to clean up old finish. I was thinking a 3M pad soaked in BLO and a lot of scrubbing but other suggestions are very much appreciated.







And a look at the radio which I hope to covert into a guitar amplifier at some point.. lots of yummy american vintage tube goodness in here..





Stay tuned for more… I only have about 4 weeks to get this done before my son arrives.
 
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#4 ·
That is an awesome find for $25! We used a dresser with a standard foam changing pad on the top of it for my daughter. The pad was removed and the dresser is still in her room. May just want to remove the innards and create shelves and drawers inside then just use the pad on top.
Just a thought, look forward to seeing how you do it.

CtL
 
#5 ·
Chris That is the prelimanary plan. Just gut it and create some shelves or spots for drawer baskets to go. I am trying to decide what to do about the panels covering the speakers right now. As you can see from the second pic they are hinged half slats with a beveled edge on the outboard side of them. I could dowel them to create doors but need to figure out how to fill the space where the bevel is. I am thinking I could plane them to a 45 and infill with some wood. I still have a lot of gutting to do before that is all decided though.
 
#6 ·
Now time for something completely different..

OK, so the original plan has hit some bumps and our DR has moved our due date up to this Sunday so we need a changing table and we need one yesterday.

I was at HD this morning picking up a small piece of plywood to fix a glider footstool with and I saw in their bargain bin some "Espresso" particle board shelves which are the same color as our crib and this gave me some ideas. I grabbed 5 of those and some culled lumber and today it will somehow become a changing table that will hold us over till the radio cabinet conversion is finished.

So here is what I have to work with plus a few cut offs from my work in progress workbench build… lets see what we can build from this… Total spent on lumber.. $30.







Any ideas? This has to get done in the next couple of days..
 
#15 ·
Coming along now..

I made a lot of progress yesterday. I was able to finish up both side panels and today after work I got started on the top and planning out the stretchers. It turns out I may not need to use any of the twoby materials I bought with the shelves due to the large amount of miscuts from the bench build.

I also wanted to address the comments about never using the changing table for changing diapers. I know this… you know this but I have a 9 month pregnant wife who is going to be induced a week and a half early who is really upset about the lack of furniture for the baby in his room. So if she wants a diaper station.. I can try and build one. We haven't had a shower for the baby because we are located on a Navy base in the PNW and all of our family lives in Texas. They are too cheap to fly out and see us or even get anything from the registry so everything we have for him we have had to buy ourselves and money is tight. This is the least I can do for her.

Now back to the build.

The sides are my first time cutting joinery like this but I am having fun and learning things along the way. I just cut a dado and chiseled it out to fit the side stretchers in. Glued them in and doweled them. Pretty sure the dowels are over kill but I want it to be a bit more sturdy than the crap from Wallyworld.

Still pretty much making it up as I go along but I think I can get this at least ready to have some finish applied by tonight or early tomorrow after work. I basically have the rest of today, half of tomorrow and all of Saturday to finish so it's basically a flurry of sawdust in the shop right now lol.

Here are todays batch of pics…







 
#16 ·
great job Eric. I jut wish you'd hurry up. I mean, its been 2 days already!!

Just kidding of course. I know its hard enough to keep the wife happy, but at 9 months pregnant, there is nothing but hormones. Hang in there, it'll be all over soon.
 
#23 ·
Nearly There...Plus My First hand cut Mortise and Tenon joints

Trucking right along here. The bulk of tonight's work was trimming the table top and carving out a couple through mortises. I have never done that before and don;t quite know what possessed me to do so but they turned out "OK" for a couple firsts. They are nice and tight but are less than pretty from the viewing side so some wedges will be in order. I do however feel very confident in their holding ability since I had to pound the crap out of the stretcher to get it set into the joint :D

I did lose a chisel in the process.. Not sure if this is normal but I wasn;t doing anything abusive except chiseling out a small mortise through red oak with opposing grain…..



I guess I will be needing a grinder soon.

Also .. Who needs some 50" clamps? This guy.. had to get creative with the end pieces.



Annnd here are the rest of tonight's pics. On deck for tomorrow is the back stretcher with will probably be a lap joint since my chisels are out for the count now. The install the backer board and a couple shelves then a few coats of "Espresso" Poly Shade (the wife wanted that so that's what it gets) so it will match the crib.





 
#28 ·
Done! Kinda...

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd I think it's done. It still needs a coat of wax but other than that it is ready for use once the 3-2-1 dries.

I tried the "Espresso" crap and what a load of poo that was. I told her that I would rather masterbate with a cheese grater than cover this oak with that! And she agreed lol so this is the result.



It's not the best changing table in the world but it's solid and and should last quite a while I hope. Thanks for following along!
 
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