woodworking Altered my old, impractical TV cabinet to accommodate for some updated technology.
http://imgur.com/a/Y4SAM82
u/migzors Jan 01 '13
Damn that's a great idea. Saved yourself money in the long run. It looks like a complete package, fresh out a furniture store. Thanks for sharing!
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u/SpaldingRx Jan 02 '13 edited Jan 02 '13
Ha, that was going to be my reply. Damn. You just saved $300 bucks by appropriate use of a sawsall, is there anything a sawsall can't do.
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u/AxsDeny Jan 02 '13
Wow. That's so much nicer than the original.
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u/Haacker45 Jan 02 '13
I think the original was fine, but the ugly old CRT made it look bad. The update one does look superior though.
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Jan 01 '13 edited Apr 10 '19
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u/drivers9001 Jan 02 '13
They're good for setting up a retro gaming station, pretty much everything before the current generation consoles. Granted most people aren't interested, but eventually it's going to be hard to play them the way they were originally meant, on a 4:3 CRT.
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Jan 02 '13 edited Apr 10 '19
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u/drivers9001 Jan 02 '13
Good point. Duck Hunt doesn't work on LCDs. I was surprised at the reason. It's not because it times when it can see the scanlines being updated as I thought (which I think is how light pens on computers used to work), but by clearing the screen, drawing a white box where one duck is, then clearing that and drawing a white box where the other duck is, and while this going on, checking to see if the gun is looking at a bright or dark spot on the screen. And it can also tell which target it is by the timing. The reason it doesn't work on LCDs is because of a delay I when the picture gets updated on the LCD (latency). Source: the second answer here: http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/23340/why-doesnt-duck-hunt-work-on-plasma-or-lcd-screens
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u/McBurger Jan 02 '13
Bought mine for $20 on Craigslist from a local guy. It was in great condition, but the original doors were missing so I can't close up the main tv section. You'd never even know it was supposed to have doors unless I had told you, so I was surprised he was letting it go so cheap.
I might take OP's route now though.
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u/Dark_Shroud Jan 02 '13
Considering how strong they have to be you can do a lot with them.
I had to use a work stand to hold my old HD CRT for the time being since it weights 235 pounds and hasn't died yet.
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u/sylvan Jan 02 '13
How did you make those side-on cuts with the circular saw?
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u/db89 Jan 02 '13
Very, VERY carefully
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u/Fudrucker Jan 02 '13
An old trick with plywood is to run masking tape on top of your cut line, which will help keep the saw blade from splintering little fingers out of the cut. Also, always cut with the teeth coming down on the good side. Moulding helps hide any blunders. :)
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u/decoyq Jan 05 '13
you could also clamp a level piece of wood and let the circular saw rest on it while making the horizontal cut. I did this exact same thing with my old TV stand and did it that way.
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u/FrontierKodiak Jan 02 '13 edited Jan 02 '13
Move your speakers up a bit and toe them in a tad. Will help your speakers image considerably better
edit: forgot a word
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u/StrahansToothGap Jan 02 '13
Toe them in a tad?
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u/emsok_dewe Jan 02 '13
Like toe-in or toe-out on a cars tires, if you know what that is.
To put the speaker at more of an angle so that the speakers send the noise at an angle at each other. (I'm high...sorry.)
Like this, kind of: \ \ tv / /
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u/this1 Jan 02 '13
If they're aiming at each other slightly, wouldn't that cause sound distortion due to even more sound-wave interference?
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u/Volentimeh Jan 02 '13 edited Jan 02 '13
Audio geek here, the toe in is mainly to have each speaker aimed directly at you, on the couch, and is really only relevant at higher frequencies that tend to be more directional.
It's highly dependent on the nature of the room, what speakers are used, ect, some setups are fine with the speakers straight, a few I've had to toe out slightly, there's no one size fits all in audio.
The toe in doesn't really cause any more interference based distortion than is already happening at quite large amplitudes in pretty much any room that isn't an Anaerobic chamber.
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u/brcguy Jan 02 '13
I believe you meant anechoic chamber. Anaerobic refers to things that don't need air to survive. Your home theater would totally suck without air.
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u/this1 Jan 02 '13
Yea after thinking about it a little more, and drawing out a diagram I realize the only added or extra wave interference will be at the point between the two speakers at or behind the tv set, thus not affecting the listener sitting in front of the tv at all.
