Introduction: Wooden Cassette Table for the Living Room

By

When I moved into my apartment I was the owner of a great completely worn Ikea table.

With a heavy heart, I had to go in search of a new table.

Unfortunately, there was no table that met my expectations of the design as well as the price.

Accordingly, I made a plan to create my own.

I made several drawings that changed in the practical process.

In my father's basement I started the construction...

Supplies

Tools:

  • Drilling machine
  • Jigsaw
  • Hole saw for the drill
  • Handsaw
  • File
  • Grinder
  • Band saw
  • Screw clamps
  • Sand paper


Material:

  • 60cm x 100cm Wood multiplex plate (Width 2x 1cm; 1x 3cm)
  • 400cm x 12cm Ground wooden strip 
  • 10cm x 10cm Wooden blocks
  • Miscellaneous waste wood
  • Steel table legs
  • Wood Screws
  • Brown painting
  • Vanish

Step 1: Drawing & Cutting Single Parts

I started cutting the wood panels to the right size.

Then I drew the individual parts to save as much material as possible.

The individual parts saved possible milling and thus creates the required 3D effect.

I sawed the radius for the wooden corners with a sturdy band saw.


Initially, I had considered sawing out the holes with a jigsaw, but unfortunately I did not produce a clean cut.

Accordingly, I bought myself hole saws in the largest size I could find.

You had to be extremely careful not to get jammed with a strong drill.


The first very positive impressions I gained when I put the different parts on top of each other...

Step 2: Gluing & Clamping

I started gluing the corner blocks to the base plate.

Then I adjusted the side panels by a few millimeters and glued them in place.

This was another project where you could see.... You never have enough screw clamps.



Step 3: Making the Audio Tape

For the Tape of the cassette I thought long how I can make them.

The easiest way after long consideration was to put several plates on top of each other and drill the appropriate hole each time.


Unfortunately, this consumed a lot of material, but then you had a very massive table.


For the "gear teeth" I simply sawed out individual cylinders with a small hole saw.

These I simply glued in.


I created a kind of recess for the tape.

Here came the first time color in the project.

I painted a cut slim piece of wood and glued it into the recess.

For the sound coil, I cut a piece of wood with an approximate radius.

This was to simulate the rolled up tape.


I have smoothed all contours with sandpaper and then coated with a varnish

Step 4: Table Frames

Since I hadn't found any table legs/frames for my table, I ordered them made from a drawing I had made.

I attached this frame to the back plate of the table with metric bolts and nuts I found in the basement.

The places where the holes for the racks were, I reinforced inside with more wood scraps.

I screwed the back plate with the table frames to the main side.

Step 5: Table Top

The contours of the cassette made it difficult to use the table.

For this reason, I was looking for a tabletop that could be provided with one.

For this I had an acrylic plate made.

This I could easily make over a specialty retailer on the Internet.

Unfortunately, a customized glass plate for this table was too expensive.

Acrylic: 70€ - 80€ 

Glass: 450€ - 550€