Jukebox TV Stand

by Sasquatch1300

3.6K4213

Intro: Jukebox TV Stand

Abstract

The beginning of this project was simple; I'd like to try my hand at bending wood. I woodwork as a hobby and became obsessed after just a few videos worth of a technique know as kerf bending. The move to a new house and lack of TV stand wrought my latest project; The Jukebox. I have been an "Instructables' frequent reader, without contributing, for many years...As ashamed as I am for that, I am proud to contribute my first. I welcome all criticism so I may contribute as the people see fit in the future...and hopefully more frequently if they will it!

Planning & Materials

The first step was to design the project and gather raw materials. I have included my preliminary blue prints and approximate sizes for reference. I was limited by a wall, a fire place and the fire place ledge so my sizes were based on that. I will not include exact dimensions for each piece of this furniture but discuss the process and hope you can scale it to your space/needs.

STEP 1: Exterior Shell

After planning and purchasing I cut the main piece; a 23" wide and 8' long piece of 3/4" plywood. This will serve as the left, right and top of the jukebox as well as both corners which connect these sides. The corners will be continuous by means of a kerf cut bend to give the jukebox a smooth, flowing look. I have shown the kerf cuts and the bend created in the included images.

My two cents

I am no expert on kerf bending, but I'll share what I know. Kerf bending is the process of making many near full depth cuts in a work piece in order to allow it to flex. I set the depth of my circular saw blade to be 1 Ply + outside veneer away from the outside surface of the bend. I used a straight edge as a guide and spaced the cuts about 3 or 4 blade widths apart. The more consistent the kerf spacing, the more consistent the radius of the bend will be.

STEP 2: Cut the Base and Attach

While kerf bending I really had no idea what the final base dimensions would be, so I had to measure. Using painters tape I bent both sides of the exterior piece up and taped them across the top to hold them in place. I used a 12" square and adjusted the tape until the sides were perpendicular to the top. I measured the base and cut it out. To attach the base I used wood glue and 18 gauge brad nails to tack it together. This was followed by counter sunk 1.25" screws.

STEP 3: Interior Structure

The interior of the jukebox was designed to fit my particular speakers & sound system equipment. The speakers are supported up near the top and will be behind a grill also made in this instructable. I aligned the speakers such that the subwoofer and the two book shelf speakers all had their centers at the same height. The interior cabinet lower spaces are not equal in width or height due to equipment storage concerns. The lack of symmetry between left and right made every step of the project more difficult from here on out, but the ability to store all of the equipment was worth it. All of the sections are attached via wood glue and brad nails.

STEP 4: Front and Back

Time to make the front and back of the jukebox which are both constructed from 1/2" plywood. I started by cutting the pieces to approximate rectangular size, tracing the profile, and then rough cutting on the bandsaw. Once rough cut the pieces are clamped to the jukebox and cut to final size with a flush trim router bit. You will have to flush trim between the clamps and move them to complete the process. Please be careful moving the clamps as the piece may move. Finally, make sure you label front and back as they will likely be unique pieces.

I have also included an image of the holes cut in the front piece. I used a jig saw to cut out three holes; one hole for each cabinet door and one for the grill. Each cabinet door was given a 1" surround of plywood as can be seen. The front is mounted via brad nails and wood glue. Please note the image is taken from the back of the jukebox looking forward.

Unfortunately I do not have an image of the back of the jukebox. It is a solid piece of 1/2" plywood with three holes drilled in it for cable routing. The back was painted with a roller and gloss black paint as I had both laying around.

STEP 5: Create the Grill

The grill of the jukebox was made using a wooden die and a shop press. I made the male portion of the die 1/8" smaller than the interior of the female portion of the die. In retrospect this may have been too large of a gap but see what works for you! The patterned metal sheet was cut to size, placed in the die, and slowly formed. The image of the grill in the juke box without a wooden frame shows the grill right out of the die. The press and die achieved the bulk of the shape desired, but much hand forming was still required to shape it to the wooden frame. The hand forming was done with a ball peen hammer which both flattened the mounting flanges and curved the corners. The grill was attached to the wooden frame using a staple gun.

STEP 6: Fins, Doors & Attaching the Grill

What would a jukebox be without fins? I used the 2x4s mentioned in the materials list to create the fins. I used the pieces with the fewest knots and produced about 5 more fins than I needed. The extra fins were made in case I messed up while flush trimming to a template or noticed a defect after making it (I messed 2 up for what it's worth). I made a simple template fin, and created all of the others with a flush trim bit on the router table. I attached the fins to the jukebox with glue and brad nails. If you are going to make this, I strongly recommend painting the fins first and then attaching as this will save copious amounts of taping & time as there are 20 fins total. I've included images of different fin configurations I tried in case you'd like something different!

The doors are simple rectangles made from 3/4" plywood. Unlike the holes they cover, the doors are the same size to give the exterior symmetry. I used two brass hinges per door. Three fins were attached to each of the doors with brad nails and glue. The push latch hardware will be aligned and added once the front is attached. I utilized thick washers I had on hand to ensure even spacing/reveal. I chose push latches simply because I think they're cool!

STEP 7: Assembled, Taping and Paint

Finally the jukebox is fully assembled, and starting to look like a piece of furniture someone can be proud of! I started by painting the interior of the jukebox with three coats of flat black as the paint was cheap and won't often be seen. Next I covered the grill and the cabinet door openings so I could spray primer of the entirety of the exterior. Three coats of primer, followed by sanding with 220 grit, had the exterior smooth and ready for paint. The dust from sanding was removed with an air compressor and then a lint free cloth.

