DVD Video Storage Cabinet

The plans for this DVD video storage cabinet actually started out a little more interesting than the result you see here. My mother-in-law had asked me to design a shelf to store DVD?s, CD?s, and VHS tapes.

I came up with a clever shelf that was adjustable to fit various combinations of CD's and DVD's perfectly. It turns out all she really wanted was a set of simple DVD storage shelves. So I headed back to the drawing board and turned out these plans for a pretty basic DVD storage cabinet.

At first, I considered making the shelves fixed rather than adjustable. A DVD case is about 7-1/2? tall by 5-3/8? deep so the 8-1/2? tall clearance would have been fine. However, by making the shelves adjustable it will be useful for storing other things as future needs change.

Material I?m quite sure that you?re all getting pretty sick and tired of me building things out of 3/4? white melamine. But this time in particular, that?s what she asked for! My in-laws just had some new cabinets installed as part of a dining room addition and everything is white. So in this case, white melamine really did fit in okay.

I should take a moment to mention that there are significant differences in the quality of various brands and grades of melamine panels. This is probably why it often gets such a bad rap. I picked up some melamine at the local ?home improvement warehouse? and it turned out to be complete garbage. The core was a very poor grade of particle board, making it completely unsuitable for building cabinets.

For the DVD video storage cabinet I bought a reputable brand of melamine from a lumber yard that often deals in factory seconds. The core was a dense, good quality particle board, but the face had several blemishes in it that really caused problems when I laid out the sheet for cutting. Also, the price was very little different than what I would have paid for a high quality panel at a commercial lumber supplier. The bottom line is that it pays to shop carefully when choosing your materials.

Construction The DVD storage cabinet is really just an open wall cabinet with a couple of minor adjustments. First, since I wanted a specific clear distance between the shelves, I placed the shelf support holes at intervals other than the standard 32mm. Keeping 8-1/2? between shelves allows enough room for a DVD (or VHS tape?they?re the same height) plus a bit of room to reach in and pull the disc or tape off the shelf.

As I was designing the original DVD video storage plans, I needed to center the adjustable shelves on the support holes. Normally the shelf sits slightly above the hole, depending on the shelf pin or support used. To achieve the look and spacing I wanted, I opted for an angled steel shelf support. They?re available for use in both 5mm and 1/4" holes and they allow the shelf to sit approximately centered on the hole.
Wall Mounting One of the things that makes this DVD video storage cabinet unique is the method used for mounting it to the wall. Rather than screw the cabinet directly to the wall, it is hung on a pair of beveled rails called a French cleat. One cleat is attached to the cabinet and the other is attached to the wall. The cabinet is then hooked onto the wall cleat. A screw can then be used through the bottom nailer to prevent the cabinet from being lifted up off the cleat.

Hanging wall cabinets using a French cleat is actually pretty common. In fact, there are several commercially produced metal variations on the wooden French cleat that I?ve employed here. A couple significant advantages of using a French cleat are increased strength and a better ability to hang your cabinets level and plumb.

Strength is improved, especially in a long run of cabinets, because the wall cleat runs the full length of all the cabinets and is screwed to every stud. Sometimes with long runs of narrow cabinets you?re only able to fasten a cabinet to one stud. By using a French cleat, the weight of the cabinets is evenly distributed between all the studs.

Leveling your cabinets is also easier with a French cleat. You only need to level and plumb a 4? wide board. This is so much easier to handle than four or five cabinets ganged together. It?s also possible to shim the wall cleat away from the wall if the wall isn?t perfectly straight.

In my particular case I was most interested in the French cleat because it allowed me a very simple, concealed method of fastening the DVD video storage cabinet to the wall. Since both cleats are completely enclosed between the cabinet back and the wall, you can hang it without any exposed fasteners. This cabinet is so small that I wouldn?t even add the screw through the bottom nailer.

Drawing File I suppose this has digressed from how to build a DVD storage shelf into a discussion on avoiding poor quality sheet goods and a mini primer on the use of French cleats for hanging cabinets. If after all that you still want to see some plans for DVD storage, then just click on the link below. If you'd like to download a copy to your computer, right click then "save-as". Either way, you'll need the Adobe reader to view the file.

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Fine Woodworking Magazine Goes Digital

June 28th, 2011 in blogs         6 users recommend $(document).ready(function() {$("a.popit").fancybox();});

At long last, Fine Woodworking magazine has gone digital! We've just launched a new viewing feature which allows users to view our magazine online in a digital format. To get things started we're offering up a FREE preview issue for the entire FWW community. Going forward, an FWW online membership will give you access to browse recent issues at the click of a mouse. The new issue viewing platform allows you to flip through the magazine as if it were right in your hands. It features a whole host of user-friendly options you may find helpful when viewing our magazine, but those who still enjoy receiving FWW in the mail need not worry, we're not discontinuing our standard print edition. This is just an added bonus and convenience for online members who can access FWW anywhere, print pages right from the magazine, enlarge photos and text, and continue to download individual articles via our PDF files which launch with every issue.

