Custom Media Cabinet and 2 matching side tables with drawers

Objective:

To create a custom media cabinet and 2 matching side tables with drawers. All 3 pieces are to be made from 3/4" thick White Oak inspired by my Angled Lines Credenza for a client in Gatineau.

Process:

In this case the client had a really solid understanding of what they wanted regarding look and feel, dimensions, location of the shelves, .... and after making a few design options in Sketchup the final design was decided upon.

Next steps is to order up the rough lumber:

And figure out where all the parts are going  to come from in the boards:

Once all the parts are cut to rough length, I leave them in the shop for a week, because the stress in the wood might cause the newly cut pieces to warp, so it's better to leave them a few days before proceeding. After that it's time to flatten 1 side on the jointer:

Once you have 1 flat side, you use the planer to make the other side co-planer to that new flat side you just made on the jointer. Here, I also leave the board a little oversized in thickness and leave it for 2 days before doing one more final pass on the jointer and the planer. Now that the boards are flat and of the same thickness we have to find a pleasing pattern in which to glue up the board to get to the desired width always taking into account the grain direction of the individual boards:

 

 Time to glue the boards together to create a panel and leave them in clamps overnight:

After the glue up, the individual boards might not line up 100% to each other, so I use my dual drum sander to sand the full panel to create a flat, uniform panel:

 In this piece, it has the design lines on the sides of the cabinet and I cut these with my CNC machine:

The CNC machine is also great at removing a lot of the waste material of the dovetail joinery:

When all 4 panels are done on the CNC, there is a lot of hand chisel work to be done to turn it into a perfectly fitted dovetail joint:

After a dry fit of the cabinet and cutting the dadoes that will receive the drawers, it's time to glue up the case:

Glue in the shelves:

Next up is making the door. This is a tenon and mortise joint with a 1/4" floating panel inside.

 

The back panel has the cable management holes cut out and it attached to the case:

Side Tables:

The construction of the side tables is identical to the media cabinet:

It's always a lot easier to finish the insides of all the parts prior to assembly, because sometimes the insides become really hard to reach when it's glued up. Just don't put any finish on the joinery parts. I make my own wood butter finish:

The last part is to make the drawer and glue that up. The drawer has 5 blind dovetails on each of the 4 corners and also has the design lines that run of the front of the drawer:

This is the finished piece. Now to make another one exactly like it!

All 3 pieces together: