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Entertainment and Computer Center

Project by Todd A. Clippinger posted 993 days ago 2515 views 13 times favorited 24 comments Add to Favorites Watch

This is an entertainment center that I designed and built. It is huge – 9’ high x 16’ wide.It is constructed of curly maple, curly maple plywood, and cherry.

The upper opening is 5’2” high x 7’wide. The lower section is 32” high x 7’ wide. The third photo really shows the size of the unit with me standing in front of it. The top houses the t.v. and entertainment electronics. The bottom houses the wireless based computer system.

The cabinet interior is lighted by a touch activated light system that throws light against the back of the acrylic shoji panels. The side display cases have lighting tucked behind the face frame that is touch activated as well.

This unit sits across the great room from the dining area where the chandeliers hang. The doors carry the same design as the chandeliers and really tie the space together, even though they are different woods and overall designs. That blows all ideas that everything in the house has to be the of the same wood.

Because of the unit’s large size, I cascaded the design. Everything flows and steps in three’s. Maple, cherry, maple. Center, bookcase 1, bookcase 2. Notice that all the corners are rounded in the case construction.

This was no small undertaking and incredibly challenging. The doors bifold and slide in. A lot can go wrong covering a space like that. It is like a bullet leaving a rifle; the farther it travels from the gun, the farther off target it gets.

The stock for the doors was entirely unstable so I ripped the material down, glued up the strips and used curly maple veneer to make the rails and stiles. (I have a vacuum press.)

I used floating tenon joinery on the doors with locking pins inserted from the back side of the doors.

As the cherry has darkened, it has created an incredibly dramatic contrast to the curly maple. The maple is just so rich with curly figure. The tools that made this project possible were my new 8” spiral head jointer from Grizzly and the dual headed drum sander. It was not even possible to plane this material. The spiral head cutter on the jointer produced no tear out. Many, many, many light passes had to be taken with the router to do profiles.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com


24 comments so far

View Larry's profile

Larry

194 posts in 1109 days


posted 993 days ago

WOW - that is big – very nice – the design is very pleasing and well balanced. You did a great job.
Larry

-- "Have you hugged your pet today?" ---------- Larry

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

14171 posts in 1059 days


posted 993 days ago

oooooooh mmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyy goodness .

amazing.

now.. it looks to me like someone has already started filling the shelves while it is still being built… Oh yah.. definitely have to do that!!

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View Roger Strautman's profile

Roger Strautman

534 posts in 1032 days


posted 993 days ago

Yes Todd, you are so very right about having to be more or less perfect with plumb and level. This was a very challenging but rewarding project wasn’t it? Thanks for sharing.

-- " All Things At First Appear Difficult"

View Don's profile

Don

2590 posts in 1075 days


posted 993 days ago

Just terrific, Todd!

It’s obvious that money was not the issue in this project. How did you find such a fantastic commission?

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

View Don's profile

Don

2590 posts in 1075 days


posted 993 days ago

Just terrific, Todd!

It’s obvious that money was not the issue in this project. How did you find such a fantastic commission?

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

View oscorner's profile

oscorner

4572 posts in 1209 days


posted 993 days ago

Great looking design. You must be very proud of your accomplishment and vision of this piece.

-- Jesus is Lord!

View gbear's profile

gbear

104 posts in 997 days


posted 992 days ago

I am totally impressed Todd. Great job and obviously no easy undertaking. A true piece of art.

-- gbear, Carmichael, CA

View Karson's profile

Karson

25806 posts in 1298 days


posted 992 days ago

Todd they are beautiful. I can feel for you having to work with unstable wood and then overcoming it into a showpiece.

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

View Duane Kohles's profile

Duane Kohles

36 posts in 1198 days


posted 991 days ago

Very, very nice. Your attention to detail and execution are evident. Congratulations on such a monument.

-- Duane Kohles

View fred's profile

fred

257 posts in 996 days


posted 991 days ago

Todd, you are the man. That is absolutely gorgeous.

-- Fred Childs, Pasadena, CA - - - Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

View Dick, & Barb Cain's profile

Dick, & Barb Cain

7044 posts in 1197 days


posted 971 days ago

Beautiful work !!
For a massive piece it still looks kind of dainty.
It’s just what that wall needed.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

View Bill's profile

Bill

2561 posts in 1059 days


posted 971 days ago

Wow..an amazing piece! Where did you find someone willing to purchase that? I just can not imagine how many hours went into something like that.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

View Todd A. Clippinger's profile

Todd A. Clippinger

5653 posts in 997 days


posted 971 days ago

This was an incredibly technical piece, I worked on it over a span of six months. But the truth is that I was also working on other projects in the house at the same time. I had a lot of glue-ups to do and would bounce between projects. I also started it, and had to go home to Montana at one point for a couple of months. Sometimes you just need to be home for a while.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

View IowaWoodcrafter's profile

IowaWoodcrafter

256 posts in 974 days


posted 910 days ago

That is absolutely gorgeous!

-- Owen Johnson - aka IowaWoodcrafter

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

3427 posts in 962 days


posted 906 days ago

More top flight artistry Todd. Thanks for sharing. I am planning a much smaller and more modest piece for my home and wanted to use a portion of shoji paneling, but my wife shot that down due to concerns about durability. Could you tell us more about the acrylic material?

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View mot's profile

mot

4903 posts in 934 days


posted 906 days ago

Wow! I’m glad I stumbled into this one! Great piece!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View Sonny's profile

Sonny

123 posts in 751 days


posted 739 days ago

very nice and sharp…......excellent craftsmanship and design

View miles125's profile

miles125

1441 posts in 904 days


posted 732 days ago

You outdid yourself on this one Todd…Greaaattt looking cabinetry!

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

View JoeHeskett's profile

JoeHeskett

23 posts in 821 days


posted 697 days ago

Very nice work Todd.

-- Joe Heskett---Illinois

View Blake's profile

Blake

2763 posts in 772 days


posted 695 days ago

wow…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...wow.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9537 posts in 886 days


posted 686 days ago

Excellent work! What else can I say!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

View Joel Tille's profile

Joel Tille

214 posts in 1142 days


posted 686 days ago

Just watched your interview and looked through your projects. This is awsome!!

The photo of the cabinet by itself doesn’t truely give you the feel for the size until your last picture when you are standing next to it.

Thanks for sharing.

-- Joel Tille

View kolwdwrkr's profile

kolwdwrkr

2252 posts in 488 days


posted 67 days ago

awesome. What a great design. I also saw the close up posting of the details in the base mould. Everything is great on this one.

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

View a1Jim's profile

a1Jim

17022 posts in 475 days


posted 67 days ago

I guess I missed this , a fine entertainment center and cool design plus great build.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

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