building a cabinet for my a/v gear

[Steve_vai_rules]

Hey all;

after a long absence i return. *had some serious health issues that i have been dealing with.. long story... its all good*.. decided to do some fine carpentry projects and am building a cabinet for my a/v gear. currently i have a piece of junk particle board beast from like the 70s.. looks horrible is super wobbly.. just sucks in general.. tonight i worked on doing a finishing sand on the shelves and have done some test painting to see how things will look.. almost ready to do final assembly.. should be done by the end of next week i think..

am gonna post pics in a bit.. just gotta upload them to photobucket..

Matt

[tesseract]

Great to see you in good health once again, Matt. I can see this hasn't taken the edge off you... :fryingpan:

[Steve_vai_rules]

Great to see you in good health once again, Matt. I can see this hasn't taken the edge off you... :fryingpan:

not quite good health.. but better then i was.. a whole heck of a lot better :)

but its all good. :)

annnnnnyways

and no, i am far from edge less... though with all this sanding and mdf dust i may loose a couple of them... :dizzy:

still uploading images.. connection is super slow right now.. :(

Matt

[tesseract]

Yeah, I was just thinking about the MDF dust. Oh well, a lil formaldehyde might do ya some good.

You just made me remember my Pendleton. :rocks:

[Steve_vai_rules]

Current rig:





The braces and some shelves cut and ready to be joined:





decided to invest in some better tools:





The walls and some pieces laid out on various work stands(the 'plans' for the cabinet are sitting on top):





Stack of shelves and braces ready to be joined, wanted to make sure everything was square and true and made sure that each brace was fitted to it's shelf:





One of the 2 main structural shelves after gluing and screwing (i figured with between 200-300lbs of weight being on this unit i thought i would make sure everything is as solid as possible). Top and bottom shelves act as main structural elements (called them primary shelves), secondary shelves keep the structure from twisting and distoring under the load. *note* i will do some tests to make sure that the walls are stable enough to carry the full load, i may add extra vertical support if it's needed.





Primary shelf being glued up *yes there is a lip on the front of this one, its the top shelf, and i want a bit of an overhang, its about a half inch*:





Secondary shelf, i wanted angled cuts on the front because i thought it would be more interesting to look at then just flat braces.. it also means that i dont need to put some kind of flush finish where the braces stick out:





Matt

[Steve_vai_rules]

Yeah, I was just thinking about the MDF dust. Oh well, a lil formaldehyde might do ya some good.

You just made me remember my Pendleton. :rocks:

there's formaldehyde in mdf?

damn.... :(

thats not good....

hmmmm maybe its time to start wearing a mask while i sand, saw, paint, etc. when i work... lol....

Matt

[Steve_vai_rules]

Last of the shelves being glued up:





Rough sanding:





Stack of assembled shelves awaiting sanding





Should have taken pics today but it really doesn't look a whole lot different then what I posted in the last two pics here. Will take some pics tomorrow to show progress if there is any visible.

Matt

[Steve_vai_rules]

i need a new table saw.. was using an ancient one.. that is a little sketchy and scary.. *you could probably see the burn marks on a few of the pieces.. yeah.. old table saw to blame for that*

Also the front brace of the two primary shelves is a 1/2" taller then the other braces (which are 2") because i wanted a larger surface to mount to front plates (decorative pieces).

Matt

[django1]

i need a new table saw.. was using an ancient one.. that is a little sketchy and scary.. *you could probably see the burn marks on a few of the pieces.. yeah.. old table saw to blame for that*

Also the front brace of the two primary shelves is a 1/2" taller then the other braces (which are 2") because i wanted a larger surface to mount to front plates (decorative pieces).

Matt

I thought the motor on my table saw was giving up the ghost. I actually phoned the repair place: $225 for a new motor:mad:. As a stop gap measure I changed the blade: the saw works like new...

What's the finish going to be?

[dvenardos]

Yeah, you are supposed to wear a respirator when cutting mdf. Don't know how bad sanding is...

there's formaldehyde in mdf?

damn.... :(

thats not good....

hmmmm maybe its time to start wearing a mask while i sand, saw, paint, etc. when i work... lol....

Matt

[Steve_vai_rules]

I thought the motor on my table saw was giving up the ghost. I actually phoned the repair place: $225 for a new motor:mad:. As a stop gap measure I changed the blade: the saw works like new...

