Alex oils up the panel

We get everything except the frame for the TV done. At this point I am still in the air on the display model  I am going to use. I am trying to work a promo deal with the manufacturer but am still waiting to hear back from them. It’s expensive and they have to figure if it’s worth it. If it’s not I will have to buy the dang thing. I’ll get a good deal from my buddy Alon at Shelly’s but it will still cost some real money. I made my inner box flexible enough to accommodate a 70” screen if I want to go to a bigger format in the future. With this design a new TV will only require that the trim frame be changed or remade. I’m thinking that the 62” is big enough since we are going from a 27”…but you never know.

The piece is broken back down into components. I weigh all the parts to see how much it weighs, as I am still concerned about it being too heavy. All the parts less the frame come to 435 pounds. Not bad, with the TV at 150# and the equipment at another 50 we are only hanging about 635# plus media in the drawers and cabinet. That works out to about 55#s a lineal foot. That doesn’t scare me so much cause I think when we bolt this up to the wall the backboard essentially becomes the wall and only the weight hanging on that is what I need to worry about.

Component parts are way easier to finish than a big piece. We oil everything up with Minwax clear oil to bring out the color of the mahogany. I use mahogany for the color it will become not what we are seeing now. In time it will be way darker and richer than the “green “ finish that we will see as we work it. After it cures Alex sands it and topcoats it with clear precatalyzed lacquer.

Reassembling after the finish is complete

The next day we reassemble the boxes and all the rest of the parts to make sure everything is aligned and working. It looks good. I’ll leave the backs off for now as I think that I will initially mount them on the wall by themselves. It will be a lot easier to handle the ¾” back to get the position and mounting right. When I do then I can attach them to the boxes, bring each side in separately and then assemble the whole unit in the house. All we have to do now is the TV frame and we can get this unit installed