I’ve built shelves and other utilitarian things, but I would consider this is my first real furniture project.

My wife saw this stand at Ethan Allen but it was not in our budget at $1000, so I told her I would build one for her. http://www.ethanallen.com/product?productId=1015&categoryId=8019

The size is 57.5” wide by 29.5” high and it was built to hold a 50” plasma TV (100 lbs). Top and Bottom platform is 1/2” red birch ply. The middle shelf, legs, top and bottom platform sides are poplar. It’s hard to tell, but the top and bottom platforms are the same size. I added a piece of wood in the center to hide wires and also to add support for the top platform where the TV will be set. This center support piece is removable as it is held by screws. I made a corbel from poplar scraps to support the center shelf, because I have a hefty center channel speaker (25 lbs) and I didn’t want to risk the center shelf sagging over time.

It took about 6 months of working 1-3 hours on saturday mornings to complete. It was a good experience because I learned quite a few things. All the big cuts and shaping were done by table saw and router. I bought several old handplanes off ebay and learned how to use them for this project. For example, the lip on the top and bottom shelf were done by hand plane and sanded to a bullnose finish (If I had were to do this again, I would go buy a 1/4” bullnose router bit, it took awhile to do by hand). My chisels got a work out also. There are small imperfections here and there, but they aren’t really obvious unless someone really examines it.

I used brown mahogany dye to tint first. Then applied Minwax rosewood water based stain to add a darker and slight reddish/orangish tinge to it. Finished with several coats of Minwax polycrylic.