When I made the party stands (the thread of the stands is here) I knew that I wanted to build a case for storing them.
Folding-party-stand-001.jpg
I didn't know exactly what I'd do but I had some ideas. Now that I finished the stands, it's time to start on the storage box. My original idea was to build a box that would also function as an end table on the side of a sofa. The box would have a door, and inside would be "slots" which the folded up stands would slide into.
So when I finished the stands, I started talking with my wife, Judy, about the box. She was not too excited about my idea. Her first objection was that it would be hard to take the stands out of the box because there would likely be a chair close to the opening of the box. Plus, since the trays would slide in lengthwise, a fair amount of room would be needed to slide them out.
So another idea was needed. Her first suggestion was a cabinet where the trays would slide in sideways, so that less room would be needed to put them in and take them out. No problem, I can do that. Then she started thinking about where she would put it, and there just wasn't a good place for it. She discussed the problem with a friend and they came up with the idea of making it a "TV box". That is, a box where the trays would be stored, with room for the TV electronics. The TV would either sit on top of the box, or if the TV was mounted on the wall, it would sit below the TV.
Since the party stands can also be seen as TV trays, this made a lot of sense, so that's where I'm headed.
The box will have storage room for four or five stands. Above that will be a backless drawer with a drop front which will house the electronics (a limited amount of electronics). The reason for the drop front is that you need to have access to the electronics for the remote control to work. There will be two doors that cover the bottom of the box (where the trays are stored), and those doors will be flush with the drawer front. I'll do a single marquetry design that will cover the drawer and the two doors.
Size: The trays are about 15" wide, and when folded up, about 27 1/2" long. Judy said not to make the case too narrow - to "just" fit the length of the trays. She wanted it to be easy to slide them in and out. So I made the inside width of the case 30". While the trays are 15" wide, I went 18" deep for the box. I thought narrower would look odd.
The height was determined in a strange way. I wanted it high enough to look good but not so high that a TV sitting on it would be way up in the air. When I went to buy the mahogany at the lumber store, they had some very nice boards but they were over 12' long (I bought two boards). Unfortunately, I can't carry 12' boards in my vehicle so I had to make a decision about where to cut the boards. I had them cut the boards at 8'. This left me two pieces that were about 52" long. I glued the two pieces together and then cut them in half. This left me with two sides about 25 1/2" long, after squaring everything up. I'll put on a separate top, and a base of about 4" so the final height will be about 30".
I also bought some maple for secondary wood.
Construction: This is standard carcass construction. Since I don't like exposed joinery, I used half blind dovetails to attach the sides to the bottom and top stretchers to the sides (the real top will sit on top of the case and screws through the stretchers will hold it in place). Since the bottom will not be seen, there is only a narrow piece of mahogany in the front and the rest is maple.
Here's a picture of the bottom with the tails already cut. You're looking at the bottom of the bottom in this picture. The dovetails will not be seen when the case is finished so they're nothing special - just plain, functional dovetails with normal size tails and pins.
TrayBox001.jpg
Here's a view of one side with the tail sockets cut.
TrayBox002.jpg
And here's the carcass with the bottom and the top stretchers in place. Next, I'll start making the blades for the tray compartments (one tray per compartment).
TrayBox003.jpg
Here's a view of the bottom, seen from the back of the case, showing the half blind dovetails.
TrayBox004.jpg
And, finally, here's one of the trays in the carcass just to show the fit. When complete, I'll put stops so that the trays can't be slid in too far - they'll always be flush with the front. Remember that the carcass will sit on a base about 4" high.
TrayBox005.jpg
I'll post more as I make progress.
For better or worse, I usually do furniture out of my head - meaning I don't draw any plans first. Hopefully, this won't get me in any trouble in this project. I have to walk my dog twice a day and I go over the design and the next steps in my head during my walks. But I have made some embarrassing mistakes in the past, mistakes that I would have avoided if I had done a drawing first.
Mike