After several years with housing my audio and video equipment in a leftover floor cabinet, we recently purchased a custom made enclosure. The old one was grey/black, about knee-high with glass doors. It worked well with the old 32" tube TV, but for the last several years we have been enjoying a 40" flat LCD TV. It looked out of place with the low cabinet and the jury rigged platform and black cloth cover necessary to approach some measure of aesthetics and attain an acceptable viewing height. Now that winter has settled in and we spend much of our late evenings in this room with the wood stove and TV, we decided a change should be made.
After some discussion with my friend Dave, measurements were taken and a project diagram was created. Dave has a big wood shop and is a gifted carpenter. As it turned out, he called three days after receiving the diagram and asked for me to come to the shop and pick out material for the project. I was stunned to see the framed and nearly complete piece awaiting the first steps of finishing. We applied tung oil and trimmed a few details. Two days later he stopped by to deliver the finished product.
A beautiful piece which fits the electronics very nicely. Complete with wire paths down the top rear, through the first shelf; as well as power and signal paths to hide wiring behind the lower skirt and back. I am awaiting an HDMI DVD player and will finish with hiding all visible wires when Santa finally delivers.
Finished in satin polyurethane and done in real oak and oak veneer, this entertainment center is a great addition to the living room.
Dave says to let you know that custom cabinets are available and pricing is reasonable. If you are interested, respond to me with a comment.
What fun!! The only cold parts were my fingertips, even with the heated handgrips. The gloves are summer gloves and even though there are hand guards breaking the wind my fingers became very cold. The bike ran great after taking a long time to warm up and I had a great time enjoying the sunshine.