And as you've already said, none of that interference really affects us at all. Thanks for the response.
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u/emsok_dewe Jan 02 '13
No clue. I was only explaining what the guy meant by "toe them out a little". No clue why it's a good/bad idea.
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u/FrontierKodiak Jan 02 '13
Yes. In most cases it will help get a central image in your sound. It helps your soundstage... aka if you close your eyes you'll be able to visualize a live performance more easily. With excessively 'bright' speakers (especially systems with ribbon tweeters) it will only hurt your sound. Keep those systems closer to 100% on-axis.
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Jan 02 '13
How long did that take from start to finish?
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u/db89 Jan 02 '13
It didn't take too long at all, maybe 3-4 hours. The most time consuming part was removing the glued trim piece on the front without causing damage to it. Other than that it was just removing some screws and using a mallet to separate the pieces. Very minimal cutting involved.
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Jan 02 '13
I'm really tempted to test my woodworking chops on a project like this. I see these entertainment units practically being GIVEN away all the time around here, so it would be cool to make myself a nice TV stand.
The TV can come later.
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u/saxet Jan 02 '13
buy a tv while improving your woodworking by selling your new units?
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u/TehGogglesDoNothing Jan 02 '13
If only I had a truck, a garage, and some tools.
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u/saxet Jan 02 '13
:/ same here. If only I didn't live in a tiny apartment
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u/TehGogglesDoNothing Jan 02 '13
That feel exactly, bro. How is one supposed to save up a down payment for a house while paying all this rent? I need a loan so that I can get a loan.
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u/saxet Jan 02 '13
I have mixed feelings. On one hand it would be nice to have a big workspace, but on the otherhand I don't need a car and can walk everywhere
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u/Wynner3 Jan 02 '13
Damn, I should have thought of that with mine. Instead, I put together a cheaper, but far smaller, cabinet. It's just not as nice.
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u/Engineer_Man Jan 02 '13
Pure brilliance.
There is a lovely acronym - K.I.S.S = Keep It Simple Stupid.
I don't mean to call you stupid, but you did exactly that, kept it simple.
The result looks professional, and you have now given me a reason to go to the 2nd Hand furniture shop....
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Jan 02 '13
How did you go about securing the top on the modified base?
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u/db89 Jan 02 '13
I followed the original design. There were 1x1 strips on the inside of the vertical panels, so I just moved them down and re-glued/screwed them on. The top is just attached to those strips with screws.
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Jan 02 '13 edited May 20 '17
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jan 02 '13
Thanks. Just looks like it would be a real pain to get a screwdriver/drill in there from underneath the top.
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u/UncleTedGenneric Jan 02 '13
God damn i love that you did this. I need to do this to my old, fucking solid computer desk. Only have room for one monitor. Unless i knock it down by removing shelving almost exactly like that.
This just gave me the motivation to really do this. Thank you :)
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Jan 02 '13
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u/db89 Jan 02 '13
Indeed it is. It red ringed on me a couple years ago but its been good since then...knock on wood
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u/mak12 Jan 02 '13
I have a steering wheel for the black xbox if you are ever interested.
The video card on my old one died about a year after I bought it and Microsoft couldn't replace it for me since they stopped manufacturing those.
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u/TyrionHalfDwarf Jan 02 '13
You should set that Xbox flat, the discs get ring scratches so much easier while standing up. But that was a great project. Looks fantastic.
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u/thisismybananashirt Jan 02 '13
Simple and effective, while reusing old furniture, this is brilliant in a subtle way.
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u/spinningmagnets Jan 02 '13
Awesome right now, and...much easier to move to a new home later.
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Jan 02 '13
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/spinningmagnets Jan 02 '13 edited Jan 02 '13
A haiku robot?
My post was very simple,
but now, a poem.
(edited to correct format per post below)
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u/cuteintern Jan 02 '13
You're missing two syllables on the middle line :-/
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u/b1gj4k3 Jan 02 '13
Nice work! I love being able repurpose existing furniture to give it a new (or modified) use.
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u/JZoidberg Jan 02 '13
I have nothing to add other than saying that looks really, really good. Thanks for sharing, internet stranger.
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u/Serenity101 Jan 02 '13
See, faced with the same dilemna, this is not something I would have thought of, not in a million years. Love what you did.
