TANSU ENTERTAINMENT CENTER
This tansu inspired entertainment unit was made for my brother-in-law to accommodate his 40-in.(that started out as a 27" and who knows how big they are now)  flat-screen TV and audio-video gear. I drew the plans from scratch, custom-fitting most of the shelves for his A/V components. The overall dimensions of the piece are 54 W x 27 D x 28 1/2 H. All the joinery is wood on wood -- not a screw or nail to be found! The tansu frame is made entirely from solid Australian lacewood, and the side panel and front door frames are solid padauk. The drawer fronts are solid tiger maple, and the side panels are 1/4-in. rock-maple-faced plywood. I used just basic power and hand tools to build this piece, including a mini biscuit joiner to join the interior parts of the front doors. there isn't a drop of stain anywhere on the piece, instead, all the wooden parts are finished with three coats of Bartley's Gel Satin finish, applied by hand.
	The lumber is from Groff & Groff Lumber, Inc. in Quarryville, PA, here I am (or at least part of me) at the yard after selecting these fine pieces. My brother-in-law came along for the trip to help select which pieces he preferred.
	Here's all of the raw lumber used in the entire project, save the MDF for the component shelves and plywood. The tiny window is one of three tiny windows in my shop.
	The front door panels are DuPont Nomex paper. It is very inexpensive and much more durable than either rice paper or fiberglass "rice paper." Unfortunately it only comes in the color you see and it has "DuPont Nomex Paper" printed in green about every 12 in. on one side. One advantage of the Nomex is that it is 100% waterproof, so it will not sag or shrink with changes in humidity. Can you believe that all of the infrared signals from his remotes pass through the Nomex?
	Here is a pic with the front door removed (notice it's still a 27" TV) and a better perspective of just how big this thing really is.
	A close up of the striped tiger maple drawer front.  I learned the hard way (HARD!!) that Blum slides have a small drop that creates an uneven gap in your painstakingly fitted slush drawer front. If I could do it all over again I would have used ball bearing accuride slides instead!
	I came back a month later to install the doors and noticed he'd been feeding the 27" TV steroids. It grew into a 40" flat screen and it maximizes the foot print of the top!  Thankfully, the piece is designed to hold the added weight. The matching speaker stands are featured here.
	The shelves are mounted on Blum drawer slides to facilitate accessing the rear of the A/V equipment from the front of the unit. The two bottom drawers can hold DVDs, CDs, Game Console Cassettes or VHS tapes.  The edge of the MDF shelves are faced with lacewood left over from the frame.
	Here's a good pic of the side. The maple panel is 1/4" plywood and the top and bottom pieces are solid padauk.  The padauk pieces have a 1/4" round over profile along the top and bottom respectively. Padauk really is a lovely wood and although it has a tendency to chip when tooled it has an absolutely silky feel when sanded smooth. You don't see it used much on larger components like this, granted, it will change color and darken over time but I took that into account with the design and the changes will complement the case as nicely as it did when it was freshly cut.
	Here are the parts cut and ready for assembly for the matching speaker stands. The parts are all solid Hard Maple and Padauk.
	The design is based on a Frank Lloyd Wright print stand I saw in Popular Woodworking .  The top desk is joined to the base via mini biscuits.  The profile on the top desk and base was cut using an ogee bit on my router table.  The wider pieces were joined using #20 biscuits.  It measures 13.5" w x 13"l x 13"h.  The plans are available free on the plans page.  In these pics, it is not yet finished, but when it is it will be coated with Bartley's Gel Satin finish, applied by hand.
	Here's a good picture of the shadow lines created by the vertical supports, alternating the end pieces from the three center pieces is a great design, thanks Mr. Wright!
	From the side you can appreciate the alternating pieces some more.  I believe there will be the addition of speaker stand spikes, which will raise the stand about 3" but I don't think that will make a difference on looks given the unit rests on padded carpet.