# Modern Record Cabinet Plans



## folkrock75 (Jan 13, 2014)

*Need Help making this Turntable Cabinet!!*

I am attempting to build a Turntable Cabinet using hardwood plywood to hold my turntable, amp, and some records. I could use some help with the assembly order - Should I assembly the interior (shelf, back) before the exterior, or build the shell first and add the back and shelf? I'm using dowels for strength and need to figure out the order.

I've attempted to create some blueprint plans to go by, although I am sure some of the measurements will need to be adjusted based on actual wood thickness, etc.

*My Plan for assembly includes:*
+ Basic butt joints
+ Glued dowels for added strength
+ Finishing Nails to hold joints while drying

*I don't have a table saw, but the tools I plan to use are:*
+ Circular saw with Plywood Blade
+ Saw guide (clamps to wood)
+ Doweling Jig
+ Finishing Nailer

I piece is pretty simple, but i am the least certain about the back and the record "dividers". Too keep the form simple, I intend to have the back on the inside edge of the walls, but I imagine it may be very difficult to get a tight fit on that. The record dividers I intend to glue and perhaps nail, but again I am worried about having to cut such precise pieces (need to be flush on three sides).

Anything you guys can share is greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!


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## folkrock75 (Jan 13, 2014)

*Updated Plans - What do you think?*

I've updated the order of my assembly to the attached image...I am trying to plan out as much in advance to mitigate any mistakes - any thoughts on the updated approach?


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

I can't say which will be easier but I wish you good luck. If it were me, I'd find a router and dado the slots for all the panels and avoid trying to dowel it at all costs. I hate dowels unless they're put in after assembly. Very difficult (for me) to get lined up properly.

Looks like a good design overall, though so it will be plenty strong once assembled.


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## Alaska_Guy (Dec 15, 2013)

+1 on the router.... My first stained piece I didn't have a router and used pocket screws, and since it has been finished you can hardly tell they are there, routed slots would have been far easier to align/square things up!

I now own one (had it about 2 weeks) and have used it almost every other day.

I would recommend a pawn shop. I was just in one last week and they had a bosch for $39.99!

You can make jigs with it, make a cheap table etc.

I'm new to wood working and I have to say the router is one of the most used tools I own now besides the table saw. It is very versatile and fast.

How many LP's ya planning on storing?

I love this old vintage style look... You could store a bunch and would go with the vintage LP style. I would modify the front so it has a routed slot in the top and bottom. This would allow the panels to slide. It would have 3 dividers so you can slide each panel individually to get to the LP's. But the same longer rectangle look as below with those legs.

You could use 3/4" ply for most of it, 1/4" ply for the front face that slides in the routed slot and then make your dividers in the box for the LP's.

It's my next piece of furniture.

That piece below is in walnut and prolly costs a pretty penny, but you could do something like that with baltic birch or hard maple and still make it look good.

Can I ask what program you used for those plans? Or are they just downloadable plans?


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## folkrock75 (Jan 13, 2014)

*Great Feedback!*

Thanks so much guys, I really appreciate your responses...definitely some food for thought - I've been really contemplating how difficult it may be to line up the dowels, even with a doweling jig.

From your perspective, as a relative newby to this, do you think the router route would be easier for me to take on? 

Also, when you say dado corners, do you mean similar to the attached image?

Lastly, do dado corners offer as much / more reinforcement than dowels? Not sure if it is possible to say, just curious.

I've thought the "butt joint" corners would keep a clean look, especially if I am keeping the layers of the plywood showing in the finished piece.

As far as software, I used Adobe Illustrator to draw out my plans, I sit in front of a computer all day so I was able to devote a little time to the plans. I saw another user had used Google Sketchup to create some beautiful plans. Of course, I am probably setting myself up for a finished piece that looks nothing like the plans!


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## folkrock75 (Jan 13, 2014)

Hey btw Alaska Guy, I really like the look of that piece. It may be beyond my skillset right now, but something to aspire to! Any idea where one can score some tapered legs like that cabinet?


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

folkrock75 said:


> Thanks so much guys, I really appreciate your responses...definitely some food for thought - I've been really contemplating how difficult it may be to line up the dowels, even with a doweling jig.
> 
> From your perspective, as a relative newby to this, do you think the router route would be easier for me to take on?
> 
> ...


Personally, I think the router is much easier to learn and use and significantly more versatile than just about any other tool out there. It does take a little practice to get the right cuts though, so try some practice pieces first, if you go that route. (No pun intended.)

Dados are quite strong. Your image is actually an interlocking rabbet joint, also quite strong. Think of a dado as a channel cut out of one board, about 1/4-1/2 depth, that the other board just slides into. 

In my previous post I was actually talking about the internal separators for the records, not the box sides, but you can do it for all of them. I would probably rabbet the sides so they don't interlock, for simplicity and ease of build as a newbie, but it's really not that much more difficult with the right bit set to do it like you've sketched. 

Butt joints are the weakest joint out there so I'd recommend if you do that, you glue and screw them. If you rabbet/dado the joint you can probably get away with just gluing them but again, if you want sturdy, you can always overbuild.:yes:


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## Alaska_Guy (Dec 15, 2013)

You should be able to get legs pretty close to that on eBay. There is a set of 4 right now for $9.98 buy it now. They are 5" tall


A dado looks much like the picture below. This is a stopped dado. Meaning that the dado (also known as a groove) stops before exiting the ends of the wood. This way you have a nice clean edge. On both sides. I literally followed the wood whisperers YouTube video to make my jig using my router and that was the first try. So I would say using a router is very simple and very clean

Google rabbet joint and you will see what that is. It's basically used to help align edge pieces of wood together. You still have an unfinished edge showing and eventually you will want to learn how to do mitre rabbets so from the outside of the piece you see just the face grain and don't have any end grain showing.


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