Browse the FREE preview issue now!

Members can now browse all of the latest issues online.

***UPDATE: We would like to clarify that the online issue viewer is not yet compatible with the iPad. An update to the code is soon to arrive, which will make it compatible. We are limited to what Apple allows us to do on their platform and will be accommodating our format as soon as possible. Our video workshops and 90% of our other videos have been updated for compatibility and function on the iPad. In addition, online members will continue to be able to view PDF articles from the individual article pages. ***

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FineWoodworking.com editors report from the woodworking front lines. Check in every weekday for news, information, projects, and answers to questions from Fine Woodworking readers everywhere.

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My Very First Blog Entry

Giving away free woodworking plans seems contrary to my job creating drawings in a commercial cabinet shop. Due to the highly custom nature of these woodworking projects, it's rare that a design created for one customer is ever suitable for another. Countless hours and dollars are spent on a drawing that usually gets discarded or filed away and forgotten after only one or two uses. The Problem I wouldn't throw away a brand new table saw or a quality hand tool, but what could I do about all of these valuable designs going to waste? My Solution First of all, I could plan the projects such that the designs are much more suitable for reuse. In the shop we get in a hurry to push jobs through production and we don't take the time to make the design reusable or configurable. My goal is to include elements in every design that allow for rapid customization and multiple configurations.

Secondly, I could share the designs. Give away free woodworking plans! I can't give away the actual woodworking drawings from my job. They belong to the company or the customer who paid for them. In addition, those designs generally aren't suitable for reuse. So the plans you will find here are original, created from scratch to share with you. What To Expect Keep in mind that since I'm coming from a commercial cabinet background, the plans tend to be more shop drawings than project instructions. They assume a modest level of skill reading prints and working with tools and wood. Even so, I'll try to include projects that are very basic as well as those that are much more complex. Getting Started If you are new to woodworking, I encourage you to find someone who is willing to share their knowledge and experience with you. For those of you who are seasoned pros, I endeavor to earn your respect. To everyone, I welcome and encourage your feedback.

The greatest lessons I can hope to learn about designing cabinets and furniture don't come from books or drawing instructors. They come from you folks out in the shop. With that, I hope these free woodworking plans find as much use in your shop as that brand new table saw or your favorite hand tool.

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Outdoor Woodworking Designs

This collection contains woodworking designs for the outdoors. Included in these outdoor woodworking plans you'll find projects for your yard or garden. As with several of the projects on this site, many of the designs were originally developed to be given as gifts.

One thing to pay particularly close attention to when building outdoor woodworking projects is the wood species. If your project doesn't need to last very long, there is no need to pay premium prices for moisture and insect resistant woods like Cedar and Redwood.

However, less expensive woods like Fir and Pine need to be well protected with paint or outdoor wood sealer. Otherwise, they will become moldy and rotten after only a couple of seasons out in the elements.

I have chosen to use Cedar in most of my projects. Personally, I like the look of natural wood and don't care much for the chemicals in outdoor wood sealers. Also, where I live Cedar is readily available and less expensive than Redwood.

I just let the wood weather naturally. It would last a bit longer if I coated it with wood sealer, but I'm happy with the look and the project lifespan without the use of the chemicals.

Pressure treated lumber is also available that resists rot and insects. However, it's probably not suitable for many of the woodworking designs here. The biggest problem with using pressure treated lumber is that you can't cut or sand the wood without creating chemical-laden sawdust.

Also, most pressure treating only reaches a short distance below the surface of the wood. Anywhere the wood is cut, you need to apply end-cut treatment to the cut surface in order to maintain the rot-resistant properties.

For my money, I simply prefer a wood species that naturally works well outdoors with no further treatment. Barring that, any wood species will work fine outside as long as you keep it well painted or well sealed. This is usually necessary about every other year.

Whatever wood you choose, I hope you enjoy building the projects from these free outdoor woodworking plans.

Want to make some birds in your neighborhood happy? Take a gander at these bird feeder plans and you'll be well on your way. By following the link or clicking on the picture, you'll find more details and drawing files in PDF format that you can view or download.

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Book Giveaway: Shop Improvements: Outstanding ideas from the world's finest woodworkers from Fine Woodworking magazine

June 26th, 2011 in blogs         1 user recommends $(document).ready(function() {$("a.popit").fancybox();}); Photo: Matt Berger

Shop Improvements
Taunton Press, 2007
$19.95; 224 pp.

We have an extra copy of this book in our library so we’re giving you an opportunity to win it. Leave a comment here for your chance to win.

