After finishing up the leg vise on the long console table, it took less than a week before I actually got to use the thing.  It may be the first, but here’s hoping it won’t be the last.  I think the linen hub on the blue chop does a great job of hiding all the imperfections.

I took some of last week off and used it well.  I’ve wanted a TV easel for years after first seeing the Restoration Hardware version.  It seems like an efficient use of space and maintains full flexibility for furniture layout.

Now, I assume the adjustable version exists because there is more than one size of TV, which makes sense.  But I only have one size of TV, so I figured a fixed model would work just fine. And it started with a single “African Mahogany” 8/4 board and a sketch.

I’ve been cutting many mortise and tenon joints lately, so the entire project took only about 30 shop hours.  Had I not been in practice, I think it would have taken quite a bit longer.  The whole thing begins with a base, from which all the other measurements are derived. All tenons are drawbored and it rolls on metal casters from the home center.  The project is finished in Tung Oil.

I believe in good posture.  So when sitting upright, the exact center of the TV should be at eye level.  For me and my particular couch, that’s 46″ or so.  So after connecting the very top of the uprights and adding a lower cross rail, it was time to figure out where to add the rails to which the TV itself would be mounted.  This could have also been accomplished with drawbored mortise and tenon joints, but that would have ultimately permanent.  With glued and nailed lap joints, I could, in theory, one day relocate these rails to fit a new TV.

The M8 mounting bolts for my particular model of TV are located in a square with corners at 400mm on center (or about 15.748″).  I took great care to drill out the top cross rail so the holes perfectly lined up with the threaded inserts in the TV, and lined the holes with copper tubing for reinforcement.  The holes in the bottom rail, however, were also drilled at 1/16″ larger than the diameter of the mounting bolts but no copper tubing was added.  This gave some wiggle room in case something became misaligned as a result of tolerance stack.

But everything worked out in the end, and each of the bolts seated nicely.  I made two shelves also: one fits in the void in the base and the other laps onto the lower rail.  I think it came out pretty great.  But in the process of oiling the assembly, some of the iron from the nails seems to have bled a little bit onto the uprights, which I plan to correct at some point by planing down to fresh wood and re-oiling.

In case anyone was wondering, here is what the back looks like.  I just wish there were M8 bolts available in square head powder black.

So I had much fun with this build.  And it felt good to complete a project during the allotted time.

Just don’t expect me to keep the streak up.

JPG