Entertainment Armoire Plans

Besides being a solid piece of furniture, this armoire offers flexibility. An adjustable shelf in the lower part of cabinet, and an adjustable, rebuildable VCR rack in the upper portion, allows for the accommodation of many different electronic toys. This project was also designed to be built using a minimum of expensive power tools. By making use of standard No.2 , it's possible to construct your own version of this armoire without a or planer, if you carefully select your boards. All that's required is a table , , belt sander, and a jig saw. I built this one with an 8" table top . Refer to figure #1, and you'll see that this project is based on a solid carcass formed by sides A1 and A2, connected by top B1, bottom B4, and two fixed shelves B2 and B3. The front of the cabinet is covered by four doors. Each of the lower doors opens on conventional butt hinges, while the upper doors are hung on concealed, 95 degree European hinges. They are mounted to pocket door hardware enabling the doors to slide into the cabinet, instead of being left open. If you hang the upper doors on regular butt hinges, you will be able to increase the size of the TV if necessary. The TV shelf is supported on a sliding, swivel base, to allow viewing from varying angles.

MATERIALS: (all parts are No.2 pine unless otherwise indicated)

QUANTITY SIZE DESCRIPTION - CABINET 2 3/4" x 20" x 72" Sides A1, A2 4 3/4" x 19 11/16" x 35" Top & fixed shelves B1, B2, B3, B4 2 3/4" x 2 1/4" x 72" Face frame stiles C1, C2 1 3/4" x 4 1/2" x 31 1/2" Middle & bottom face frame rails E1, E2 1 1 1/4" x 4 3/4" x 38 1/2" Front skirt F 2 1 1/4" x 4 3/4" x 21 15/16" Side skirt G1, G2 1 1" x 38 1/8" Bottom front cove H 2 1" x 21 3/4" Bottom side cove molding I1, I2 1 3 1/4" x 40 5/8" Front colonial crown molding J 2 3 1/4" x 23 1/16" Side colonial crown moldings K1, K2 1 1 5/8" x 37 1/2" Front symmetrical molding L 2 1 5/8" x 21 7/16" Side symmetrical moldings M1, M2 QUANTITY SIZE DESCRIPTION - DRAWER 1 3/4" x 7 7/8" x 31 3/8" Front N 2 3/4" x 7 1/4" x 19 1/4" Sides O1, O2 1 3/4" x 7 1/4" x 29 5/8" Back P 1 1/4" x 18" x 29 5/8" Pine veneer , bottom Q QUANTITY SIZE DESCRIPTION - VCR RACK 2 3/4" x 19" x 19 5/8" Sides R1, R2 2 3/4" x 19 5/8" x 27 1/4" Top & bottom S1, S2 2 3/4" x 19 5/8" x 26 7/16" Adjustable shelves T1, T2