This book is a collection of articles from past issues of Fine Woodworking covering all sorts of things for the shop. There are lots of jig articles for the tablesaw, bandsaw, planer, router and the drill press. Also included are smart storage solutions and improvements to workstations and shop aids, like a tilt-top shop cart that handles plywood and a rock-solid plywood bench. Like Fine Woodworking articles over the years, these articles include detailed drawings and photos to help with step-by-step instruction. Quite simply, Shop Improvments is full of great ideas and would be a great help to just about all woodworkers.

Leave a comment on this post by 12:01am Eastern Time, Tuesday, July 5, 2011, and you might just win this book.

And after you’ve won the book and read it, we would love for you to come back and post another comment and tell us what you think of it.

A winner will be chosen at random and announced on Wednesday, July 6, 2011.

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Woodworking Projects For Kids

This category contains some great woodworking projects for kids. Some of the projects are excellent for kids themselves to build. Others are more complex and you'll just want to build them for the kids in your life. Or build them for the kid in you!

Kids love to be in the shop around tools and woodworking. Helping to build their own toys, or gifts for others, can bring them unmatched pride and satisfaction.

I encourage you to include them in your woodworking projects whenever you can. But please keep safety as THE most important factor whenever using tools around children, especially with power tools.

Here is an easy plan for a set of wooden toy blocks, inspired by a set my grandfather built. Simply follow the link or click on the picture. You'll find more details and drawing files in PDF format that you can view or download.

Fun little set of workbench plans that my daughter's friend dreamed up. The bench is sized for a child, but with a little modification would work great for an adult as well. Take a look, especially if you're looking for a project that you can build with your kids.

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DVD-CD Storage Cabinet

When my mother-in-law asked me to design a DVD-CD storage cabinet, these plans are what I had originally come up with. It turns out she really only needed to store DVD?s, so the plans were scrapped and gave way to the DVD storage cabinet you?ll see elsewhere on the site.

I was bummed that she only wanted a simple shelf, because I had come up with a kinda clever way of locating the adjustable shelves to fit various combinations of CD?s and DVD?s. Although I never had a chance to actually build the original shelf, I'm publishing it here for those who might find it useful.
Material There isn?t much to say about materials. It?s designed with the same white melamine as the DVD cabinet, with white PVC edge banding. As with many of the projects you'll find here, it could also be built out of plywood or even solid lumber.

I did learn something new about edge banding while designing the DVD-CD storage cabinet and building the DVD shelf. Most of my experience with banding has been operating automatic glue pot edgebanders in a commercial shop. During my very first job in a cabinet shop I also had some exposure to a simple table-top hot air bander, but that?s about it.

Recently I bought a used Virutex hand-held hot air edgebander (apparently the same machine is marketed under the Grizzly brand name). I?m accustomed to high quality PVC edge banding and was quite disappointed to discover that virtually all of the pre-glued edge banding on the market is cheap, lightweight vinyl. No wonder hot air edge banding has such a poor reputation!

I contacted my favorite edge banding supplier, Frama-Tech, and they are able to pre-glue any of their stock PVC colors for a small fee. That?s pretty awesome considering they?re incredible at matching even the most obscure laminate color. Of course my first order of PVC was white for the DVD-CD storage cabinet but it could have been just about any color I wanted.

I?m used to 15/16? edge banding and it worked very well in the Virutex bander. Having a bit of extra width was helpful in making sure it completely covered the edge of the board when my hand wasn?t running very steady. I used a FastCap Quad Pro Trimmer on the edges and a Flush Cut Trimmer for the ends. It went very quickly and you can?t tell the difference between the hand-held bander?s work and that from a $25,000 automatic glue pot bander!

Hardware Other than some small size differences, the major difference between the original DVD-CD storage cabinet and the plain old DVD shelf is in the shelf pin hole location and hardware. Initially, I wanted the CD storage shelf to be configurable for several combinations of CD?s or DVD?s. Regular 32mm system holes don?t always line up nicely for storing items of a real specific size. So I placed holes in a modestly sized cabinet such that the resulting shelf spacing would be a ?perfect? fit for storing CD?s, DVD?s, or VHS cassettes.

In the original design I had figured on using a low profile, concealed shelf support. The main purpose for this was to allow the shelf to be centered on the pin holes rather than sitting above the holes on shelf pins. I also liked the clean look of no exposed shelf supports. This requires slot to be cut in the ends of the shelves to conceal the shelf support.

When I switched to the simple DVD shelf, I also simplified the construction by eliminating the concealed support in favor of an angled steel shelf support. The angled support didn?t require the extra groove in the ends of the shelves, but still centered the shelf on the pin holes. I left the concealed support in the original DVD-CD storage cabinet plans just so you could see a nice alternative method for supporting adjustable shelves.

Drawing File Even though the DVD shelf design turned out nice, I still like this design better. Hopefully you?ll enjoy it too. You can view the drawings by clicking on the link below. If you'd like to download a copy to your computer, right click then "save-as". Either way, you'll need the Adobe reader to view the file.

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