Collin’s Low Profile Entertainment Center

Hi there Marc, I just can’t get enough of your web site and the fantastic video that accompany it. You are one very talented wood worker who takes pride in his workmanship and inspires us all to do the same no matter what our skill level may be. I have posted some photos of an entertainment unit I have just recently finished to house my home theatre gear.

The main carcass is maple ply with veneered edges, solid maple legs with a slight taper at the bottom and 7/8 thick top of padauk. The top is 2 boards 12 1/2 inches wide by 6 feet long. The top was glued up using biscuits and the entire carcass is dowelled. I made a jig to attach to the base of my drill press to slide to carcass panels through on edge to drill the dowel holes I have used lots of other joints before and this was a first attempt for this many dowels. I am very happy at how they all lined up, case came out very square. The center section that houses the center speaker and 2 drawers was glued up first as a unit. Then the rest went together around it. I made a long trammel for the router to finish the curved ends. Drawer front and hand pulls are also padauk. Store bought handles are just so..store bought.

All parts are finished with many coats of tung oil, the top has 7 coats of oil buffed into it sanding with 400 between each one. The oil really brought out the colors and highlight in the padauk. All the maple pieces received a coat of paste wax and nothing else was applied to the top. As a note to anyone else using of finishing padauk, I finished a test piece same as the final top and tried a coat of wax on it. I did not like the results as I was unable to buff the wax back out of the grain. I already have a list of projects ready for spring. My garage shop is not heated so my equipment is all oiled and greased and tucked away for winter. Thanks again Marc for all your efforts to promote the wood working hobby in a fun, entertaining and safe manner. Looking forward to your next online project.