First Project

mrhart · Post by **mrhart** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:40 am

[ATTACH]12638[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]12639[/ATTACH]

This was a project I started for my 17 year old. It's to hold a flat screen tv in the middle, a Playstation, an Ipod stereo, his games, pics ect. It will hang mid-wall in his room.
It was originally meant to have no back. But because of the nature of the weight it may support and the shapes of the boxes, I thought the back was the best way.
The shopsmith was awesome, the lengths were cut on my greenie, which led to the newer SS purchase which has the nicer tables. I was using dowels but they didn't seem strong enough. Went to screws and used the greenie to make plugs. Seems sturdy enough now.
Advice on how to ppppaint (probably a dirty word on a woodworking site). My son wants it black. I'm guessing a primer first? then sand-paint? Would you sand and paint maybe 2 coats?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:09 pm

mrhart wrote:[ATTACH]12638[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]12639[/ATTACH]

This was a project I started for my 17 year old. It's to hold a flat screen tv in the middle, a Playstation, an Ipod stereo, his games, pics ect. It will hang mid-wall in his room.
It was originally meant to have no back. But because of the nature of the weight it may support and the shapes of the boxes, I thought the back was the best way.
The shopsmith was awesome, the lengths were cut on my greenie, which led to the newer SS purchase which has the nicer tables. I was using dowels but they didn't seem strong enough. Went to screws and used the greenie to make plugs. Seems sturdy enough now.
Advice on how to ppppaint (probably a dirty word on a woodworking site). My son wants it black. I'm guessing a primer first? then sand-paint? Would you sand and paint maybe 2 coats?

I would sand, raise the grain, sand, clean, shellac, rub down(steel wool fine), shellac, rub down then spray with flat black.

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:48 pm

mrhart wrote: This was a project I started for my 17 year old. It's to hold a flat screen tv in the middle, a Playstation, an Ipod stereo, his games, pics ect. It will hang mid-wall in his room.

I really like the quirky, playful design. Did you get a plan somewhere or did you come up with this yourself. It looks heavy. How will you hang it?

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:25 pm

What a neat job and I bet you 17 year old is tickled. Regarding finish, if you use premixed shellac as an undercoat, be sure to get wax-free.

horologist · Post by **horologist** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:46 pm

Or if you want a little of the grain to show through you could sand, raise the grain, sand again, and stain with black aniline dye. I did this for the base on a coffee table. The top is an old WWII Liberty ship hatch cover and the base was made from 2 x 4's. After the dye was dry I put on a couple coats of paste wax. I used Lockwood water based dye (I have the packet somewhere) and distilled water.

Troy

jcraigie · Post by **jcraigie** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:55 pm

Thats a nice project, it looks good.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:18 pm

mrhart wrote:...
Advice on how to ppppaint (probably a dirty word on a woodworking site). My son wants it black. I'm guessing a primer first? then sand-paint? Would you sand and paint maybe 2 coats?

A few years ago I was asked by a grandson to design and build a media cabinet. Similar uses to your cabinet. It was built in two parts, a top and a bottom. I left the finishing to him.

Watta know - he painted it BLACK!!! O.K. with me as it was his personal piece. That was seven or eight years ago. He has now moved away from his parent's house to his own place. At 24 yrs, he still has it and thinks it is real cool!

mrhart · Post by **mrhart** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:59 pm

JPG40504 wrote:I would sand, raise the grain, sand, clean, shellac, rub down(steel wool fine), shellac, rub down then spray with flat black.

Sir, I'll look up what raise the grain means, several of you mentioned it. Is the shellac to seal the wood so it doesn't soak up the paint?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:43 am

mrhart wrote:Sir, I'll look up what raise the grain means, several of you mentioned it. Is the shellac to seal the wood so it doesn't soak up the paint?

Light coat of water - dry - sand back down.

It is done to prevent finishes from raising the grain and having a rough finish.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/library/raisingthegrain.pdf

The shellac acts as a quick drying sealer.

michaeltoc · Post by **michaeltoc** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:44 am

JPG40504 wrote: The shellac acts as a quick drying sealer.

And is also a great primer for the topcoat (paint, polyurethane, etc)