Building a TV stand > General Discussion

Posted: 4/19/2008 11:26:49 AM EDT

Cost of materials: $75 between the wood and finishing materials
Cost of new tools: $25 for some new clamps
Building it yourself to the exact size you need: Priceless

We recently purchased a new HDTV and needed a TV stand for our little cubby hole where the entertainment center is. We looked at some cheap Wal-mart specials and didn't really care for them. We also looked at some nice solid wood models (some pricey, some affordable) but none that really matched what I was looking for, so I decided to make my own.

I purchased a sheet of 4'x8' red oak plywood and some solid oak boards to use for trim and got to work. The maximum width I could fit in the cubby hole was 44", so I made the stand 40" wide to allow a little room for the trim and extra space on each edge. I also had a curved area at the top to consider, so I didn't make it very tall, only 14". It has one shelf that's 5" tall to accommodate the center-channel speaker for my home audio system.

Here it is assembled and ready for trim. I used 3/4" dadoes to create the channels for the shelves. Unfortunately, my table saw can only do 1/2" dadoes so I had to do these in a couple passes and eyeball it. It was tricky to get these just wide enough to fit the shelves without a large gap. I've also started to add the solid wood trim to cover up the edges of the plywood. I used dowels and wood glue to get a very solid attachment for all the trim. The bottom front piece is also providing additional stability to the stand.

Here it is with all the trim attached. I have larger 3/4" trim for the top and bottom and thin 1/4" trim for the rest. Doesn't look to bad, does it?

But a closer look shows some of the flaws. I don't have a bandsaw so I had to use my table saw to cut my 1/4" trim pieces and it was tricky to cut them all to the same width. Generous sanding will fix this.

When I attached the bottom trim, I hadn't bought the two long clamps yet, so there wasn't a tight fight and I filled the gap with some wood paste. Also, the bottom shelf was not flush with the trim, so I went to work with a belt sander. It was very aggresive, but these sanding marks will get sanded out later during finishing.

When it came time to cut the larger plywood panels, I found that my table saw's sled wasn't up to the task, so I made one out of some of the plywood. Here it is compared the one that came with it. The table saw was a gift, so I shouldn't complain.

Unfortunately, it means I also ran out of material for my shelf, and I didn't want to spend more money on additional wood, so I just left it as-is. The shelf is not very tall and deep enough so you have to get real low and close to even see it.

I stuck it back in the house until I could work on it some more. It fits in the space perfectly and has just the right amount of room for the center-channel speaker. BTW, baseballs looks great in HD.

I bought two different colors of stain to try out; golden oak and red oak. A scrap piece of wood gives me a good idea of what it will look like. While golden oak really looks nice, I went with the darker red oak. It won't contrast much with the black TV and dark cubby and be a distraction.

When you apply stain, you put it on and let it sit 5-10 minutes. It will look rather blotchy during this time.

Then you wipe it down with a clean cloth and it really evens out the color.

I learned that Home Depot grade oak plywood has a very, very thin oak veneer on it. While trying to smooth out the trim with the top of the stand, I removed a bit too much material. On a more visible piece, this would be a disaster, but since it'll be tucked away and nearly invisible, it's not a huge issue.