Routers are Amazing

Why did I never learn about routers in shop class?  We used about 10 different kind of saws but they didn't even talk about routers.  It is such a versatile tool and incredibly precise.  I've been using a circular saw to make various cuts but getting a precise cut continues to elude me.  I'm usually off by about 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch.  Trimming with a router on the other hand is much more consistent and exact.  You can also do some pretty cool things with it as long as you have the right bit, and there are an awful lot of bits.  The downside is they can get pretty expensive.

My dad, who has an extensive tool collection, let me borrow his router.  In fact he has let me borrow most of the tools used for this project.  It's really the only reason this project is cost effective.  So big thanks to dad.  Back to the router, since I had never used a router before I decided to read a book (also provided by Dad):

This book was really helpful for a beginner like me. It has a lot of useful information on the proper ways to use a router. The best part of the book I'd say was the projects.  Spielman includes several projects that get you familiar the different things you can do with a router.  The projects, when they're complete, are also really useful.  This included a bookcase, a workbench and a router table:

Simple bookcase

Workbench with detachable router table

Legs joined with mortise and tenon joints

So after reading through this book and using the router I went back to the design and worked in some of the joinery techniques to hopefully make a stronger, more professional looking cabinet.  I'll post some of the updates in the next entry.

Maple does not stain

I went to Home Depot to pick out the type of wood I wanted to use for the cabinet.  Maple caught my eye.  It was one of the few hard woods that I could get in both solid wood and plywood.  I also liked the grain, more subtle then oak.  I grabbed a 1x3 board to start testing out staining.

Plain Maple

The color we want is typically referred to as espresso, it's a very dark reddish-brown.  So I cruised over to the stain isle and picked out the darkest Minwax stain, and some pre-stain treatment.  Minwax doesn't make a stain in the exact color we were looking for but I figured this would be a good starting point.

After three coats of stain I realized this was not going to work.

An uneven, blotchy mess. not quite the look I was going for

Doing some research that I should have done in the beginning, I found out that maple does not stain well at all (no kidding) and in fact the way to make maple dark is to dye it.  I had never heard of wood dye and wouldn't have thought it was any different than stain if I had heard the phrase, but as it turns out, it's completely different.  A local wood working shop sells the TransTint brand.  It comes in a concentrated two ounce bottle that you dilute with water.  The starting concentration they recommend is 1 ounce dye to 1 quart water.  I bought a bottle of the Dark Walnut.  I ended up using a double concentration and got much better results than the stain.

I was still missing the red though so I ended up buying a bottle of the Red Mahogany as well and mixed in a signal concentration with it.  After apply two coats of polyurethane on top here's the results:

Much better. Hopefully the color comes out in the images, I was having a tough time getting a shot that was a good representation. The color is very close, I think it may actually be a tad too dark.  One thing I was noticing was the color was much richer when you're applying the dye then when it's dry.  So it would look great when it was wet but then had a sort of faded look after I let it dry. I kept making the dye darker to try to fix that which didn't really work.  Once I applied the polyurethane, however, that richness came back.

That's it for now.  Next post I think will be about the tools I'm using.

The Design

As I'm fairly good with computers and fairly poor with drawing I knew I wanted to find some sort of CAD software to work with in designing the TV stand.  Doing sketches on paper got old very quickly and didn't really give me any idea of space requirements.  So I did some searching for free CAD programs and the first thing I found was Google SketchUp.  Now I'm probably pretty late to the party on this one as it's already in version 8, but man is this an awesome program.  I watched all of the beginner tutorials and that pretty much gave me enough tools to start designing.  Here one that shows off a lot of the useful features for those who may be interested:

One of the greatest things about this application is the ability to share and import models and the library that's already available.  I was able to import to-scale models of almost all my electronics that will be housed in the stand which made it really easy to see exactly how they would fit.

Now on the Design itself:  I have fairly little experience working with wood so I wanted to keep the design simple and within what I thought would be my skill-level.  It's also a nice coincidence that Sarah (my wife) and I have a fairly modern style, we tend to prefer simple and clean to overly ornate and decorative.

Key Requirements of the Design:
1.  Must hold all electronics (360, PS3, Wii, Receiver, Cable box, and HTPC)
2.  Must have built in wire management including networking
3.  Shorter the better, aiming for only 18" high

So here's my first draft (I have since modified it but I will save that for another post)

Cabinet with Doors Off 

Cabinet with doors on

Looking at tons of other TV stands, I liked the look of the receiver in the center.  It also made sense from a wiring perspective as everything runs into the receiver and then out to the wall.  Game systems on the right, cable box and HTPC (not shown) on the left and a drawer in the middle to hold controllers, games, movies, etc.  Dimensions are 60" wide, 18" high and 20" deep.

Next entry will be about the color...

Ah... Purpose...

So... this blog... the intended use of this blog is to document my progress with various projects that I might undertake.  Partly because it's fun to look back, partly because I think you learn more if you write stuff down afterward and partly as a way to force myself to finish a project or risk public shaming.  We'll leave it at that for now, who knows what this might turn into.

The first project I'm working on is building a "TV Stand" (TV Stand in quotes because the TV will actually be on the wall).  I suppose I could say entertainment unit but the first thing I think of when I hear "entertainment unit" is a big hulking mass that surrounds a TV, this will be much smaller, much more similar to a TV stand.  I've already been planning on and off for months so the first few posts will be back fill.

Let's get to it.