QUANTITY SIZE DESCRIPTION - TV SHELF 1 3/4" x 18 1/4" x 24" TV shelf V 1 3/4" x 3" x 24" TV shelf front strip W QUANTITY SIZE DESCRIPTION - UPPER DOORS 4 3/4" x 2 1/4" x 37 18" Stiles AA 4 3/4" x 2 1/4" x 12" Rails BB 2 1/2" x 10 1/2" x 33 1/8" Raised panels CC 1 3/4" x 3" x 37 1/4" Center stile GG 4 3/4" x 3 1/2" x 30" Pocket hinge door followers II 2 1/4 " x 3 1/2" x 30" Pocket hinge door followers JJ QUANTITY SIZE DESCRIPTION - LOWER DOORS 4 3/4" x 2 1/4" x 21 7/8" Stiles DD 4 3/4" x 2 1/4" x 12 Rails EE 2 1/2" x 10 1/2" x 17 7/8" Raised panels FF 1 3/4" x 3" x 22" Center stile HH QUANTITY SIZE DESCRIPTION - MISCELLANEOUS 4 3/4" x 1" x 19 1/2" Drawer slide spacers KK 10 1/4" x 3 1/2" x 67" Tongue and paneling 1 3/4" x 19 5/8" x 34 3/8" Adjustable lower shelf U QUANTITY SIZE DESCRIPTION - HARDWARE 4 1 1/2" Wooden knobs 2 18" Bottom mount drawer slides 4 18" Pocket door slides 4 95 degree European hinges 1 Sliding TV swivel 4 2 1/2" Brass hinges 4 3/8" Wooden roller guides 4 Spring loaded ball bearing door catches 12 Brass shelf pins 52 Brass shelf pin sleeves INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1 - Begin by laminating enough wood to make the sides, shelves (both fixed and adjustable), VCR rack, and TV shelf. Two lengths of 7 1/4" wide stock (1x8) edge-glued on both sides of 5 1/2" wide stock (1x6) will yield 20" wide panels - perfect for the sides and just a little wider than needed for the other large parts. If you stock isn't quite straight, you will have to run it through a jointer or table saw first. You can also use dowels or biscuits to join the boards into panels, but it isn't absolutely necessary. Use pipe clamps to hold the panels together, alternating them under and over the stock to prevent warping. Step 2 - After the glue has dried, remove the clamps and use a hand and belt sander, to remove the ridges on the panels where the boards meet. Finish with a palm or orbital sander, then rip and crosscut as required to reach final sizing. Step 3 - On the insides of A1 and A2, mark the lines for the 1 /4" x 3/4" dados and , to accept the shelves, top and bottom panels, following the measurements on Figure 1. The back slats fit into 5/16" x 5/16" rabbets cut into the inside back edges of A1 and A2. A router with a 3/4" straight bit offers the safest option for cutting these joints, although a blade and table saw with a large support table, can be used as well. After cutting, dry fit all dados and rabbets with parts B1,2,3 & 4. Step 4 - This cabinet is held together with glue and screws driven through the sides of the cabinet into the ends of the fixed shelves, top, and bottom members. The heads of these screws fit into countersunk holes in the cabinet sides, sized to accommodate tapered wooden plugs. This approach is easier than wrestling with all the pipe clamps that would be required if screws were omitted. Using a spade or brad point bit, 3/8" dia. x 1/4" -deep holes into the outside surface of sides Al and A2, at three or four places along each dado. Continue these holes right through each side with a smaller twist bit, sized to match the shank of the screws you'll use. There are also countersink bits that will do this in one process, available at most hardware stores.If you're using pine to build your armoire, there's no need to pre-drill holes into the ends of the fixed shelves, top, or bottom members if no knots are present in the area where screws will go. Assemble the body of the cabinet with glue. Step 5 - After it's together, and all the screws have been installed and tightened, measure diagonally from corner to corner and manipulate the sides of the cabinet so the diagonal measurements are the same, before setting it aside to dry. Assuming opposite sides of the cabinet are exactly the same length, equalizing the diagonals ensures overall squareness. Step 6 - Fig. 1 shows the face frame and the arrangement of all its parts. Build this frame as a separate unit from the body of the cabinet, using biscuits or dowels at the joints. Refer to your assembled cabinet for the precise size and arrangement of the face frame members needed to fit your particular cabinet. The top edge of the horizontal face frame members should line up exactly with the top surfaces of parts B2 and B4; the outside edge of the vertical frame members should be flush with the outside surfaces of sides Al and A2. Cut, join, glue, and the face frame and set it aside to dry. Step 7 - When both the cabinet and face frame can be taken out of the clamps, attach them together with glue and screws, hidden under wooden plugs. Using a belt sander, level and smooth the members of the face frame after installation. The heads of the plugs can be sanded off as well. Step 8 - The adjustable shelf U sits on four metal pins that can fit into different holes drilled into the cabinet sides between parts B2 and B3. The location and spacing of these holes determines your options for placement of the shelf. Although these holes could have been drilled before the cabinet was assembled, it's safer to do this job now, with the assistance of a plywood template and wooden depth stop. Carefully lay out and drill a series of holes along the length of a scrap piece of plywood that's about 3/4" x 3" x 14". Lay out these holes with exactly the same spacing that you'd like the shelf pins to have and use a brad point bit (the correct size for the shelf pin holes) to drill them. The cabinet shown here has holes placed every inch between 4" and 9" from the top of shelf B3 with one single set of holes 13" up from this part. This location is for hiding the shelf behind cross member E1, when not in use. Whatever arrangement you choose, place the bottom end of your template on top of fixed shelf B3 and tightly against each inside corner of the cabinet. Use the template's holes to guide placement of your drill bit as you bore into the cabinet sides. Always place the same end of the template down as you move from corner to corner. A depth stop placed over the drill bit can be used to limit the depth of each shelf pin hole and prevent an ugly mistake from appearing on the outside of the cabinet. Wait to install the tongue and groove back slats until after the entire cabinet is finished and the adjustable shelf has been put in place. Step 9 - Cutout parts F, G1 & G2, the bottom trim, using the chart in Fig. 4 for the front skirt. Miter the corners, glue and fasten the skirts to the main cabinet with wood screws from the inside. Step 10 - Trim is what turns a large, rectangular wooden box into a truly elegant cabinet. Your choice of trim design, and the care with which you install it, will play a large role in the success of this project. Fig. 4 shows profiles of suggested moldings used in this project. After carefully cutting the required miter joints, fasten the trim with small amounts of glue and finishing nails. The symmetrical molding in the middle, is centered on cross member E1. Reinforce the crown molding with small wooden triangular blocks cut to match the angle between the top of the cabinet and the inside surface on the back of the trim...usually 45 degrees. The top of the crown molding should be level with the top of the cabinet, B1. Step 11 - To accommodate the drawer slides (to be installed later), the inside surfaces of the cabinet walls A1 and A2, must be built up with strips of solid wood where the slides will be installed, so they are flush with the inside edges of frame C1 and C2. Purchase the drawer slides you intend to use and determine what's required before building up the inside of the cabinet. DRAWER DETAILS

