Bent Wood Floating Cabinet (One Board Contest)

My wife has a number of board games (all of which I hate to play) that have been sitting in these Ikea and Walmart entertainment center type cabinets. They have a black finish. Well, I've been updating my office room with my Panel Door Desk and a nice Oak River Table and want to start designing more items that match or have similar finishes. So, I decided it was time to come up with a project for the One Board Challenge. This entire project was built with one 4ft x 8ft oak plywood board and miscellaneous screws, glue, and biscuits. I think the final product is absolutely amazing and may later design some doors so that I can keep the dust out.

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Tools:

Circular Saw

Miter Saw

Table Saw

Drill/Driver

Biscuit Joiner

Kreg Pocket Screw Jig

Various Clamps

Supplies:

4ft x 8ft Oak Plywood

Wood Biscuits

Titebond Wood Glue

1 1/4 inch Spax Screws

1 1/4 inch Pocket Hole Screws

1/4 x 3 inch Spax Powerlag Screws

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We trimmed about 4 inches off of each side of the 8ft length to use later as supports.

Set your circular saw depth to cut through all but the veneer layer and most of one inner layer. I highly recommend running a couple test pieces before doing it on any valuable pieces of wood. We used two straight edges and started the kerf cuts about 12 inches from the end of the boards. Then, we moved each kerf cut using some scrap 1/4 inch dowels. A total of 12 kerf cuts were made on each side. 10 kerf cuts will likely make the 90 degree angle, but we went 12 just to give a little flexibility.

Cut the whole unit (after kerf cuts) down the middle. Since we always have a little movement when trying to cut an 8ft length, we then stacked both pieces on top of each other and cut them together, the exact same width, roughly 19 inches.

We used the miter saw to trim off 4 total pieces, 10 inches long, with 45 degree cuts on each end.

Add 4 pocket hold screws at the 45 degree cut edge as shown in the pictures.

So, we did this a little backwards, but it still worked. We installed the corner brackets and set up the cabinet. We found that overall, the cabinet was about 31 inches tall and way too big for our liking. So we unscrewed the corner brackets and cut off 3-4 inches on each end. Ultimately, the height ended up around 24 inches, which is perfect.

We cut three biscuit slots using our Ryobi Biscuit Joiner, then glued the two cabinet pieces together. We used some clamps and spare wood (with painters tape on it) to hold the pieces in place as the glue dried. We also put a couple 40 pound weights on it overnight.

We placed one of the long 6ft pieces that we cut off at the start (8ft minus 20 inches from the corner braces) and marked the 45 degree angles from the corner braces at the back of the cabinet. We then trimmed it to that size and added pocket holes. Before installing, we cut the support in half at a 45 degree angle so that we can use it as a french cleat. We installed the top piece using the pocket holes and will save the bottom piece to install on the wall later.

So, I am always afraid of glued edges, especially considering how pourus the plywood edge is, but I didn't want to add more pocket screws. So, instead, I used some of the remaining pieces from Step 6, cut them to size and countersunk a few screws at that joint. I figure if I decide later I want to add a middle shelf, I can use these braces to support the shelf.

I added some smaller 8inch corner braces in the front (recessed 3 inches in case I add doors with hinges later). Then I used the last roughly 6ft piece to create a support for the bottom/back of the cabinet, cutting in the 45 degree cuts and pocket holes.

We used Minwax's Golden Pecan Semi-Transparent stain, available at Lowes and Menards (unfortunately, Home Depot no longer carries Minwax). We then used thick roll/brush on polyurethane and spray on polyacrylic.

I pre-marked both the wall and the cleat for studs. Then I pre-drilled holes for the 1/4 inch spax screws and used a level to make sure everything was aligned. I used 4 total screws for a strong mount to the studs.

That's all there is to it, just hang it on the cleat/wall and you're done. It should hold a good deal of weight. The total exterior measurements for this specific unit were 67" wide, 24" tall, and 19" deep. At almost 6 feet long, it's a big unit, but it's replacing 2 4ft units, so I may need the space. We plan to install some by-pass closet style doors at a later date, but definitely feel like this project perfectly fit the "One Board Challenge."