entertainment center

Looks very nice. Great job!

-- If it ain't country, it ain't music!

Very nice! Biscuits work wonders for this type of piece.

Some people get hung up on trying to use the fence to get the biscuits dead center in the workpiece. If you are working with 3/4” ply or 4/4 stock, that is not really necessary. Depending on what you’re making. it can be a lot easier just to clamp the work to a flat surface (even the floor) and use that as your reference against the base plate of the biscuit joiner. That way, you never have to worry about a slight mis-adjustment of the fence throwing your alignment off.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Thanks Charlie for the advice. I have had a mishap with the fence in the past. It slipped once and I cut several biscuits that were not parallel to the face of the lumber resulting in a very lop sided glue up job on a lid to a blanket chest. I will keep your idea in mind on my next biscuit adventure. There was also a lot of plunging without the fence, which made me use auxillary fences from scrap wood and spacers.

-- Don't delay, do it today! If God is your Copilot, switch seats.

Now you have me curious. What do you mean by “plunging”?

One of the major pitfalls is having the machine “walk” slightly during the cut. This is another advantage of using the baseplate rather than the fence: you can exert more downward pressure to keep the machine from moving, without worrying about tilting it as you might if you’re pressing against the frnce.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I guess with a biscuit joiner you are always plunging, but I was referring to cutting the slots with the machine resting on the cutting face (of the biscuit joiner) with the fence removed, rather than the baseplate. Sorry for the confusion.

-- Don't delay, do it today! If God is your Copilot, switch seats.

Great project, nice. I think we have all had trouble with biscuit joiner alignment until plenty of practice and experience teaches us what works best.

-- Ron, Twain Harte, Ca. Portable on site Sawmill Service http://westcoastlands.net/Sawmill.html http://westcoastlands.net/SawBucks2/phpBB3 http://www.portablesawmill.biz/concrete/

Nice project. Cool feet!

Great project. Frank Klausz has a dvd on Biscuit Joinery – Build a bookcase. I bought it a week ago but haven’t watched it yet. It will be interesting to see what kinds of tricks and skills he used to make the entire bookcase with biscuits.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Great looking piece! I bought a biscuit joiner a couple years ago, but after the first project I built with it it’s not seen much daylight. Maybe this is the project that’ll inspire me to bring it out of hiding.

-- JP, Shelbyville, KY

Nice piece of work and something that can always be used. I’ve looked at the pocket doors but haven’t done them yet, are there any issues installing them?

-- Working at Woodworking www.VillageLaneFurniture.com

I ordered my pocket door hardware from woodworkers hardware. Together, they were about $60 for both doors + shipping. I thought that was an okay price instead of traditional non mortise hinges. Besides, being in the corner, nonmortise hinges wouldn’t really work. I used spacers to determine the proper distance to hang them in the cabinet. The plan told me how high and which size spacers to use. The only problem I had was that the doors were not overlay doors, they just recessed in the opening. It was difficult to adjust them to where the spaces around the doors was even. My cabinet opening was a little out of square. I used bullet catches in the tops of the doors and I don’t like them. They had a very stiff spring and it makes shutting the door difficult. However, when it is shut it stays shut. It just takes a little pursuation. As for the feet, I am glad someone mentioned them as they took a lot of time to shape them and they cost a pretty penny. I had to purchase 8/4 lumber which was difficult to find and that size was limited on the supply the lumberyard had. I almost had to buy a lot of 2” lumber that I didn’t need. I owe my brother in law a huge thank you as he dug and found a perfect piece for what I needed.

-- Don't delay, do it today! If God is your Copilot, switch seats.

This looks like a nice addition to the room as it complements your wood flooring. Great piece and I agree about the feet with the earlier comment. What is next on the list? (if your wife is anything like mine you can never complete the list of assigned projects).

By the way its nice to have another Cat fan aboard. Welcome to LJ.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Thanks. I was a little worried regarding the color of the entertainment center and the color of the wood floor we had installed back in the winter. The floor is golden oak. We did have a mantel that is just poly on red or white oak. Of course, it was 10 years old and has turned a darker color over the years. As for future projects, I am planning on building a blanket chest and using it as a coffee table and a toy box. I am also going to make 2 or 3 end tables and they are all going to match the entertainment center legs and the rest of the design. Hopefully, I can get started on the blanket chest soon after christmas. We are expecting our first child at the end of january we everything going to be changing soon. Wildcat fans, we are in for a long season.

-- Don't delay, do it today! If God is your Copilot, switch seats.