My cousin is in the process of moving, and needed an entertainment center for his new place. He had some 3/4” birch ply left over from another project, so he asked if I could help him build a simple entertainment center for a flat-panel tv, DVD, and stereo. I said, “Sure, why not?” The deal I made him was I build the unit, and he paints it.

It took about one and a half sheets of 3/4” birch plywood, a few lengths of 1×3/4 birch trim, a few lengths of 3/4” half round trim, and a 4×4 sheet of 1/8” hardboard. It’s simple dado construction—not fancy, but definitely strong enough to do the job. I borrowed an idea from Marc Spagnuolo’s low entertainment center and recessed the back 4” to mount a power strip and hide the cables and power cords. I edge banded the top with the birch trim and softened it with a 1/2” roundover bit. I did get to use my new T&G router bit combo for that, and it worked pretty well. The build portion took a couple of weekends, but I was taking my time, too. A more confident woodworker pressed for time could’ve knocked it out in one weekend, I’m sure.

The finish is plain old rattle can satin black, buffed with a little 0000 steel wool and a coat or two of paste wax. It could’ve been nicer, but he’s happy with it. :o)

Over the summer, I’ve been working on refreshing the vanity in our guest bathroom. It’s a custom built unit, about 33 years old, with severely outdated style, worn out hardware, and water damage.

I stripped the cabinet down to original wood and covered the carcass with pressure sensitive walnut veneer from Rockler. I then built brand new drawers and cabinet doors. The drawer fronts and cabinet doors are 1/2” oak ply, again with walnut veneer. The drawer boxes are poplar with lock-rabbet joinery. I custom-made the trim for the doors and drawer fronts on my router table from solid walnut stock.

I used full-extension drawer glides and blum hinges for the cabinet doors. My wife found the pulls on ebay.

I stained the whole thing with Minwax Dark Walnut stain/finish, then topped it with three coats of Minwax satin finish poly. It was my first “finished wood” project, and taking that into consideration I’m pretty happy with it. I learned a lot that I’ll be using for future projects, though.