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My wife and I recently moved after 22 years to a smaller (read that: “downsized”) home of a very different style than our old Victorian. I’d call our new place International Style, Modern or just Contemporary. Such a change prompts a raft of considerations when it comes to furnishings. My list of things to build is growing, but last weekend I managed to check one off the list– a TV stand for our flat-screen.
I’d have to call this project serendipity. It just sort of came together by a series of circumstances. A couple weeks ago I received a press release from Rockler promoting some new accessories called I-Semble for easy shelf building. They looked nice, but were they sturdy? Since I needed a set of casters for the stand, I checked them out at Rockler’s store and found they were sturdy.
At my shop, I went digging through my materials to see what I might find for the lower and upper shelves. There it was – perfect! I had made up several veneered panels for my Woodworking in America presentation on veneering last fall. This one used figured white oak that I made with a butt match. The last bit of serendipity was the white oak edge banding. I had several bundles sitting around from a project going back a few years. It was a bit over 1/4″ thick and just needed to be ripped to width and cut to length. A day in the shop and it was done.
Well, almost done. The veneer panel was already finished. You might notice in the photo that the edge-banding still needs a clear finish to match. I’ll get on that.
Over the past few years I’ve been making more contemporary-style furniture and I often use steel for various structural and decorative elements. These shelf accessories from Rockler are steel and powder-coated black so they complement some of my other custom-made pieces in the room. After being so consumed with packing and moving, getting back in the shop and knocking something out was quite satisfying.
If you’d like to learn more about working with veneer, order our full length DVD video “Getting Started with Veneer” by yours truly, available through Popular Woodworking Magazine‘s online store.
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