No frills entertainment center

My cousin is in the process of moving, and needed an entertainment center for his new place. He had some 3/4” birch ply left over from another project, so he asked if I could help him build a simple entertainment center for a flat-panel tv, DVD, and stereo. I said, “Sure, why not?” The deal I made him was I build the unit, and he paints it.

It took about one and a half sheets of 3/4” birch plywood, a few lengths of 1×3/4 birch trim, a few lengths of 3/4” half round trim, and a 4×4 sheet of 1/8” hardboard. It’s simple dado construction—not fancy, but definitely strong enough to do the job. I borrowed an idea from Marc Spagnuolo’s low entertainment center and recessed the back 4” to mount a power strip and hide the cables and power cords. I edge banded the top with the birch trim and softened it with a 1/2” roundover bit. I did get to use my new T&G router bit combo for that, and it worked pretty well. The build portion took a couple of weekends, but I was taking my time, too. A more confident woodworker pressed for time could’ve knocked it out in one weekend, I’m sure.

The finish is plain old rattle can satin black, buffed with a little 0000 steel wool and a coat or two of paste wax. It could’ve been nicer, but he’s happy with it.

 

nice work, homes. you've turned out to be quite the craftsman.

 

Thank you, sir!

 

Very nice.

Thanks for the post. You've given me some ideas. I never would've thought to use steel wool and wax over/with paint; probably would've just used a gloss paint. What you did looks much classier.

 

Actually, the steel wool/wax idea wasn't mine, it was my cousin's. I wouldn't have gone that route. For quality of finish and durability, I definitely would've gone with a coat or two of satin black and several coats of clear over it. Maybe even water-based polyurethane.

 

What charming phrase