What's the finish going to be?

a new blade wouldnt do much good in my case.. the thing shakes and the motor makes funny noises and well.. its one of those tools where you feel the need to hide behind 3" thick lexan to operate.. lol

the finish is just a mahogany reddish paint.. i was going to veneer it but i havent done a large veneer project before.. i figured i should do something more intermediate before i do something this complex

Matt

[Steve_vai_rules]

Yeah, you are supposed to wear a respirator when cutting mdf. Don't know how bad sanding is...

well i figure its time to start wearing a mask while i do this so i am about to go do some finish sanding and priming.

but now that i know that mdf isnt the best stuff to breath in.... lol :idea:

Matt

[Mep]

Urea formaldehyde isn't exactly a health tonic and not what you want to be breathing in when you aren't 100% but it isn't exactly going to cause instant death either. I use a dust mask and give extra care to clean up all the dust after cutting. Hand standing may not be all that bad but any kind of power sander will throw the dust all over the place. No matter what wood you are using, you don't want to be taking a large dose of particulates into your lungs.

I've been working on a new entertainment center on and off for the past couple years now. Every time the wood smokes doing a simple cut it is time for a new blade. Can't tell you how many blades I've gone through. If your motor shaft is bent, you'll be hard pressed to get a clean cut, even on MDF. Some places rent tools if need be.

I've done a lot of veneering with my projects. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it and if I were to start another project I wouldn't be trying to find ways to use veneering despite having some incredible results. It isn't cheaper when using good stuff like rosewood and the time it takes to do, well you might as well just buy some nice wood and be done with it. Of course I'd rather be cutting MDF than rosewood so some woods it just makes sense to veneer. Of course it makes sense to just doing something else entirely.

[Steve_vai_rules]

Urea formaldehyde isn't exactly a health tonic and not what you want to be breathing in when you aren't 100% but it isn't exactly going to cause instant death either. I use a dust mask and give extra care to clean up all the dust after cutting. Hand standing may not be all that bad but any kind of power sander will throw the dust all over the place. No matter what wood you are using, you don't want to be taking a large dose of particulates into your lungs.

I've been working on a new entertainment center on and off for the past couple years now. Every time the wood smokes doing a simple cut it is time for a new blade. Can't tell you how many blades I've gone through. If your motor shaft is bent, you'll be hard pressed to get a clean cut, even on MDF. Some places rent tools if need be.

I've done a lot of veneering with my projects. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it and if I were to start another project I wouldn't be trying to find ways to use veneering despite having some incredible results. It isn't cheaper when using good stuff like rosewood and the time it takes to do, well you might as well just buy some nice wood and be done with it. Of course I'd rather be cutting MDF than rosewood so some woods it just makes sense to veneer. Of course it makes sense to just doing something else entirely.

hmmmm well i am glad i have chosen to start using a mask.. i usually did when working with woods but i haven't really worked much with mdf.

and yes i think the 'drive' shaft may be bent.. the motor is also ancient..... the thing is just generally old and needs to be replaced.. and considering i am planning on doing more then a few projects then a new table saw will be in my future.. renting just isn't justifiable.. especially considering that a table saw will make doing stuff around the house a whole lot easier!

i want to do a veneer project because i feel it would be a good skill to have..

i do agree that building with the straight woods is preferable.. although there are woods like quilted maple where building with them isnt necessarily the best idea... (a luthier told me that the various maple derivatives like quilted etc. are actually flawed pieces of woods and when building whole guitar bodies with them is a bad idea as the body is likely to warp and distort and crack because of those defects... he suggested using a solid unflawed wood and veneering over top if i wanted the look of a quilted maple).. And yes at some point i would like to try my hand at building some guitars for myself..

anyways, thanks for the advice and info! ;) very much appreciated... just taking a break from sanding right now.

am about to go and do some more though..

Matt

[Steve_vai_rules]

quick update. finished priming everything.

going to do final assembly sometime in the next couple days. then finish up the painting.

also before i do that, i need to figure out how i am going to attach the castors (got some rubber wheeled castors designed for heavy large tool racks).

things are getting closer to finishing finally.. taken long enough..

will update with pics later today hopefully, not feeling too great so may take it easy.

Matt