I originally wanted to buy one a media center, but anything i liked cost more than i was willing to spend.I decided to build the whole thing out of 2x8's. since the typical media center was around 16" deep.I cut bought 12' boards and had them cut in half at lowes. Then i shaved off the edges with a table saw.I bought a dowel pin Jig kit from home depot for about $18 and installed them every 3". there really is not rule on how many pins you need. The only thing i read said the more pins you use, the stronger it is.Dowell PinsFor the sides i used a combination of dowell pins and 4 pocket holes per side. I just don't trust Pins alone, even if they are glued in place. I like screws! So 2 pocket holes on the bottom, and 2 pocket holes on the top makes for a sturdy frame.Outer frameI used straps to keep it tight. My clamps weren't long enough.Now it gets a bit easier because most of what i install now just uses shelf brackets. I built this knowing that i need enough room for the center channel speaker and the receiver. The center speaker is about 7.5". and the receiver is about the same. So i made the top section around 8" and the two bottom sections about 8" each. The inner height is 27" and will be divided into 3 equal sections.It's starting to look like somethingAfter i added the shelf brackets i added started the stain. I used red mahagony. I put the stain on until one section was covered and then wiped it off with a rag so that it wasn't too dark.Just the stainThen I added two coats of Minwax fast-drying polyurethane clear satin. I didn't want it too shiny, but it still came out pretty shiny. After the poly dried, i gave it a quick sanding with 320 grit sandpaper and gave it a second coat. That helped out a bunch it making it feel and look smooth.PolyurethaneUnfortunately the doors were a bit of a pain. As much as i tried to keep everything level and true, putting in the doors showed that i was off. I actually had to cut the doors at a bit of an angle, and when i was done resizing them, i had about a visible gap. i thought about ignoring it, but i know it would bother me forever and mock me for as long as i owned this thing. I was in no real rush, so i decided to glue an extra piece of wood on the doors to extend them so i could try again at getting them to fit snugly.fit doors - attempt 2it wasn't too noticeable after a bit of sanding.Much better fitFinally, i needed to add the shelves. I just used cheap white pine for this. Similar color to the 2x8's, so it would be fine.With shelvesFinally, i wanted to decorate it a bit. I bought a few metal pieces off amazon to make it look a little better. About $30 for the round center pull: https://ift.tt/2Ozy7NJ about $30 for the corner protectors: https://ift.tt/2vncc3t also got the box corner protectors pretty cheap, (https://ift.tt/2OzxuUn) i think $8, but they arrived too shiny. I took some sand paper and spray painted them with an antique bronze color from lowes.DoneOld and busted:https://ift.tt/2O0VYoj new Hotness:https://ift.tt/2Ozyacn via /r/DIY https://ift.tt/2vsjx1I