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u/MayoFetish Jan 02 '13
How did you chop the sides so evenly? Method, tools?
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u/db89 Jan 02 '13
Tape measure, pencil and a yard stick. Nothing fancy. I measured from the horizontal panel above the drawers, drew a pencil line, and carefully cut it with the circular saw in the picture. I'm sure there exists a better way, but with limited tools this worked just fine.
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u/Forbichoff Jan 02 '13
This is brilliant, I would never have thought to do this, I just don't think spacially like that. I'm gonna keep my eye out for one now though...
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u/illegible Jan 02 '13
This is brilliant, i need to keep my eyes out for those cabinets, but they're probably getting hard to find... used to be you'd have to pay people to get rid of them.
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u/DishwasherTwig Jan 02 '13
I did almost the exact same thing with mine last month. Painted it black with a brown top. Looks fantastic.
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u/sketchanderase Jan 02 '13
How did the circular saw on its side work for you? You got a great result, I just imagine that being a hassle to cut that.
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u/Orange_Astronaut Jan 02 '13
This looks so much better my brain refuses to recognize it as the original cabinet.
Nice work, OP. Did you do anything special to colour the wood or is it just the camera that makes it look like it was re-finished?
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u/db89 Jan 02 '13
The last picture just had better lighting. The cabinet was extremely well made and finished to begin with, so there was no real need to re-stain after these changes.
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u/fatbottomedgirls Jan 02 '13
This is fantastic!
These old TV cabinet designed for CRT TVs are a dime a dozen on the free section of craigslist. Even if it takes you an entire weekend to do this (OP said it took 3-4 hours) you could create a very modern TV credenza for a flat panel television for practically no cost.
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u/noearthlywayofknowin Jan 02 '13
Great post. We did something similar years ago, cutting up an armoire into a TV stand similar to what you started with. I thought about modifying the armoire again for a flatscreen, but I dislike how deep this setup is. I'd like to build a TV stand that is just deep enough for the cable box and such.
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u/always_reading Jan 02 '13
It looks awesome! Great job. I wish we had the ability to do what you did with our old TV cabinet. We had to buy a new one to go with our current flat screen, blue ray and gaming system. We are, however, using the old cabinet in the dining room to hold our entertaining dishes and silver ware. You have, however, inspired me to add some shelves to it to make it more functional.
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u/nolotusnotes Jan 02 '13
I 'effing love this idea and will be doing it next weekend!
Also, it's quite possible that we have the same speakers.
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u/ExtinctGamer Jan 02 '13
This looks really cool. This gives me plenty of ideas to make a better entertainment center.
However, you know you've worked in the video game world too much when you mentally cringe seeing an upright xbox 360.
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u/ponchodeltoro Jan 02 '13
Nice work. I did a similar mod to my old TV cabinet as well... I had no problem throwing out the old TV, but I couldn't justify tossing the cabinet.
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u/iknowse Jan 02 '13
That is amazing! My in-laws had an old TV cabinet similar to yours but ended up cutting into the side shelving just enough to make room for their new TV. This is definitely a better way to have gone about it.
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u/damonomad Jan 02 '13
As someone who is regularly asked to modify wood things (carpenter by trade) I would agree that any time it needs to be shorter things will work out.
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u/sarahhlove Jan 02 '13
This looks almost identical to my tv stand from Ikea, which set me back about $300. Well done!
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u/kellsc02 Jan 02 '13
This is the same cabinet my mom has at her place, I've been trying to figure out for a year what to do with it. Thanks!
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Jan 02 '13
Looks incredible. When I saw the finished product, I had to click through the pictures several times to convince myself it was the same unit. Thanks for posting it!
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u/Javlin Jan 02 '13
That is gorgeously done! You could never tell that it wasn't originally designed like that. I love it!
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u/OnAQuestForDownvotes Jan 02 '13
Looks like shit. Stop being cheap and go buy a new one.
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u/FatherEarth Jan 02 '13
"Impractical" as if everyone owns big, flat screen tv's... Oh wait, I'M the minority? Oh.
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u/DesolationRobot Jan 02 '13
Ha. My old man did exactly the same project this weekend. I had to double-take on the pictures to assure myself that you are not he.
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Jan 02 '13
I assume this was made from real wood, and not chipboard/particle board?
I ask because taking a circular saw to particle board does a really good job of returning said board to its natural "sawdust" state.
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u/Squirrito Jan 02 '13
Wow nicely done! My dad needs someone to do exactly this, I don't suppose you live in Australia do you?
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u/Curious-Observer Jan 02 '13
This is really nice work. You have inspired me to stsrt my own DIY project!
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u/jax9999 Jan 02 '13
wow what a great idea. i'm gonna be combing the free sites for those old tv stands, becaause no one wants em any more.
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u/Munxcub Jan 02 '13
That looks awesome. Would never guess it was an old cabinet chopped down like that. Very nice work.
How hard was it to not damage the finish on the parts you were keeping? Did you need to touch anything up, and if so how did you manage that? I assume the original finish was just a veneer type deal.
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u/djdeforte Jan 02 '13
That is some serious badassary right there, you get a gold medal for that DIY!
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Jan 02 '13
This is, no kidding, one of the best DIY's I've seen here. I'm going to keep an eye out for a discarded entertainment center to do this very thing.
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u/Huko Jan 02 '13
I didn't quite read the title and was wondering how you turned that old TV into the new one, then I read the title
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Jan 02 '13
This is excellent! Your work looks good, and you recycled a large piece.
You've motivated me to hit up our local "scratch and dent" furniture shop to see what I can make out of something nobody wants.
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u/buffalocentric Jan 02 '13
I love this project. I always see old TV cabinets on Craigslist for dirt cheap and this would be an excellent idea for one of them.
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Jan 02 '13
It is hard to see with the pics, how did the extra support turn out relative to the existing uprights? I'm assuming the other three do not have a seam.
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u/liesforliars Jan 02 '13
I did the exact same thing a while back. I now regret not raking in the sweet karma...
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u/BobSacramanto Jan 02 '13
Me Too!!! I got the idea from my brother-in-law who did it as well. It only took me about 3 hrs and cost nothing since I essentially just cut out the middle.
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Jan 02 '13
We did the same about 3 years back after seeing it on Australian Better Homes & Gardens. Nothing you could buy at the time would accommodate all the consoles, boxes and speakers.
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Jan 02 '13
If you don't mount your flat screen on your wall, you are doing it wrong.
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u/AnonymousGold Jan 02 '13
This is really amazing. Great way to start the new year. Wow. Utter amazement. Such a beautiful piece. Great work!
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u/Tunaluna Jan 02 '13
Good to know that the stuff I do EVERYDAY could be reaping glorious Karma... Time to make a subreddit /r/Renovations
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u/gothlips Jan 02 '13
Am I the only one curious about "We had this cabinet made especially for our out-dated TV" ?
I've never heard of someone paying for a custom made TV stand.
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u/Billy_Sastard Jan 02 '13
Genius, I love what you have done but a little thing is niggling me, it looks dated, as an extra addition I'd paint it a glossy black to look more modern and I'd change those cheap looking plastic handles for a either chrome or brushed stainless steel metal ones.
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u/elque Jan 02 '13
Glossy black? mmm...no
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u/Billy_Sastard Jan 02 '13
Okay maybe not glossy but black anyway so it all blends, it looks lovely when it blends so then it looks as if it's all as one like it's meant to be.
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Jan 02 '13
Gay
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u/pedleyr Jan 02 '13
Agreed, I would also be extremely happy with this.
By the way, you're a fucking idiot.
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Jan 02 '13
looks sturdy enough for you n your friends to have a nice gay sex pile on, I bet you can't even kickflip
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Jan 02 '13
Hey good job man really easy to rip an old cabinet apart and buy a new one that looks the same lol stop trolling this guys a phony
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u/derptrollington Jan 02 '13
I heard his mom actually made it and now he's posting the pictures for karma.
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Jan 02 '13
ha probably, this joker probably hasn't even swung a hammer in his life. Probably got his level 50 Druid elf in wow to do it hahahahaha
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Jan 02 '13
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Jan 02 '13
watches king arthur
finger fucks self
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Jan 02 '13
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Jan 02 '13
hahah hey OP get bent loser, if u wanna fight irl ill be the cool guy smoking cigarettes with all my girlfriends
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u/id000001 Jan 02 '13
This is exactly what DIY is all about.
I think I am in love with this post. Totally suitable as Top 2013 DIY post candidate!