Best Way to Cut This - Jig or Handsaw

[csnow]

I recently picked up a showcase cabinet for the family.  I have decided to convert this cabinet to a HDTV/PS3 setup.  I was able to separate the cabinet last night without breaking it.  Wow, talk about a lot of glue and staples.... gee-sh.  The two boards in the middle of the cabinet are solid pieces of wood and the back panel is a sold piece of wood.  I am going to have to make this a tiered cabinet or tear it completely apart and build from scratch.  I am all for the tiered approach, since I can put the PS3 below the TV.

My problem is what is the best way to cut this.  Last night, I used my small Dewalt circular saw to hack off some height of the cabinet to make it easier to work with.  My next cut needs to be straight and level. Would I be better to use a hand saw or a jig saw.  I am not a woodworker by trade, so maybe there is a better way to cut this.  Below is the picture of how it will look when its done.  Essentially, I will be using the top of the cabinet as the shelf that will hold the TV.  I just cut out a huge section in the middle.

Dont laugh, I know it is a hack job thus far.  I was holding the cabinet with one hand and using the dewalt in the other.  I just wanted to reduce some of the bulk/height so it would be easier to work with on the next cut.  I would like about six inches between the tiers, just enough space to fit a PS3 in there.

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[yaksplat]

Clamp a board down and use that a guide for your circular saw.  I'm really not sure what you're tring to do though.  I'm just referring to circular saw and straight line....

[drventure]

So the idea is to turn the back cabinet that housed the monitor into basically a TV stand? With a little space below the TV to house the PS3?

I'm not sure I completely understand why. Seems like if you just wanted to replace the monitor with a TV, you could just refashion the bezel and mount the TV in the cabinet, but maybe I'm missing something.

As for making a straight cut, most likely the best is to mark your line straight, handsaw (or jigsaw) above the line, then use a plane or hand power planer (I picked up one from harbor freight a while back) to get the edge down true to the line.

If you can take the supports out of the cabinet to lay them flat, just use a circular saw with a guide board of somesort.

I assume you're talking about cutting those vertical, forward pointing supports, right?

[csnow]

The original intent was to mount another flat panel in lieu of the CRT in the cabinet.  I never intended for this to turn out this way but I didnt have a lot of options.  I made an assumption that the area inside (behind the speaker grills) was open/hollow, but it wasnt.  Those two boards that come up through the shelf are one piece and they extened from the bottom of the cabinet all the way to the top.  There wasnt any room to get a larger flat panel in the 4:3 space.  The area I thought would be open was completely boxed in within structural pieces of the cabinet. They simply did a paddle bit hole to run the speaker wires to the speakers which were mounted on a vertical board that sat behind the grills.  I couldnt even fit a 32" LCD that I had laying around in the opening.   I didnt have any more options other than running a less than 32" LDC, stick with the CRT, or build a cabinet from scratch.  At that point, I figured I would just pull the top off and shorten the top, which essentially turned it into a TV stand.

I will clamp a board or my level to the cabinet and make the cuts with the circular saw.  That is a good idea.  I know it looks like a Frankenstein now, but I have confidence it will work out in the end.  I do have a Galaga machine that is still normal if that helps me from getting tarred and feathered.

[drventure]

Oh, it's no big deal one way or the other. One thing you could do, something that I did with an entertainment center once, is remove those inner vertical supports, rebuild the exterior vertical supports to put the top back up high, and brace the top with extra bracing so that it doesn't need the interior supports. You'll loose those side "speaker" areas, but you might just relocate them down low and put smaller speakers in there (like a pair of PC speakers, plus a sub in the cab base.

I guess I just like the looks of those showcase cabs, seems a shame to turn it into a tv pedestal.

Hmm, another possibility is to go ahead, make the pedestal, but then rebuild the sides to extend up above the tv, then cut another top from some MDF, and add a little bracing so it won't sag.

Then you can just set your big screen in there, and fashion a press in frame out of some 1x1 pine, paint black and stretch speaker cloth around it to essentially create a speaker cloth "bezel" for the monitor.

Just an idea....

[csnow]

Thats a good idea about enclosing it.  The TV I am using is 60" so it pretty large, but I will take some measurements.  I found a guy who does cabinets for side jobs on craigslist.  He is coming over this evening so he may have some good ideas of how to build off of this unit without starting fresh.  On a side note, is there a paint code for the black on these cabinets.  They all seem to be pretty close in color.  I would guess a black in satin finish but if there is a certain color code that is used, that would be nice to know.

[kahlid74]

Thats a good idea about enclosing it.  The TV I am using is 60" so it pretty large, but I will take some measurements.  I found a guy who does cabinets for side jobs on craigslist.  He is coming over this evening so he may have some good ideas of how to build off of this unit without starting fresh.  On a side note, is there a paint code for the black on these cabinets.  They all seem to be pretty close in color.  I would guess a black in satin finish but if there is a certain color code that is used, that would be nice to know.

Just one note, In the process for building my showcase cab using a 42" I realized quickly that the standard distance was too close.  So if you don't expand the distance between the control panel pedestal and the TV you're might be to close, even to the point where it will give you headaches and look super pixilated.  There's a great chart floating somewhere online (I'll see if I can find it) for gauging how far away one needs to be to really experience/enjoy a tv.  It's a chart for home entertainment systems but it works the same here.  My guess is in the 5 foot range for you at 60".  You might want to rig it up first as it sits today and try it.  You might find it doesn't work at all.

[csnow]

Thanks for the tip.  I already have a TV that is going to be used for it.  I was planning to upgrade one of my TVs to a larger unit and put the current one on the showcase.  I can take some measurements on how far away the control panel is and stand in front of the tv and play some games and see if I get headaches or if the picture is too bad.

[jpac716]

Any further progress with this I would love to see a 60" showcase cab