# Entertainment Center Cabinet



## oldwoodenshoe (Nov 28, 2011)

Here is my latest project that I just completed. 

The top is made from 10/4 red oak perimeter with 3/4 Red Oak veneer plywood joined to the perimeter with MLCS Edge Banding bit set. I bought a 10/4 x 8" x 8' red oak board and ripped it in half. Then using the edge banding bit, formed a v-shaped tongue that extends into a v-grooved slot of the red oak veneer plywood. I then carefully mitered the ends so that everything fit perfectly. I had intentionally adjusted the depths of the edge banding bits so that the framing edges were about .020 to .025 above the veneer surface of the plywood. This was sanded smooth so that you could hardly feel the joint. I then routed a 1/2" wide groove about .020" deep (the exact thickness of the inlay material). The top was then prestained and stained. The .020" slot over the joint was then covered with a 1/2" wide inlay. Staining the red oak before inserting the inlay prevented the stain from touching the inlay. I used four different bits to form the top edge shape.

The corners of the cabinet were all made from 3/4 x 3 read oak boards with a locked miter joint bit set that make them appear to be solid 3" x 3" corner post with lots of milling. The locked miter joint made a seamless fit in the corners (virtually invisible).

The frame on all four sides were made with Kreg pocket screws and then the holes were plugged with red oak plugs and sanded smooth. The panels in the frames (sides and back) were made of 1/2" red oak veneer plywood. The frame had a 1/2" x 3/8" deep channel routed into the edges to contain the veneer plywood panels.

The shelves are made of 3/4" red oak veneer plywood with a solid red oak edge banding that used the MLCS edge banding bit set to attach the solid banding on all four edges of each shelf.

To make the doors, I used a rail and style bit set that is designed for glass doors. The glass is retained from the red oak drop off that matches the pattern on the front. The glass is tinted bronze 1/8" glass. The IR remote works through this glass perfectly.

The shelves are adjustable with holes drilled for shelf supports front and back. Both sides have identical sized shelves. This allows for the shelves to be arranged as 3 on one side with one on the other or two on each side. A 1/4" divider board on the center back shelf support bracket prevents the shelves from sliding sideways and dropping off the shelf supports when shelves are not directly opposite each other on both sides. A 1-1/2 space is left at the rear for wires to go up/down the back of the shelves and stay out of sight.

The wire opening in the top has a 3" hole with a matched Red Oak plug/insert with a small notch for the wires. The plug can be removed to allow big wire connectors to pass through the hole and then replaced to make the hole shrink and look presentable. There is also a 3 inch wire opening in the bottom center of the cabinet to allow wires to enter the cabinet. I also installed a six outlet transient suppressor in the cabinet that limits transients and provides 6- 120 VAC electrical outlets with a single cord for power.

I used Minwax prestain on all surfaces. This prevents the blotching that sometimes occurs on veneer plywood surfaces. Then stained them with Minwax Red Oak stain. I used 3 coats of Minwax polyurethane with a satin finish for the protective coating.

Glenn


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Nice job, like the inlay


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Very nice and then some 

Just a heads up as I have seen overheating issues with electronics in closed cabinets in the past . A fan in the rear drawing air threw the cracks in the doors may help by keeping air moving . Are boss recently had digital breakup on his PVR and found when the glass doors were opened the issue went away .
Goes to show you how sensitive electronics can be in some circumstances. I think Harry may be able to confirm my theory.
Please don't take this as me trying to discredit your work as it's one hell of a job . Wish I had those skills!


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

A very impressive project! Nicely done.


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## BCK (Feb 23, 2014)

very nice...thx for sharing


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

Gaffboat said:


> A very impressive project! Nicely done.


Ditto.

NICE job!

Bill


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## oldwoodenshoe (Nov 28, 2011)

RainMan1 said:


> Very nice and then some
> 
> Just a heads up as I have seen overheating issues with electronics in closed cabinets in the past . A fan in the rear drawing air threw the cracks in the doors may help by keeping air moving . Are boss recently had digital breakup on his PVR and found when the glass doors were opened the issue went away .
> Goes to show you how sensitive electronics can be in some circumstances. I think Harry may be able to confirm my theory.
> Please don't take this as me trying to discredit your work as it's one hell of a job . Wish I had those skills!


