Building First Cabinet

[scream1973]

I am getting ready to impart on building my first cabinet with my son.. It will be a woodgrained style cabinet so it blends in with my entertaining area which has tigerwood floors and all wood 9' bar so the wife wants something that would blend in..( Ie no Black cabinet)

So thinking 3/4 furniture grade oak plywood or birch ( not sure which yet depends on price and availability).

Currently I have a 21" CRT monitor that i am planning to make use of that i picked up off freecycle but heres my question. I am planning to use the UAII plans from the Project Arcade book since the wife likes the look of this cabinet as well.

Should i build the cabinet width based on the width of a 25-27" LCD vs the 21" CRT in anticipation of potentially swapping it out in the future when the monitor bites the dust or should i just not worry about it and just build for what i have today with a lil bit of extra room

[leapinlew]

Go with the 27" and start combing craigslist. Shouldn't take long.

[Donkbaca]

I am building a birch wood cabinet, and am having the WORST time getting it to stain the way I want.  Maybe oak would be better.

[Garza]

Yes Go With the 27" you will be happy in the future. Always leave room for a good upgrade!

[jipp]

yes build it with the biggest monitor you think you may use down the road even if you do not have it.  or you will have to rebuild your self another one down the road.  i messed up and used OSB for my first cab.  i did not know any better.  so not only should of i made me cab for a bigger monitor, should of used plywood or MDF.  good luck and enjoy the time you have with your son.

chris.

[scream1973]

Thanks.. thats the way i was leaning as well.

@ Donkbaca - I have built furniture in the past with birch ply and never had a problem getting a good stain on it . .What type of stain are you using ?
I used a water based stain by Sicco ( Canadian company) and pre-treated the wood with a conditioner and then lightly sanded to remove the raised grain and then applied a few coats of stain and ended up with a really nice cherry finish on the piece..

I built the bar completely out of oak ply and used minwax oil based stain and had no issues getting a great stain on it

[Spock]

I've had good luck building this type of cab so far.  One bit of advice for the large TV.  Go with the 27", but pre-measure your doorways to see if the width will fit.  Mine will fit in the front door, but not in one of the upstairs rooms (where is was going to go).  DOH!  Well, since no wife will be down with a 4p cab in the living room, I will keep that one in the garage and use it for parties (roll it through the front door).  It gives me an excuse to make a slim cab similar to the kneivel woody to go upstairs  .

As for the Birch plywood, I had good luck staining a table I made of the stuff.  I used Minwax dark cherry (forgot real name, but it looks like dark cherry), but NOT the all in one.  Use stain, multiple coats, then apply a shellac or other sealant for best results.

[Donkbaca]

I am using the minwax polyshades, the all in one. I used the prestain conditioner and can't seem to get a dark stain on it.  I am going to try to use a gel stain to see if it takes better.

So you are saying the regular stain takes better than the all -in -one polyshades?  Maybe I'll try that next time

[Donkbaca]

Also, I am going to be a bit contrary and say go for the CRT.  Most MAME games were done in 4:3 aspect ratio, and the 21" crt will have a slightly larger 4:3 picture than a 25" widescreen, and you won't have to worry about stretching or black bars or a large bezel.  Also, I would worry about viewing angles and lag on the lcd.

That being said though, I am going with an LCD on my cab because the wife wants a slim profile cab.  I am going with a 21.3" 4:3 screen I got off ebay.  You can find one for under $150 bucks.  Its sort of the best of both worlds in my opinion.

[scream1973]

Yeah i found those all in ones poly shades are basically almost like a one shot deal because the stain and the poly are in one so after the first coat you kinda get what you get cause the poly seals it so the wood wont take much more in the way of stain to darken it up..

[Donkbaca]

Thanks for the advice.  Do you think I can do a gel stain on top of it to try to salvage it?  Or should I just scrap it and start over?

[scream1973]

If you give it a light sanding to break through the poly then the gel might be able to get through.. otherwise the gel might be able to stick to the poly as well a lil and give you some extra darkness.

[Donkbaca]

Thanks scream, I will give it a sand and try the gel.  Sorry for hijacking your thread

As for your project.  I think the best comrpomise is to build a slim cab with a 21.3" 4/3 screen.  The screen will be just as tall, or slightly taller than the 25-26" screen and you won't have to deal with stretched pictures or letterboxing, or any of that.  Plus, as an added bonus, these screens are super-nice.  They have better better colors and wider viewing angles then the one you have as most have superior technology.  These screens are $700+ brand new and you get a used one on e-bay for under $200.  Then you can build a slim cab, which your wife will like because it will take up less space, and you will have a really, really nice screen.

Here is a comparison of screen area between common sized 4:3 and 16:9 screens:
http://www.martijnkoch.com/lcds.gif

Here is a good discussion on 4:3 LCD monitors:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=99963.0

If you are budget conscious, I say go with the CRT, otherwise get one of the 21.3: 4:3 lcd's, you won't be disappointed, and your wife will like the slim cab better.

[scream1973]

Funny thing is i have showed her some of the slimmer cabinet designs and she doesnt really care for them.. I have the space for a fair sized cabinet so am probably gonna do just that .. I have the CRT already for no cost so thats whats going into it for the first build but i know when it dies (which it will at some point) the only thing available will be LCD so i want to kinda future proof my cabinet with some additional room to put the lcd in place at a later date..

[bkenobi]

Polyshades is CRAP!  I've used it for a few projects (I didn't know better) and got some good and some horrible results.  The problem with that stuff is that it's not a stain as much as a tinting agent.  You are basically painting on a thin layer of semi-transparent film.  If you try to sand it, the stuff peels off and makes a horrible mess.  It's hard to get an even coat and tends to bead up creating dark spots/streaks.

I've found that it's better to use a real stain!  Oh, and don't skip the conditioner!  Without that step, you WILL get uneven splotches all over the place.  Take the extra time and do it right.

Sand, Condition, sand, stain, sand, seal...BEAUTIFUL!

And tack cloth is very useful too!

[Bechor75]

I am getting ready to impart on building my first cabinet with my son.. It will be a woodgrained style cabinet so it blends in with my entertaining area which has tigerwood floors and all wood 9' bar so the wife wants something that would blend in..( Ie no Black cabinet)

So thinking 3/4 furniture grade oak plywood or birch ( not sure which yet depends on price and availability).
...

Building a fine grade cabinet is really a bit hard for the first time but afterward all things will go along smoothly. You have a nice choice of wood; I hope it’s not a redwood oak. When I first made my hand made cabinet my father taught me to make a sketch of it with proper measurement.

[scream1973]

Building a fine grade cabinet is really a bit hard for the first time but afterward all things will go along smooth. You have a nice choice of wood, but its not redwood oak I hope, because its wood color is a bit hard to combine with the varnish. When I first made my hand made cabinet my father teach me to make a sketch of it with it measurement, I just remember it and thought to share it with you, I hope it can help.

No the oak i use is more of a whiteish oak. I built our entire bar and bar back cabinet ( 20 some odd feet of bar and shelving out of it .. ) I think it turned out pretty well it took stain great ..

[gman900]

i build them out of birch, but are painted not stained

[scream1973]

Quite the production line you got going there..

[gman900]

i build them for a living...old school gamer.

[scream1973]

Finally got rolling on the actual construction..