Designing Building Plans for Custom TV Stands
Designing and constructing your very own tv stand is often preferable to shopping for tv stands in the mall or you local electronics store. But figuring out how to approach the project and organizing you thoughts into logical steps often proves daunting. To help with that, I have put together a few guidelines for drawing up building plans and constructing a custom tv stand of your own design. So, here goes.
Measuring
When building custom tv stands, the first step and most vital is making sure you measure properly. Ideally, you will already know where your stand will reside once finished and you can base your measurements on that location. If you’re not sure were it’s going to go, you best bet would be to base measurements on the size of your TV, adding an additional 30% in width and depth for growing room. Here you are primarily concerned with three dimensions: width, height, and depth. Make sure you add additional depth for wires, and additional height for shelves if you intend to house any media controllers below the TV.
Estimating Materials
Once you have the basic dimensions of your stand, go ahead and draw a sketch of it on paper. This will help you decide on the look of your stand, and features such as shelves. Then, you will need to measure out each piece based on your drawing. You will want to plot these on grid paper or a computer in order to figure out how many board or sheets you will need to purchase on your trip to the hardware store. Don’t forget to account for things like cabinet hardware and trim.
Deciding on Materials
If you are going to commit to a building project such as designing a custom tv stand, you are going to want to use quality materials that will not break down or wear out over years of use. Most quality commercial tv stands are built out of solid hard woods, such as birch or oak. You could use a partical board material, such a melamine, but over time you may end up with sagging shelves or premature wear relegating your hard work to the city dump. If at all possible, buy your wood panels in standard sheets. You can make your shelves out of the scraps from those sheets, and you will save money by cutting it yourself. Lastly, if you intend to paint your tv stand ultimately, it will not matter if you are mixing woods. You might consider going with cheaper woods for the portions that carry less weight.
Cutting
One of the most important steps in the process of building a tv stand is cutting out the pieces. The old carpenters adage of “measure twice, cut once” certainly applies here. I suggest using a table saw for cutting, as it is nearly impossible to get a clean and straight cut otherwise. Pull out the document or computer diagram where you drew out the pieces on the wooden board. Measure and cut the sheet long-ways first. The short cuts will be easier and you will likely have spare board if you mess up on them. But do your best not to mess up the long cuts. A pencil is helpful to mark key cut lines, and it can be erased or painted over later.
Assembly
The key to assembly is glue - wood glue. You can’t nail straight if your pieces aren’t stable and in proper position. Therefore, it is necessary to set every piece with glue first, then use pin nails to secure the boards. A nail gun is more than helpful here. Also, it looks unprofessional if you have any cut edges showing, so you will want to measure and cut trim pieces to cover them up.
Finishing
To make your tv stand look like tv stands you see at the neighborhood furniture store, you need to add a few finishing touches. First, you will want to sand any rough places, specifically edges that are sharp or fresh cut. Sand with a circular motion or use a rotary sander; use fine hand-held sandpaper for hard to reach areas or detailing. Second, doors are a nice touch and I would suggest purchasing pre-crafted doors that fit your stand. The hinges and magnets can be bought at any hardware store. Finally, you will want to either stain or paint your tv stand. Stain will usually look nicer, but know that you will see the wood grain showing through and thus you will need to have built your stand with the same wood type throughout.
With that, I bid you good luck.
REVIEW: Bush TV Stands And Entertainment Centers
The diamond standard in tv stands are Bush tv stands. Any style you could want from contemporary to ultra-modern to replicas of old fashioned furniture, the Bush company offers it in a tv stand or an entertainment center. These television stands offer three features that not all of their competitors can claim: quality, looks, and style. This post will review a few of Bush’s different products to help you decide for yourself which one is best for you.
Contemporary Bush TV Stands
The Napa TV Stand can hold up to a 27 inch traditional television or a 37 inch flat screen. It is in a light cherry finish, comes with rear access for wiring, and an adjustable shelf. The pull out drawer features a slide with ball bearings for longer wear and easier use. The contemporary look can fit into many different decors and the quality of this model offers a long life.
