# TV Stand in Ash and Walnut



## Adam (10 Jan 2005)

I decided it was time to replace the TV Stand, as it's a black chipboard monstrosity.

I started with a pile of ash. Some part machined, but mainly rough sawn.







Sadly, some of it was too wide to make it through the planer, so I ripped it down on the table saw.






Looking a lot better! I've planed and thicknessed the lot.






You start a single job, and it triggers a rash of others. Here's me finding I've filled the extractor bag with chips. :roll: 






Next it's giving the edges a quick swipe with the jointer.






Nice curly shavings!






Some of it has a really nice grain - so I'm sorting through to get the optimum pieces on show....






Next up, I'm routing a profile on the end pieces...






Bit easier to see here:






Next job was biscuit jointing the panels. I've done another project since, and I've finally decided to skip this stage on panels like this. The glue is strong enough without the biscuits.






All the pieces ready to go. 






Time to glue up next.






A glued end piece.






Clamping the top, bottom and shelf. You always need more clamps!






A rare outing for the smoother. Normally, I'd use the jointer.






Suffering a little from tearout, I switched to the scraper when neccasary.






Even the card scrapers got some use!






Better than the gym this - that many shavings is a real workout!






For the next stage, I found I needed to clamp the top and sides at 90 degrees. Not being able to think of a better solution, I trimmed 2 pieces of MDF, drilled holes, and used them as a reference edge. It worked really well.






I'd already decided I'd have a go with Miller dowels - so had ordered some Walnut ones, to add some nice contrast with the "whiteness" of the ash. I found the Miller drill bit was only really successfull when used with a handheld drill - using it with a bench drill just didn't seem to work.

I also found you need to vacuum the holes well, after drilling.






OK, the picture is a little staged, but in they go...






In use, I found you needed to clamp the pieces as you knocked the dowels in, as they had a tendency to seperate slightly. 






When belting the dowels in with a mallet, remember not to leave you fingers in the way. This hurt for days after.






Two sides on, and wishing I'd made 4 of those MDF guides.






All square and dowelled.






Japanese saws seem ideal for trimming the excess...






Leaving not a bad finish straight from the saw...






Final finish with the block plane.






No idea why, but I added the profile to the top after it was glued up? Lack of a plan I imagine.






Not difficult though, using a bearing guided cutter. (I bought a "cheap" £20 set of 10 cutters about 6 years ago, and, other than my woodrat cutters, have yet to find fault with them, and they have all been well used.)






I've started adding a bit of Danish oil to the dowels, even though I'm not ready to finish the top yet, as it seals the end grain of the dowel 






Checking the position of the shelf, so I can stand a video underneath and a DVD in the top. 






I'm finishing the inside before I mount the shelf, as it'll be too difficult afterwards.






I've decided to mount it on wheels, as I'm always fiddling around with the scart connectors etc.






I've decided on a Walnut base, to cover the wheels. I'm using offcuts so I hope this piece has a nice figure/colour, as I don't have much else long enough! This piece is ready to flattening.






Walnut is a lovely wood to work, it's soft and easy to plane.






I'm using walnut offcuts, so I'm resawing this on my little bandsaw. It's about 2.5 inches deep, but taking it slowly the little saw just about coped!






I don't have enough piece long enough, so I've opted to join two together on the back. Selecting the best two from 3!






Time to sand! You can see the dowels have been pre-oiled much clearer in the picture.






Main unit, prior to finishing..






What a difference a coat of oil makes!






A close up on those dowels!






I'm biscuit jointing the base together.






Then routing a similar profile to the top and sides..






Next is to double check the placement of the wheels, so they have space to spin.






Finaly placement check!






Biscuiting the base....






Whilst cutting the matching joints on the main unit - DISASTER - I wasn't paying attention and cut right through the end. B******s. After umming and ahhing for a while about cutting out a bit and replacing it. I decided to carry on anyway - it's just be a feature to remind me to double check before plunging the cutter.






And another picture. It's upside down so it'll be on the base when I spin it over. I'm hoping it just won't be too obvious after a coat of oil.






All clamps on deck!






Almost finished - just need to oil the walnut around the base....






And again....






A quick coating of wax back in the house...






And into position it goes...






Phew, another project completed.


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## Vormulac (10 Jan 2005)

Wow! Very nice! And nice to see such a thorough walk through of the project, gives those of us that are less accomplished some very useful information! 

Well done indeed!

V.


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## Hans (10 Jan 2005)

Adam,

a great job. 

Having seen a picture of your shop I wouldn't believe there would be room to build a cabinet like this. 