RainMan,

No offense taken. It is a good point. As an electronics engineer, I was also concerned about this. I even purchased a small rectangular muffin fan to do exactly that. I decided to wait and see how hot it got in the cabinet before applying a ventilation fan. No sense drawing in dust and making more noise if it is not needed. So far, the ambient cabinet air temp has stayed below 35 degrees C. Commercial Temp components can usually take ambient air temps of 40 degrees C. So it is getting close. I think that the volume of air in the cabinet will be sufficient to not get any hotter. A smaller cabinet with the same components would get much hotter.

Thanks for voicing your concern. I appreciate constructive comments. It makes us all better.

Glenn


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

A very nice job. It takes time but beautiful things can be produced.
Excellent!


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Glenn.

Nice project. Would you mind to show some details about the inlays. I like them.


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## oldwoodenshoe (Nov 28, 2011)

papasombre said:


> Hi, Glenn.
> 
> Nice project. Would you mind to show some details about the inlays. I like them.


The wood inlay was purchased from Rockler and is their part number 18994. It is exactly 1/2" wide. I used a 1/2" wide flat bottomed straight router bit in my plunge router. I bottomed out my router bit on my router table then raised the adjustable stop up and placed a piece of the wood inlay between my adjustable stop rod and the top of my stop turret. Then I lowered my adjustable stop rod until it contacted the wood inlay and locked the adjustable stop rod in place. This process will set your bit depth to be the thickness of the wood inlay.

I then used an edge guide on my router. The depth of the edge guide was not sufficiently deep enough to reach to the bottom of my routed edge contour that I had already formed. So I added an addition 2" board to the inside of the edge guide. This allowed the edge guide attachment to reach low enough to ensure the router could be guided along the routed edge of the panel. I then adjusted the edge guide to align the center of the 1/2" router bit to go over my joint. Then using the plunge router I plunged to the stop and went around the perimeter of the top. I then used a wood chisel to square up the outside corners of the track I then mitered the inlays and laid them into the groove. After fitting the inlay to fully fit the track, I removed them and laid a small amount of glue into the track and spread it out across the width of the track and then laid the wood inlay on top of the wood.

I hope this helps.

Glenn


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Glen , were you upside down when you took these pics?


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## oldwoodenshoe (Nov 28, 2011)

RainMan1 said:


> Glen , were you upside down when you took these pics?


Apparently I was. Actually, I took those pictures with my cell phone. It doesn't have an indication of top or bottom on landscape view. So the ones I took in landscape view turned out to be upside down. I had a 50/50 chance of being right. My guess turned out wrong.

LOL.

Glenn


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## oldwoodenshoe (Nov 28, 2011)

Papasombre,

I forgot to mention on the inlay, that I used a hardwood roller to press the inlay down into the 1/2" wide slot. I rolled it in the direction of the slot, not across the slot. This method pushes the inlay down into the slot without curling the edges. This keeps it nice and flat. If you don't have a hardwood roller, you can use a dowel rod instead. A dowel rod about the width of your hand and about 3/4" or more in diameter will work very well. Just roll your hand with downward pressure on top of the dowel rod to press the inlay into the slot. 

I chose to pre-stain and then stain the oak and veneer top before applying the inlay. This allows you to get a good stain color on the top without getting it on the wood inlay material. After the glue up of the inlay, you can then clean up any remaining glue, let it thoroughly dry and then finish with a polyurethane over both the wood inlay and the top.

Glenn


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Thank you, Glenn for the extensive explanation.

The unique difference is that we don´t have a Rockler representative here.


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## fire65 (Oct 29, 2008)

Very excellent work sir. I love the inlay. Wish you would take pics of the build. I would love to see your tool setup and procedure for all you did there. Thanks for sharing.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Beautiful job Glenn.


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