Step 12 - Fig. 2 shows details of the drawer. The sides, front, and back are made of solid wood while the bottom is 1/4" thick veneered plywood or . Since the drawer rides on 18" side-mounted slides, sides O1 and O2 must be narrower than front N to facilitate removal of the drawer later. Cut the 3/4" x 3/8" deep dados in the drawer parts, and add a 5/8" x 3/4" strip to the top of front N to conceal the joint and add the height to fill the opening between B3 and B4. Cut the 1/4" dados for the bottom, 1/4" up form the bottom of each side, Dry fit all parts together before final assembly with glue and clamps. Immediately after assembly, check that the drawer is by measuring the lengths of the diagonals, as you did with the main cabinet. A fillet of glue applied to the underside of the drawer, where the bottom meets the sides, will keep the drawer square permanently. If you don't want a 'heart' handle, use you our design, or recess a wooden drawer pull into the front.

VCR RACK

Step 13 - The VCR rack fastens to the underside of the top of the cabinet and contains two adjustable shelves for maximum flexibility. Fig. 2 shows how the sides, top, and bottom of this part of the project fit together. Since it has no back, the VCR rack simply butts against the back of the cabinet during installation. To allow for the possibility of a larger TV in future, the VCR rack should be assembled using screws only. This will allow you to take it apart and change its size and shape later, if necessary. Cut the 3/4" x 3/8" deep dados and rabbets in R1 and R2. Step 14 - Using the same technique for the shelf pin holes in the lower section of the main cabinet, drill as many holes as you need to store you VCR or tapes, on the adjustable shelf. This project has 6 holes every 1", centered on the side frames. Dry fit the frame as a test before setting it aside for finishing and final assembly.

TV SHELF

Step 15 - The TV shelf is a very simple part of the project. Following Fig. 2, glue part W onto the front edge of part V. After the glue has dried, sand the front and top of the shelf in preparation for finishing. The pull out swivel TV slide attaches to the bottom of part V. Install the hardware so that the doors will close without hitting the shelf.

