Needed: Plan review

[revchris]

I've been asked to build a TV stand and a matching pair of speaker stands by a friend of mine.

Here is a PDF of the plan (note: the plan is drawn on 8.5'x11' paper so that I don't have to figure out how to get Coreldraw to scale the distance markers).

The basic plan is a 2x2 oak skeletal frame with 3/4" oak veneer plywood banded with iron-on veneer. The TV stand also has three slide-out component trays, each mounted on two center-mount-style drawer slides. While I was drawing the plans, I also added the diagonal braces on everything, because I decided it would be a shame to have it collapse.

Does anyone see anything that they'd recommend changing? So far, the only thing I think it's missing is a cable port or two (to get wiring up to the TV through the table top). Simple solutions would include punching a standard cord grommet or two through the top, or putting a scallop or two along the back edge.

I need to provide an estimate by Tuesday. As is, I'm looking at $300 for materials, and I haven't decided on labor charges yet.

Comments

[therealattentiv.livejournal.com]

Is there a reason for this particular frame design? How do you intend to fasten the joints?

If the runners only serve a purpose when sliding it around, I'd recommend not using runners. For the few times it would be slid around I'd build a couple of smallish quicky pine skis for them to slide it around on (i.e. lift one end and slide the ski in, then lift the other end and slide the ski in. Slide the thing around and remove the skis. The runners may make it harder to get and keep the unit level.

The strongest design and easiest to brace to avoid racking is to have the top resting on the top of the legs and have the legs run straight through to the ground. In this design you have four joints between the top and the ground instead of one. Each of those joints is a 2x2 joint that is subject to racking/twisting concerns.

[therealattentiv.livejournal.com]

It's been my experience that some vents at the bottom and top of the back panel (along with an open front) provide plenty of convection ventilation for even the hottest video and audio equipment. So I don't think it *has* to be a completely open design. An open design means the wires are more visible...

[revchris.livejournal.com]

The frame design is due to it being similar to the table they're currently using, and the fact that they like that design. I've also decided to bring the skis up an inch (so that they only hang an inch below), so that if it gets moved it drags in the carpet less, and depending on how things are going, may skip the end bevels entirely.

Planned joinery is a combination of biscuitry and screws. Combined with the fact that they don't want the screws to show (or any obvious plugs from covering the screws), I'm trying to line things up so that I can put the screws in vertically and tie everything together via the legs, so that the screws are either covered by the top (for the screws that attach the top frame to the legs) or up from the bottom. I'm also planning on some screw heads showing on the back so that I have more options for screwing down the bracing.

It's also become a learning project, as Janet wants to help with the construction so that she can learn more of how it all goes together.

[therealattentiv.livejournal.com]

I had this sneaking suspicion that there was a reason it was designed that way ("to match existing furniture" was tops on the list). Then the only thing I'd recommend is learning from the existing furniture to see what was done to stabilize and strengthen it.

You might check into pocket screws. You could pretty easily get 2 side-by-side in a 2 inch space and they'd be on hidden sides of the joints. I'd recommend using gorilla glue since it has much stronger holding characteristics. I'd also recommend that in place of biscuits you make rectangular oak wedges (3/8" thick x 1.25" high x 2" long) and cut (with a drill, chisel, or (plunge) router) mortises into both parts of the joint. In my experience, biscuits primarily serve to align pieces rather than strengthen them. I try to use slightly larger wedges or splines of the same wood where possible. Make sure to try a couple of samples first to get the sizing right since the gorilla glue expands slightly and you don't want to split the joints.

If you do skip the end bevels I'd still recommend relieving the end a little. You have oak end grain on the end of each of the runners. The end grain can catch and split off (not as bad as cherry or mahogany - but bad enough to worry about). You could just use a router or sander to round over the bottom front/back edges of the runners by 3/8" (slightly less than the depth of average carpet) so it would tend to slide without catching.

Visually, if their existing furniture doesn't have the corner bracing, you could minimize them by making them triangular wedges in the corners instead of full corner braces (with an empty triangular area in the middle of the braced pieces). They would be less visable that way.

And speaking of triangular wedges, that is another way you could strengthen the design and prevent racking. Under the top (and maybe under the bottom shelf) you could add in triangular corner wedges between the corner joints of the horizontal frame pieces.

If you *really* wanted to get weird, you could look into some of the hidden Japanese joinery. You end up with *very* tight joints without any visible signs of support... but that's probably fun for another day. :)