Fireplace surround update

Construction of the fireplace surround is underway.  Here’s a recent picture.

Mantel under construction

The surround I based this design on was constructed from quarter sawn oak.   After a visit to a local lumber supply, I decided on red oak.  There was plenty of stock to choose from and I really liked the grain of the wood.  I built the legs of the surround with pocket screws and glue.  The mantel is joined in the same manner except that the bottom is fixed with glue and brads since there isn’t enough room to join both the top and bottom with pocket screws.

Three corbels (brackets) will be mounted under the mantel shelf.  There are also a few pieces of trim to apply yet.  Joining each piece to the wall creates its own set of challenges.  I want to minimize any visible hardware and I want to be able to build it in place, remove it for finishing, and then reinstall it.     I’ll try to post more detailed pictures of the underlying construction when I do the final install.

There’s a picture of the fireplace without the surround in this post.

First run at building a cabinet

The original theater plan called for cabinets, but we decided to skip that rather large project to get the space usable before the holidays.  So I installed the electronics and everything is now sitting on the floor.  I decided to use some scrap 1/2 inch plywood to make a small cabinet for the receiver, bluray player and power conditioner.

Some quick measurements of the equipment and the plywood showed that the best use of the lumber would give me a cabinet 24 inches high by 20 inches wide by 18 inches deep.  I planned to use my Kreg pocket hole jig to join the pieces.

The end result came out just OK.  It will do the job for now, but it’s not going to win any prizes for pretty.  That’s OK, because I was looking for some experience with the tools and construction methods before I tackle the larger cabinets.  Here are my lessons learned:

• Face joining the 1/2 plywood top and bottom to the sides didn’t work.  The manual said it wasn’t recommended, but I gave it a try.  The material splits.  Glue and brads did the trick.
• The pocket screws held the fixed shelves firmly to the sides, but if you overdrive the screws, it split the plywood and went through the sides.
• I was glad I glued all the joints, since not all of my pocket joinery worked well.  Where I had to back out a protruding screw, I was able to use a brad to hold everything while the glue set.

I spent about 2 – 3 hours working on it Sunday.  It seems sturdy enough for 1/2″ plywood.  I’ll see what it looks like after it gets some paint.  If it’s not too ugly, I’ll post a picture