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I’ve been lurking for a while and have been awe inspired by the works of Stan and Armin. I’ll post a series of cabinet in progress pictures that should end with the finished product–hopefully before spring is over. The room is 25′ x 25′ in the basement of a raised ranch. I’ve already finished my office area and I’ll post a few picts of that so you can see what I’m matching.
Actually this is the area where the cabinets are going to go. It’s 10′ across 8’high. Sorry for the clutter-tool staging area. So, what can we do with this area? I think we’ll put a large center cabinet for the big screen with some flanking bookcases. Of course we should have staggered depths to highlight the large crown that I want to put in around the room.
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Here's one thing that I have to hide. The duct comes under the steel flanking the forced air trunkline.
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*Brian:Looks like another interesting project to watch develop.
*Now panning to the right is the entry with a french door and tile. The trunkline is buried in the soffeted area-not much else you can do with the ductwork. You can see my messy office cabinets just coming into veiw. I wanted to play around with an octagon shape so the lally column was wrapped in oak. I think that the middle waist got alittle big, and the crown looks too small, but it was cool installing it--shims and gorrilla glue are a wonderful thing. I tried filling the column with Great Stuff---don't use the latex based stuff, it doesn't harden enough--I was worried that the high expanding stuff would blow my glue up apart. After all the cabs are in I definitely have to repaint.View Image
*Here's a better shot of the column and you can see my work area. Right now I'm putting together all the stuff for our new house that we're going to start in the spring. The rolls are the almost final blueprints--gotta change a few things now while the changes are still cheap. Actually my father-in-law is the architect so changes at this stage are very cheap. The rest of the stuff is cab ideas, trim, sliding, fine homebuilding and fine woodworking mags, and yea a few stair books. all that stuff---that will be another work in progress maybe this summer. I think I'll leave the stairs to Stan and Armin, my hands will be full with the kitchen and library. Now how do I get Stan F. to bring up a wonderfully curved stair to northern Illinois for the new house??? View Image
*So here's a staight on of my desk area. Sorry about the clutter, but I've got too much paperwork and not enough time to clean. The black tabs are electrical tape, hey a guys gotta be able to open up the drawers. Ok, so I'm not quite done...puck lights, hardware, window trim. It's sad when you can't finish your own punchlist, but paying jobs come first, and sleep is 2nd.View Image
*Another view. You can just barely make out the raised panel end panels on the lower and upper cabs. I was pretty close on the window framing (green blinds for nosy neighbors)and trim. Wrapping the crown around the bookcases and window jamb extensions was a trip, cutting the 1" crown returns on a 12" scms is a one shot deal and the crown was prefinished so your miters have to be perfect no fudging with sandpaper. Actually had a 12" piece left over...well I had another 10' pc and several 1" pcs left over. Behind the monitor will be a pc of 1/4" oak ply and bottom casing...man the punch list keeps growing. Underneath I still need to put in the base. Where's the rear wainscot you ask? We're going to be building a new house....gotta get this one done by summer, so I guess that means that one got axed. Sure wish I had a flat screen monitor so I could actually use the space for writing. The counter is 30" deep so its great for stacking paperwork as you can see.View Image
*Here's a view of the base cabs opened. My confuser (what a pita-its about 1/8" too tall so the drws and cross rail has to come out to add/delete hardware)has a little space. Hope the next guy's unit fits better than mine, actually my old one fit nicely, oh well. I generally put full pullouts in my base cabs. The hard maple lower is divided for files and the smaller one for supplies (read junk)--of course these are dovetailed and are on Accuride full extension slides (is there another way?). The upper drawers are on Blum full extension Tandem drawer guides (read bucks) and these are soooo smooth.View Image
*Brian: I can bring a stairway up by truck or trailor....:)
*Stan: I'm sure that your stair would fit the trailer, but not sure it would fit my budget. Love to send you a copy of the prelims, though. Maybe we can work something out.
*Brian: I was just talking tongue-in-cheek about hauling the stairs up there. If you want me to give my 2 cents on the layout, feel free to ask anytime. :)
*Ok, so I've had a couple of weeks since I last posted and here are some shots of work in progress in my shop. This is a base cabinet that will flank the main tv cabinet. I'm kind of stuck on the fluted columns right now. My buddy says it's my trade mark. I'm just trying to put a little more detail in the plain boxes.
*Well I can post pics that open, but we'll see if they work like this
*Here is a close up of the fluted column and the base. The base goes around the room to complete that built in look. Must be "coping" better, this one only took 5 minutes to do.
*Another, showing both base units, some of the shelves, and a couple of drawers. I use Blum leg levlers as you can see sticking up on the right cab. The doors and drawer fronts are in the cabinet as well. I'm not sure if you can make out the shelf detail. Oak edge with an ogee underneath. These are small shelves, but the 1.5" build up keeps them from sagging. Those amplifiers are heavy.
*Side view, just a plain maple plywood box with maple edgebanding, dress it up with a couple of columns and throw on some stock base. It's starting to look interesting, almost ready for some finish. Now just need to make some drawers and pullouts, and mount the doors
*What's an entertainment center without a b BIGTV cabinet. This is the center unit that I came up with. It's about 60+" wide and designed to hold a 48" rear projection. The dividers, pocket doors, and drawers below can be removed for that big TV, I'm planning on putting in a 36" for now. Just need to make some vcr shelves and mount the pocket door hardware.As you can see my shop is getting alittle cramped with all these big boxes.
*A close up of the 45deg fluted columns and the top detail. Matching columns go on top of these and this is where I'll put the AV equipment.
*Another shot at the base..still have to cope the pc for the toe kick.
*A close up of transition between the upper and lower units. I still have to be able to transport this beast for installation. Actually, it's pretty knock down, and most pcs can be sprayed flat.I thought that the 45 would really make the 6" crown stick out...oh yea, the crown goes around the whole room.
*Like I said its cramped. These are the backs of the flanking bookcases in the "staging" area. Now to put the soffet (top bonnet) together to put some moldings on. Is there enough room??? We'll see.
*Just fits. This is upside down and is about 10 feet across. In the middle is for AV stuff and to the sides are bookcases that will sit on the base cabs I showed earlier. The sub crown is 9" and will hold the 6" crown that I'm going to cap this thing off with.
*Best full width shot that I could get
*Close up on the 45--look ma no brads.
*Another shot with some of the molding applied. Yea, there a gap on the plinth block, the floor isn't very level and I had didn't have alot of space to shim it up right. It fits tight...that is where I had to break the top because 10' oak plywood is too expensive. Remember its upside down right now.Now dummy me..I screwed the columns to blocks thru the shelf standard dados as usual...they dont show...but then I applied the cove (lower left)without thinking about how to remove those darn screws......or is it screwed?? This is what happens when you don't get enough sleep. Time for some remolding..remodeling (sp.) Boy am I glad that I just glued the cove to the top...I told you it was KD assembly. Well, I used a jigsaw and chisel on the backing blocks and the columns came right out and I'll just add another backing block so my cove wont interfere with the screws during the installation.Now, just need some holes for some LV lights, electrical and wire management...sanding...sanding...and sanding, stain and finish..b but I've got to get some sleep before I make another mistake. BG
*Brian:Very nice work. Keep the pictures coming.