Hans


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## Chris Knight (10 Jan 2005)

Adam,

That is a nice looking stand and a very good series of pix. It has almost shamed me into designing a new stand to accomodate the new TV and its gubbins that we recently acquired.


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## Philly (10 Jan 2005)

Lovely Job Adam!
Just as an aside-did you consider putting a crossmember in to prevent racking? or were the dowels strong enough?
Looks real nice though. Even though you got the sander out after handplaning it! :lol: Just joking  
cheers
Philly  
P.s. what was the other project you mentioned?


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## Anonymous (10 Jan 2005)

Lovely job Adam. I really like to see these walk through projects, very interesting seeing other peoples work :wink: 

I was wondering about the top picture, is some of the stock bowed or is this just an artifact of the camera?

I am now inspired to make something similar to replace the horrible black stand that our TV came with!


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## Gill (10 Jan 2005)

What a nice project, and something to remind SWMBO how useful your woodwork activities are every time she sits down to watch Corrie  .

Gill


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## Neil (10 Jan 2005)

Very nice, and a great write-up, Adam - worth the wait on dial-up!

NeilCFD


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## Adam (10 Jan 2005)

Philly":2p2la2w8 said:


> P.s. what was the other project you mentioned?



Did I mention one? I've finished numerous projects through the year, just never quite get round to writing them up. That's only a selection of photos.

Here's one I'll try and write up shortly. A nice little wooden stool in ash with walnut caps!






Thankyou everyone for your kind words.

Adam


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## Newbie_Neil (10 Jan 2005)

Hi Adam

An excellent job, well done.

Thank you for spending the time to take photos at each stage, it really makes such a difference.

Cheers
Neil


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## Woodythepecker (10 Jan 2005)

Adam. very nice work. It was a shame that you had the accident with the biscuit jointer. Have you ever thought that it was payback for showing off your Lamello? :lol: :lol: Well it does not bother me, i am not jealous at all :evil: :evil: :evil: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

I noticed that you have a Tormex, are these worth the money? The reason i ask is i have been thinking about getting one.

Regards

Woody


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## Adam (10 Jan 2005)

Woodythepecker":3hfbsg9p said:


> I noticed that you have a Tormex, are these worth the money? The reason i ask is i have been thinking about getting one. Regards Woody



For me, a resounding yes. I use it for everything, lathe tools, planes, chisels, etc. It's an expensive route to sharpening - by the time you have added on all the other accesories. I like it as I can do use it without to much concentration, and the results are excellent. Many turners think they are too slow for touching up an edge, but I only turn occasionally, so it's not much of an issue for me. I wouldn't be without mine, but it's worth considering other options. Originally bought a cheap Draper model - and found it a complete waste of money. It just didn't work to the the grade of sharpening I wanted - in the end I bit the bullet, bought a Tormek, and gave the Draper away to a mate who does a bit of chippy'ing and was really chuffed with it, despite my lack of confidence in it.

Tormek do a video - it might be worth getting hold of a copy - Martin @ Brimarc is the man to talk to - they are the importers.

Adam


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## Alf (10 Jan 2005)

Crumbs, Adam, you've been busy since the last pic I saw of it. Looks good. I'll draw a veil over how long it took for the pics to download, 'cos I try not to sob in public... :wink: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Pete W (10 Jan 2005)

Very impressive - the project, and the write-up .

Any further thoughts/tips on the Miller Dowel system; I bought one a while ago and haven't got around to using it yet. What particularly was the issue with the drill press vs hand-held? I was certainly planning to use it mounted in the drill press!


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## Shadowfax (10 Jan 2005)

Very nice Adam and I did like your walk-through review very much.
Thanks for taking the time to set it all up.

SF


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## DaveL (10 Jan 2005)

Adam,

Just the job.  I love seeing what and how other people are making, thanks for taking and post the pictures. 8)


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## Adam (11 Jan 2005)

Pete W":jbw70cjb said:


> Any further thoughts/tips on the Miller Dowel system; I bought one a while ago and haven't got around to using it yet. What particularly was the issue with the drill press vs hand-held? I was certainly planning to use it mounted in the drill press!



It just didn't seem to work! I can't really describe but someone else here (ALF maybe? - can't remember) suggested using it in a power drill - and having completed a test piece prior to the project I'm inclned to agree. It seemed to be any wobble in your workpiece relative to a drill press caused the error to be unusually magnified in the "slopiness" of the dowel, giving a slightly oversize hole at the top, but no such issues were present when using it handheld - which is something I can't rally explain - but it worked for me  

Hope that helps. I'd definately reccomend a test piece trial first, and also clamping it up after you've bashed the last dowel in.