Next I taped the body of the jukebox so the fins and grill could be painted gold. The fins & grill took more coats of gold than I could possibly remember as the color does not cover very well. In the future I'll try a different primer color to see if this helps. With the gold paint applied, I did even more taping, and got to painting red.

The red paint took less coats to cover than the gold, but many to get a good finish. I accomplished this by painting with vertical, horizontal and diagonal spray patterns. I believe it ended up taking 4 coats of red paint total.

The final step of painting was a clear coat. All masking tape was removed and gold and red were clear coated at the same time. This was nerve racking as it can be easily messed up, but turned out good. Everyone says thins coats, but remember it has to be enough to wet out!

STEP 8: Moving Indoors and Final Placement

The project was complete and it was ready to move indoors! My brother helped me move it inside and placed it on the fireplace ledge in our living room. The TV was placed on top but with a protective/decorative cloth between it and the TV legs to prevent scratches. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and I hope this instructable helps inspire you to make one of your own!

STEP 9: What I'd Do Different Next Time

As you might imagine I'd do things differently if I built a second jukebox. I felt it would be helpful if any of you should decide to embark on this endeavor!

  • Paint parts first and then assemble them when possible
  • Spray paint cans of car paint are expensive, I'd buy a can of paint and use a spray gun in the future.
  • Consistent spacing of kerf cuts is key to getting a good bend.
  • Grill is permanently mounted to the jukebox, I'd make it separable in the future.
  • Research primer to paint color compatibility to reduce lighter color paint expenses.
  • Reduce plywood end grain exposure to exterior as much as possible. This is for smoothness and would allow for staining of the piece if desired.
  • Use more magnetic latches on the back piece or more powerful ones. Since my jukebox is against the wall it works, but if it were free standing it would fall off with loud music on.

9 Comments

nacreousnereid 2 years ago

This is fabulous! I can see this as a museum piece in the future. Very Art Deco

SteveB301 2 years ago

That looks great! I second making the grill removable. It would make painting easier too.

I found this webpage about kerf bending:

Kerf Cutting Formula
Measure the length of the Outside radius and subtract the length of the Inside Radius. This gives the amount of frame to be removed.
2. Divide this amount by the thickness of the saw blade. This gives the number of saw cuts.
3. Last, divide the Outside Perimeter of the radius by the number of saw cuts. This gives the distance between.

https://www.abcsignproducts.com/Media/Default/files/catalog/B-Easy-Sheets/H%20-%20Easy%20Sheet%208%20-%20Kerf-Cut%20Radius%20Corners.pdf

snowf7 2 years ago

This is amazing! When I first looked at the picture, I thought you had used an old Juke Box to make the television stand. It is a very professional job and looks extremely retro. If I were to make one, I would want to have two doors on the front. I would put a group of fins on the front with a center fin in the middle. I would make it tall enough to overlap the space where the doors meet. My only other concern would be not having enough airflow and overheating of the system. I am impressed by the way you were able to custom build it to accommodate the equipment you already had. I would vote for you if we still had the option. I did hit the favorite button. Good luck in the contest.

farna6548 2 years ago

Looks great! I started to say something about the shelf since it has an offset that made it harder, but I looked at the pics again and see why -- the height of the subwoofer box. Only thing you could have done was to make the cabinet 3" or so higher so the subwoofer fit on the upper shelf... or get shorter equipment! You did a great job of modifying the shelf so everything fit just right.

olsenm900 2 years ago

Great build! I plan to rebuild an old juke box I have in my home and had been looking to replace the cabinet, do you remember how many cuts you had to make to get the correct 90 degree bend? I think this will turn out better than trying to buy an old cabinet and restoring it. Thanks for sharing!

Pagan Wizard 2 years ago

I agree with you, in that it "will turn out better", but it will also most likely be A LOT stronger and sturdier.

Pagan Wizard 2 years ago

I hit the favorite button before I even read your instructable. There are sooooo many different ways it can be used and decorated. I love anything retro, and this will very easily blend right in.

GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!

charlessenf-gm 2 years ago

Nice work! But, hey, how do you know about Juke Boxes? Are you old enough to know Whose on first?

"Spray paint cans of car paint are expensive"

Yeah, but buying in by the pint or quart is not cheap as you might think. Years ago (1991?) I bought a gallon of Orange the half(?) pint of hardener and pint of another liquid one was to add to the enamel as well as a gallon of lacquer thinner (to clean my old Binks professional spray gun (got from a buddy with an auto body shop in the eighties). Between the aluminum primer. enamel, additives, and the lacquer thinner that gallon of paint set me back close to two hundred dollars. Orange, it turns out, is an expensive color relative to white or (you guessed it) black. Back then, Red was also a relatively expensive color.

Enamel was very forgiving - for a first time, amateur painter. About five years back I went to buy another gallon at an autobody paint supplier only to learn that "We don't sell it anymore. Now its a Base Coat, Top Coat, Clear Coat or nothing."

Tractor Supply and 'farm stores' sell Tractor/Implement paint in quarts and gallons and matching(?) spray cans. They also sell a thinner (to allow spraying) and a hardener. I've not tried spraying the stuff but it is way less expensive than anything you'll find in modern automotive 3-step finishes.