# Walnut Entertainment Center



## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

*A Plan and a Beginning*










This is my plan for a media center that is a more-or-less match for the Walnut Coffee Table I completed a couple of months ago. The dimensions are about 24×58-3/4×20 3/4.

A couple of points of interest in the design. The drawers on the bottom are sized to hold about 180 DVDs all together. The back panels will be removable and the shelves will have cutouts in the back to make hooking up cabling easier, and the drawers will stop a couple inches short of the back to allow for a recess at the bottom for cable routing.

You might also see that there is a compartment in the center behind the thin middle shelf. First, these middle shelves will hold a couple rows of Blu-Ray disks if I figured everything out correctly. Then, the shelf and panel behind the shelf will be removable to allow access to a battery operated backup power unit which supplies power to the TV and satellite receiver during our occasional short power outages, and also surge protection to other home theater items.

The plan is to be able to easily slide this unit out, make whatever connections need to be made, then slide this almost all the way against the wall with all the wiring hidden, and also have easy access to the power unit if necessary. I have already made a large wooden channel which will hide the wires as they come down from the wall to the area behind this center, so the plan is a nice, neat look for our all new home theater area.

As for construction, I have already cut many of the pieces of lumber that I will need to glue up to make the shelves and panels. Unlike the coffee table, there won't be any floating panels in this unit, so I will have to be doing a lot of panel glue ups soon.

The plan right now is to finish up the rough lumber cutting and start getting some planing done this week. Since we have already gotten rid of our old Sauder entertainment center and are temporarily using the coffee table for the home theater equipment, this is one project I really can't wait to finish. So, if my job and life in general will allow it, I hope to be reporting back soon with a progress report.


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## StumpyNubs (Sep 25, 2010)

Lifesaver2000 said:


> *A Plan and a Beginning*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Can't wait to see the finished project!

Thanks for posting!
-Jim, aka "Stumpy Nubs" 
Latest episode of Blue Collar Woodworking is now online!


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## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

*Progress Report - We Have Panels!*

Since it has been over three weeks since my post kicking off this project, it is time for an update.

I have been able to spend quite a bit of time on this project but until two days ago it was all spent in lumber preparation. Digging through my pile, selecting the best pieces and cutting to rough dimensions takes a lot of work when starting with rough cut lumber. With a good selection of boards on hand, I then started the process of flattening one side with my hand planes then running the boards through the planer to get them close to the final dimensions. I then left them stacked for a while before planing down to the final thickness.

Over the past couple of days I managed to get the four vertical panels glued up, and also the main shelf. On my next chance to work I hope to get the top glued together and get started on gluing up the floating shelves, then perhaps even get the chance to get it all sanded down and ready for some dadoes and notches.

After all the tedium of getting the rough lumber close to something usable, it was nice to finally see something start to take shape, even if it is only big flat chunks of wood! I am hoping that within a couple of weeks these chunks will start being assembled into an actual piece of furniture.

I am particularly looking forward to getting this project done because the temporary look in our living room, with the a/v components on the coffee table, is starting to wear on me. So now that things are starting to come together, I should have more to report back soon, perhaps even with some pictures.


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## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

*Assembly Almost Complete*

It has been a month now since my last post. I have been spending most of my spare time working on this console, and haven't really had any computer time except at work. I have taken a few pictures here and there, but it seems that every time I want to photograph my progress the camera batteries are dead. As soon as I get my computer and camera together I will post the pics, but for now just going to give an update.

Although I am not as far along as I would like to be, I can see the end in sight. In my last blog entry, I had about half of the panels glued up and ready. Now, I have completed all the panels and made it through to having the main structure nearly completed. The past few days involved completing the glued up legs and getting them attached to the structure. (I did manage to get some photos of this process which I will post when I can get the downloaded from the camera.)

The top is also ready, with only final sanding needed before being ready for finish.

Although I have several things outside the shop to get done over the next week, I am hoping to get the drawers made and get the shop cleaned up and ready so the finishing process can begin the following week. I will try to get the camera batteries charged up (these photos are the only thing this camera gets used for so it only has some old worn out rechargeable batteries) and get some photos from the final assembly process.


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## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

*Update with Nine New Photos*

Believe it or not, I finally have some pics to show of my progress. If all goes according to plan, the only thing left to do when this week is over will be the finishing work. So, here we go….










This first image was taken a few weeks back, when I had completed gluing up all the panels. There are the top, the main shelf, four adjustable shelves, both ends and the middle dividers in this photo. Starting with just rough sawn lumber, it seemed like it took forever to get to this point. I suppose things would have gone faster if I had a power jointer instead of just a few antique hand planes, but at least I got a good workout.



















Next are front and rear views after the first round of assembly. The main shelf is glued into dadoes on the end panels, then the center dividers are glued into stopped dadoes. The space between the center dividers will be where the battery backup power supply will be located.