Adam


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## Alf (11 Jan 2005)

Wasn't me, I don't think. Funnily enough I haven't tried it in the drill press 'cos I was doing them slightly "dovetailed" if you get what I mean. I gave up trying with the cordless though, and used the old metal-bodied B&D; that's quiet a lot of hole you have to make with the big sized bit. :shock: And I'm very glad Adam and someone else (who is this mystery helper we can't remember?) laid stress on clamping everything firmly before drilling the holes or I'd have been in a pickle. I really ought to have another go with it, but the larger size BriMarc kindly gave me doesn't really lend itself to the size of stock I generally find myself using.  

Cheers, Alf


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## Anonymous (11 Jan 2005)

Adam

A lovely piece of work and a brilliant post. The TV lets the cabinet down though, time for a nice new LCD one I think.

Well done,

Roy


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## Pete W (11 Jan 2005)

Alf":3fq0h9np said:


> that's quite a lot of hole you have to make with the big sized bit. :shock: And I'm very glad Adam and someone else (who is this mystery helper we can't remember?) laid stress on clamping everything firmly before drilling the holes or I'd have been in a pickle.



Thanks to you both for the info. I bought the smallest size, which might help with the drilling problem since it's not nearly such a large bit; I was (am) thinking about using them as an exposed joint in box-making and other small stuff.

The clamping thing I'm sure I read somewhere before I bought the kit; I remember thinking that clamping *before* the glue-up might have some advantages for a ten-thumbed craftsman like me


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## Adam (11 Jan 2005)

Pete W":1z7v8x92 said:


> I bought the smallest size, which might help with the drilling problem since it's not nearly such a large bit; I was (am) thinking about using them as an exposed joint in box-making and other small stuff.



I think the small version would have got more use from me, if I'd opted for that instead. This is the first piece I have made large enough to really justify their size. I may invest in a smaller set if and when I feel rich enough. 

The alternative to clamps would be to screw it together with just a couple of screws on each major "edge", drill all the remaining dowels positions inbetween and glue them in along that edge, leave overnight, then remove the screws, drill the now visible screw holes and replace with dowels. That would require a lot less clamps!

Adam


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## tim (11 Jan 2005)

Adam

This looks great and thanks for all the pics - took a long time to load but worth it.

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling disappointed that you haven't stained it black like we all know TV stands should be! :wink: 

Cheers

Tim


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## Alf (12 Jan 2005)

Adam":2e2o6a9x said:


> I think the small version would have got more use from me, if I'd opted for that instead.


Ditto. I think I might be less critical of the finish too, if it was a darn sight smaller :lol: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Newbie_Neil (12 Jan 2005)

Hi Adam

When I bought mine from Brimarc at Stoneleigh, Martin said that the middle size was the most popular.

Cheers
Neil


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## dedee (12 Jan 2005)

Adam,

Very nice. 

Do you think the Miller dowels will expand/contract at a different rate to the surrounding wood? I have used ramin dowels on oak on a number of pieces before and they have all raised slightly. I look at this as a feature rather than problem though. 
I seem to remember Ercol producing furniture some years ago with exposed dowels that were finished to a very flat pyramid shape thereby hiding any possible future expansion.

Andy


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## Nigel (12 Jan 2005)

Hi Adam 
can I add my appreciation of your work and thanks for the trouble you have gone to so we can see the full build, it is just what novice like me needs for inspiration, BTW is that a double exposure on the castor or was it spinning when the picture was taken, great effect

Thanks Nigel


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## Adam (12 Jan 2005)

Nigel":2g3kc1wf said:


> BTW is that a double exposure on the castor or was it spinning when the picture was taken, great effect
> Thanks Nigel



<insert geek answer here>Neither! I took it on a digital camera, stood on a tripod. I switched out the flourescent light immediately above it, leaving only the two pairs shining furthest away. (making the workshop much darker) I used a delay timer to trigger the exposure and then played with exposure/apeture times to get a resonable brightness. I found I needed 8 seconds at F7.9

During that time, I was able to just turn it round with my finger, without it appearing on the image, as the top is overexposed and washed out. I had to be pretty quick though!

I wondered if I was wasting my time, but it was good practice using the camera in fully manual mode, and someone noticing is a double bonus . I'd be inclined to use this "double exposure" effect in the future - now I've mastered it. I realise you could probably do it easier on a PC by merging two images - but where's the fun in that :shock: 

Adam


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