Chunky wood TV Bench... DIY advice..???

[DaMekon]

First I must point out I have no woodwoork skills whatsoever... and I hope not to offend any skilled carpenters..

Ive been looking for a bench style solution for the living room to house my pc, av equipment and to hold a42" plasma... Ive not been able to find anything to suit my particular needs.. and have wondered if I could have a go at making one... Also im not able to pay the hundreds of pounds some places are asking for!!


The sort of basic design I like is this, but maybe with a different config of shelving etc...



I quite like he chunky style, but would assume that this is perhaps achieved by a wooden framework overlaid with a hardboard/veneer effect surface?

What would be the best materials & joints to use, as I would not want brackets, scres etc visible...

Im quite keen to have a go, as I could do with having a few of these units around the house....

Any help would be appreciated...[/url]

 

[fender]

If you don't want to see any brackets or screws, I'd use dado joints.

If you are going to paint it, I'd use maybe 18mm mdf for the base, dividers and shelves and double it up for a chunky top. Otherwise, you could consider veneered mdf or furniture board. You would have to use iron on edging on the exposed cut edges if you go the route of the veneered mdf though.

You will need a router and a couple of straight bits for this job. On 18mm mdf, I use a 19x19mm straight cutter for the dado's. A longer straight cutter would be the preferred way of getting a good straight flat edge on the top, especially if you double up.