Next up I have a few pictures of the process I use to make the front legs.










This picture shows the two pieces of the leg. Each has one edge cut at a 45 degree angle. The notches in the right hand piece are to fit over the main shelf and lower horizontal brace.










Once the two pieces are ready, I ran some sandpaper over the 45 degree edge just enough to blunt it, then the pieces are clamped down and together.










Here you can see the two pieces firmly taped together. The blunting of the edge ensures that when they are folded together, they will be good and tight.

Unfortunately, my camera batteries decided to die at this point on this day. But, all that was left was spreading some glue, folding the two pieces together and applying tape to hold it tightly together. Once it was good and dry, I ran a 1/4 inch round over bit along the outside corner, and the seam pretty much disappeared.










And here it is with all four legs attached. A couple of other things to note, is that the sides extend up about 1/4 inch more than the legs, to fit into a dado in the top. Since the grain on all the panels runs the same direction, the top will be solidly glued to the sides. Also in this photo you can see the frame that will support the removable power center door.










This image from the rear shows the holes for the adjustable shelves. I think you can also make out the recessed area at the rear of each side of the main shelf. There are also recesses on each adjustable shelf, and there will be space at the rear of the drawers to allow the wiring to drop down. The back of the drawer section will be open, but there will be a plywood back behind the shelf area. These recesses will allow the cables to exit without making holes in the plywood back.










And finally, here is a sneak peak at what the final product will look like. The top is dry fitted into place, the door for the power center area is sitting in place, and I have temporarily clamped the drawer fronts into place.

Today I also managed to get the shop back into order. Tomorrow should see me making the drawer boxes and getting the rear plywood pieces ready.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Lifesaver2000 said:


> *Update with Nine New Photos*
> 
> Believe it or not, I finally have some pics to show of my progress. If all goes according to plan, the only thing left to do when this week is over will be the finishing work. So, here we go….
> 
> ...


Looks good!


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## Gshepherd (May 16, 2012)

Lifesaver2000 said:


> *Update with Nine New Photos*
> 
> Believe it or not, I finally have some pics to show of my progress. If all goes according to plan, the only thing left to do when this week is over will be the finishing work. So, here we go….
> 
> ...


Nice, curious will you have electronics on this?


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## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

Lifesaver2000 said:


> *Update with Nine New Photos*
> 
> Believe it or not, I finally have some pics to show of my progress. If all goes according to plan, the only thing left to do when this week is over will be the finishing work. So, here we go….
> 
> ...


This will house our satellite receiver, surround receiver, DVD and Blu-ray players and that type of thing.

When I was talking about the recesses in the backs of the shelves I probably should have mentioned that this is intended to provide some air flow also. That probably isn't necessary (my older commercially made entertainment center only allowed for air flow at the front of the openings) but I like to keep these kinds of things cool.


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## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

*Project Complete*

Construction and finishing has been completed since my last blog post. For the two drawers, I built boxes out of half-inch baltic birch plywood with quarter-inch baltic birch bottoms. For the plywood backs, I used quarter inch oak plywood which I later stained with dark walnut stain. I would have prefered actual walnut plywood but I don't know of anywhere within a hundred miles that sells it, and under normal use I don't think this will be visible anyway, once all the electronics are in place. (shhh, don't tell Steve Jobs.)

After a lot of sanding, the next step was application of the black walnut Watco Danish Oil. I simply followed the directions on the can, then let the project sit a week to cure (even though it only states three days on the can). Meanwhile, I sprayed several light coats of shellac onto the drawer boxes as a sealer, and after the final coat sanded that down to a nice smooth finish.

Next up was HVLP spraying with the same Sherwin Williams water based polyurethane I have used on my last couple of projects. This goes on easily and is very forgiving (just what I need). After just a few hours of dry time, the top was attached to the main body, and the drawer fronts were attached to the drawer boxes. The next day, I was able to finish installing the full-extension drawer slides, install the magnetic catch on the center door and install the back panels. These are installed with threaded inserts and thumb screws so they can be easily removed for access to the connections of my electronics.

As soon as I finish this post, I plan to post this to the projects section and I will put a link here in the comments.

I do wish I was better at documenting and photographing my work. I hope someone might get a little bit of useful information or inspiration here, and if anyone has any questions about any aspect of this project, please post and I will answer as soon as I can.


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## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

Lifesaver2000 said:


> *Project Complete*
> 
> Construction and finishing has been completed since my last blog post. For the two drawers, I built boxes out of half-inch baltic birch plywood with quarter-inch baltic birch bottoms. For the plywood backs, I used quarter inch oak plywood which I later stained with dark walnut stain. I would have prefered actual walnut plywood but I don't know of anywhere within a hundred miles that sells it, and under normal use I don't think this will be visible anyway, once all the electronics are in place. (shhh, don't tell Steve Jobs.)
> 
> ...


Project is posted here:

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/67378


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