I had some time off over the holidays and managed to finish a media console I’ve been working on. I’m not sure how I feel about this one. On one hand, it’s probably the nicest thing I’ve made but on the other hand, I see all the stupid mistakes I made along the way. I was able to hide a lot of them and it works well in our space so it ended up ok.
I used a walnut plywood that I got from Austin Hardwood in Santa Ana. I really wanted to do bevel cuts for the edges, but I don’t have a table saw or a router so I ended up buying a Makita track saw. It works great and makes super clean cuts so long as everything’s clamped down properly (stupid mistake #1).
Since it’s plywood, I covered the edges with veneer edge banding. It was my first time using it, but it’s really easy to do and it’s actually kind of fun.
I wanted a dark walnut color and I tested out a bunch of stains and oils and ended up using Watco Danish Oil (Dark Walnut). I liked how it brought out the grain and it’s really easy to apply. Although, it wasn’t quite dark enough so I added a light coat of Old Master’s Black Walnut gel stain and finished it with 4 coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal satin.
I sized it to go along with a free TV we got from the neighbors and to also fit a vintage receiver. This also became an interest of mine, so I picked up a vintage Yamaha CR-420 receiver. I honestly chose it mostly because of the aesthetics, but it sounds really clean for a lower powered, compact unit. I paired it with Micca MB42x speakers and I’m really impressed with these too. I feel like buying some more to replace a 5.1 setup in the living room, but we hardly watch anything that’s not on Disney Jr and if we do, it’s usually with it on mute with the subtitles on!
