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REMOVAL |
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The original cabinet with the Sony TV removed,
notice the wires coming down from the ceiling, this will require a cap to
keep them hidden. |
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You can get a feel for all the screws in this picture.
The cabinet is fastened to the ceiling, the back frame and to both side
cabinets. |
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The last screw has been removed the cabinet can now be slid out so we can
begin the more difficult surgery. |
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The empty slot, something thin and flat needs to go here
now. |
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CONSTRUCTION |
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I removed the front walnut face frame from the cabinet on my
table saw. This needed to be done with some high precision as I intend
to reuse this. In the picture you can see the glue lines on the back of
walnut, exactly what I wanted |
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There are lots of stapes and brad nails to remove. You
can find all the staples but the brads are very hard to find. I used some
old and inexpensive blades in my table saw so when I "found" a nail I missed
I did not feel so bad. |
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The TV was wider than the internal dimension of the cabinet,
which prevented it from fitting correctly. I needed to increase the
internal space so it would fit. To do this
I used a 2" long straight bit on my router to cut back the cabinet. I
this case I removed 1/4" on each side (to a depth of 1 1/2 inches) to
fit the 30" Dell LCD. |
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Here you can see the wider part of the cabinet (the lighter
colored wood) in this picture,
it does not take much 'depth' in the widening to fit the flat panel.
Basically I just thinned the front furring strips of the box so the TV would
fit. |
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Next was the shortening of the cabinet, I cut off approximately
6" from the back of the cabinet. |
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Here is a picture of all the internal structure being added
back to the cabinet, the goal is to make it look the old cabinet in terms of
the support structure. |
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I had to make a new back vanity section as the old one was
now to short due to the shorting of the cabinet. Luckily I had a
section of black walnut in the shop that was perfect for the job. |
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In order to mount the new TV, I used 1x3 aluminum tube and 1-1/4 X 1 aluminum U channel. The channel was screwed to the existing Foretravel structure and the tube mounted to the channel. I attached
the tube to the channel with class 5 bolts for extra strength. |
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The mounting pad for the 30" LCD is mounted with lag
bolts to the aluminum tube structure. The depth of the LCD mount was
determined to align the face of the LCD with the face of the cabinet. |
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I lined the interior part of the cabinet (the part which
might be visible with the TV installed) with a thin walnut veneer.
This will give the cabinet a nice finished appearance. |
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First test fit of the cut down cabinet, the removal of ~6 inches
from the back makes a big difference. Notice that it does not come
much past the Bose speakers. Also notice I mounted a surge and line
conditioner strip, the TV and antenna cables plug into this. |
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First test fit of the LCD into the cabinet |
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FINAL PRODUCT |
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The TV, face frame and all trim work in place. I had
to put a 'hat brim' on the top to cover the cables and holes in the ceiling
that were covered by the original deeper cabinet. |
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A look from the steps, don't think we will hit our heads
into that anymore! |