FRAME & PANEL DOORS

Step 16 - This project features solid wood doors. Fig. 3 shows an exploded view of the upper left- hand door with the imitation center stile GG that's attached to the door stile AA. A similar arrangement exists for the lower left door. These extra pieces of wood give the impression of a solid center stile in the middle of the cabinet, but move out of the way as the doors are opened. Use your router or table saw to cut a on AA and GG, but leave 1/16" space to simulate the same space left when the right door closes (see the 2nd photo on the site, with the doors closed) Attach the imitation stiles to the left door stiles with small screws, after finishing. Step 17 - The 1/4" x 3/8" deep dados for the wooden door panels may be cut into the stiles and rails in a number of different ways. One excellent method is to rout them using a straight bit in a table-mounted router. Adjusting for a deeper cut allows the mortises to be made in the ends of the stiles in a similar way. It's quite practical to cut the 1" long x 1 7/8" wide x 1/4" thick tenons on the end of the rails with a miter in the table saw. Cut tenons on test pieces to determine the precise blade height required for a snug fit into the previously cut mortises. Step 18 - After gluing up the 1/2" thick panels, trim them to size and cut a 1/8" deep kerf, 11/2" from all four sides of each panel. This defines the outer extent of the raised portion of each panel. The angled portion of the panel is cut by sliding all panels past the blade of your table saw (set at approximately 10 degrees from perpendicular) on their edge. A 6" high auxiliary makes this operation safer and more accurate than when using the ordinary fence. Remove the waste material on the edges of the raised panels in several light passes, paying extra attention to the height adjustment of the blade. Be sure to cut a test scrap and check to see how it fits into the grooves cut in the stiles and rails before committing yourself by making the final passes on the raised panels themselves. For safety, clamp a long straight scrap of pine to the back of the panel, so it rests on the fence, to act as a guide. Step 19 - Sand the edges of the raised panels to remove saw marks and apply a coat of the same stain you intend to use on the rest of the project to the long edges of each panel. If the wood panels shrink within their frames, after assembly, the newly exposed, stained edges of the panels will be much less noticeable than if they were left unstained. Dry fit each door before assembling them permanently with glue and clamps. Do not apply glue to the panels, as they need to due to expansion and contraction caused by humidity. Check that the doors are square immediately after assembly. Step 20 - The lower doors are hinged on conventional butt hinges mortised into the face frame of the cabinet. You can also use self mortising hinges available at most stores.The upper doors are hung on 95 degree European hinges which are attached to wood strips that are screwed to the door slide hardware. Instructions for the hinges and pocket doors come with the hardware. Wooden roller guides are installed within the cabinet to guide the doors as they slide into the cabinet.

FINISHING

Before finishing this project, peruse it with a critical eye, removing rough spots, blobs of glue, and other imperfections. Since No. 2 pine contains many knots and pitch pockets, it has a tendency to absorb stain unevenly, often resulting in many odd looking blotches. A product like Minwax Wood Conditioner, applied before staining, evens the rate of absorption and greatly reduces the problems associated with staining knotty, resinous wood. This cabinet was finished as follows:one coat of Minwax Wood Conditioner, followed by two coats of Minwax Early American stain, followed by one coat of urethane on the entire project. It was then sanded lightly after it dried. Two coats of Homestead House "Soldier Blue" Milk were then applied to desired areas. When dry, these painted areas were sanded lightly to simulate wear. One coat of urethane was then applied to the surface. Before installing the doors, attach the imitation center stiles to both left-hand doors with small screws. Install the drawer and drawer slides into the lower part of the cabinet and screw the VCR rack to the underside of the top of the cabinet. Install the hardware onto the underside of the TV shelf and fasten the entire unit onto the top of shelf B2. Be sure to insert the adjustable shelf into the lower part of the cabinet before fastening the pre-finished back slats with small finishing nails.

Good building, and enjoy

Phil Barley

Front Skirt Detail: 1 square = 1"

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