The Sonoma 60 Inch Flat Panel TV Stand can hold up to a 36 inch standard television and a 60 inch flat panel tv. It features 3 tempered glass doors that offer adjustable shelving for video or audio equipment. The mocha cherry finish should fit into nearly any room quite nicely.
The Savannah corner tv stand holds up to a 36 inch traditional television and a 42 inch flat panel. It features two glass doors for component access, rear wire routing, and 6 drawers to let you store your cds and dvds. The space saving design holds up to 240 lbs. The dark cherry finish will accent most light colored rooms and other dark furniture, nicely.
Modern Bush TV Stands
The Raptor Video Game Station can hold a 42 inch flat panel television or a 36 in traditional TV. This model features notched doors so you can have the wires for your controllers out without exposing the entire game system, two tempered glass doors, and a drawer with a drop down face for easy access to your game console. The Quest Video Game Station is another ultra-modern cabinet, but this one uses wood and plastic to pull off its unique look and style.
Another of the Bush tv stands that is modern looking is the Segments Swivel 50. Most 50 inch flat panel tv’s will mount to the Segments Swivel as long as they weigh 117 lbs or less. When mounted the tv can turn a maximum of 10 degrees to either side. This model has been thoroughly tested to make sure that it will not tip.
Bush tv stands come in a large variety of styles for you to choose from. The main reasons to choose a Bush product over the many other brands available are quality, style, and function. All of their products deliver on these points. As an added bonus, there is free shipping on some products and no sales tax in 49 out of 50 states. Kansas is the only exclusion. Bush offers good quality furniture at low prices with free shipping and no sales tax. What else could you ask for?
Why do Plasma TV Stands cost so much?
If you’re in the market for a tv stand for your newly purchased plasma screen tv (which you got a great deal on, I hope), then you have no doubt run across the exorbitantly high prices they tend to garner. Many of them cost $200 on up to $1000 plus. Does it seem to anyone that we may be getting hosed? Well, if you answered a resounding “YES”, then you may proceed with the rest of the article.
So the question remains then: why do these low-quality, cheaply-made, snap-together tv stands cost an arm and a leg and maybe even a big toe? The answer, my friend, is the same as it is in real estate: location, location, location.
Consider the situation: You just bought your shiny new Samsung 50-Inch Plasma HDTV, and your about to wet yourself with excitement. You somehow get that thing home, thanks to your brother-in-law who curses the day he ever bought that F350 longbed. You break your back and his trying to get that acward yet massive box into your house, uncrate it, and regret sincerely that you didn’t just pay the guy at Best Buy to deliver it. So, your starting down at it and then up at the wall you’ve set aside - it will be the center-piece of your entire world. And then it sinks in. How are you ever going to hang that beast on your pristine living room wall? You look over at your brother-in-law to ask his advice, but he has already checked out (he can read the tea leaves, oh yeah). So, you decide after much internal debate - that you might just be better off for the time being to get yourself a nice, cheap tv stand. Nothing fancy, just something to put the tv on, after all who’s going to be staring at the tv stand when you have a 50-Inch Plasma HDTV directly above it? So, you return to Best Buy (or whatever electronics store you bought the plasma from). They have two stands that may hold your tv. One is perfect, and it is $800. The other is of questionable quality and may collapse under the weight of your collosal television, but it only costs $650 so you go it. On the way home, you are either praying that your tv survives once you set it on top or you are calling your brother-in-law again to return for another back-breaker.
Now, what have we learned from this? Brothers-In-Law are useful in some cases? Yes. Always pay for the delivery? No doubt. Never buy a tv stand from an electronics store? Now you’re catching on.
Electronics stores do not specilize in furnature, so your best prices are not going to be there. In addition, they have a captive audience. You just bought a freakin’ huge tv from them. Why not just get the stand while you’re there. Finally, since they aren’t primarily selling tv stands, they are only going to have room for a few of them, leaving your selection minimal at best.
Bottom line: Forget buying a tv stand at an electronics store or general retailer. You will get the best prices at a store who specilizes in furnature or online (watch the shipping).