Industrial Style Entertainment Center

I am in need of a new entertainment center that will replace my cheap Ikea coffee table that has seen better days. The old setup is no longer able to support all my entertainment systems! I needed something sturdy, stylish, and large enough to fit everything.

I used CAD to draw up a couple of designs revolving around two old screen printing frames and 2x2 lumber yeeeears ago. (You can see and use my designs here!) Because TinkerCAD saves everything for me I was able to pull up my old ideas and measurements, no sweat. It allowed me to visualize the overall shape, let me play with proportions, and helped me measure my materials after all that time had passed. You can see that I was able to make my design on the computer become reality.

Why use these aluminum frames? I inherited a bunch of old, well-loved, screen printing frames from a DIY tech space. They were headed for the trash so I saved them to live a second life as furniture. While not a common item most people would encounter in their daily lives I bet a lot of screen printing studios have plenty that they discard regularly. It never hurts to ask!

I am...frugal....so I am making this indoor furniture out of cheap materials. If you want to achieve this with inexpensive wood and recycled frames.... you will be putting in a lot of time sanding and sealing. It's not for the faint of heart- making sure every rough side of the lumber is splinter free and cleaning the aluminum frame of paint and glue will probably make your hands numb. It'll be a beautiful and affordable project but be prepared to put in the work. I personally have more time than money!

Materials:

1. (2) - 20"x24" Aluminum screen printing frames (could also be wood if you wanted to build out your own frames)
2. (2) - 3/8"x 24" all thread
3. (12) - 2"x2"x96" lumber
4. (12) - 3/8" Acorn cap nuts

Tools:

1. Pencil
2. Tape measure
3. Sand paper (150 grit)
4. Orbital sander (60 grit, 150 grit)
5. Drill bit set with 1/8", 5/16" and 3/8" drill bits
6. Hammer and nail (or a center punch)
7. Nail gun with 2in brads
8. Bolt cutters or hacksaw
9. Rafter Angle Square (handy 90 degree triangle thing)
10. Wood Stain or sealer

Protective Equipment:

1. Hearing protection (air compressor)
2. Eye protection (nail gun)
3. Respirator (sanding aluminum and wood)

I'll admit I bought the wood for this project years ago (during my first round of design) when lumber was a lot less expensive. This project cost me about $30 at the time, about the same as a new cheap Ikea LACK coffee table. This however will be much sturdier and have much more storage space for the price! I'm saddened by the current wild fluctuations in the lumber market and if I needed to buy materials for this today, cost might have prevented me from following through with this project.

You can skip this step to move onto learning how I built the final product you see. I do, however, like to share my overall process and failures.

My original idea was to make the aluminum frames support the wood with 6 rods that ran through the frames and through each piece of wood. Looked great on paper! Looked great in TinkerCAD! I loved my design!

Reality struck when I actually started the project and realized not only would I have to drill 78 holes....but I would have to drill them perfectly. With my humble hand tools and me being far from having machine-like precision, that was never going to happen. I did give it a college try and immediately made a mess of the first board I drilled holes into. I could oversize all of the holes to give myself some wiggle room.... but it would still be a huge task to pull off.

So, I pivoted. Now I'll be nailing the boards together instead of stringing them on rods within the frame. It should be faster, stronger, and way more fool-proof. The only sacrifice is that the frames are no longer a major part of the structure and have instead been shifted to a purely cosmetic choice. The acorn cap nuts are also a little less important but I still ended up using them to help secure the frames to the wood. I did fall in love with my design and I'll make it happen as I imagined it no matter what. So follow along for the design I ended up creating.

These screen printing frames were well-loved and well-used....and covered in layers of tape.

First things first, remove as much of the tape as possible. Then remove any of the silkscreen if there is any still on the frame.

Sand away the glue, tape residue, and old paint. Start with 60 grit sand paper to sand it down to clean aluminum.

Finally, hit it with the 150 grit sandpaper to leave the frames with a nice matte finish.

USE A RESPIRATOR FOR SANDING! THE GLUE AND ALUMINUM DUST IS NASTY STUFF THAT SHOULD STAY OUT OF YOUR LUNGS!

First figure out your measurements.

I wanted 48" long total with 8" floating on either side to hold a gaming computer an the internet router because they are both tall and awkward. I placed a shelf right in the middle that only extended 32" in between the aluminum frames. Finally the vertical wood was 21" because that was the interior height of the frame.

The great part of this project is the endless possibilities in deciding length and variations of shelving! Go crazy! That's where TinkerCAD really helps because you can play around with the design so easily and figure out your measurements from there. I mocked up four different versions before I settled on this one.

My 2x2 cuts looked like this:

12 @ 48"

10 @ 21"

6 @ 32"

20 @ 1.5" (little end cap blocks)

Get the most out of an 8ft (96") board:

Cut 48" then 21" then 21" (5 boards)

Cut 48" and 32" (6 boards)

Cut 48" and the 1.5" blocks (1 board)

Total: 12 boards

Once everything is cut to size...sand, SAND, SAND!

Using 150 grit for the wood is perfect to knock off the raised wood grain and splinters while being fine enough to make it touchably smooth.

Remember this is lumber designed to be installed and buried behind drywall so it's far from furniture ready. Taking the time to remove all the rough spots is very rewarding and necessary.

At this point I chose to mark where the frames would sit on my 48' boards to make them easier to install accurately.

Starting from one end measure out 8in and 40in and make a pencil line at each point. These measurements will be used to line up your board with the outside of the aluminum frame so you can keep everything in line.

By measuring 8in and 40in from one side you eliminate any error from the boards not getting cut perfectly. If you were to measure in 8" from each end but the length of your board was off then it would change the distance between frames.

I also marked out where the middle shelf should sit on the 21" boards. (See picture.)

I chose to do this after sanding but before sealing to know that my marks wouldn't get rubbed away. I marked very lightly so it wouldn't be seen unless under close inspection. This will forever seal your lines into the wood so be aware and make very light marks with pencil if you choose to do this step. If you didn't want to mark the wood you can use a tape measure to align your board during assembly instead.

Now is the time to add any stain or protective coating if you want. As much as I love a raw wood look I chose to use a tinted poly-acrylic to give a little richer tone and add a little durability to the wood.

For interior furniture I recommend at least two layers if using polyacrylic or polyurethane. The first layer always creates a rough layer of raised grain that needs to be sanded down. After that your second layer will go on smoothly and evenly.

Be prepared to need a large workspace to process so much lumber....

Pro tip: If using a tinted polyacrylic, it works best to lay down a clear coat first. You can get a more even color finish if it doesn't soak into the wood.

We want our holes to hit the center of the wood boards. Based on my 2x2s (which are actually 1.5"x1.5". Silly, I know.) my measurements fell at a nice even 2" from the top and bottom, and 12" on center.

You'll need to mark the location of the holes and then punch a dent where you want to drill.

Punching a dent makes it easier for the drill bit to catch and not wander away from your mark as you start drilling. I used a hammer and nail but an actual center punch would work best.

Drill with a small bit first in order to hit your mark more accurately and create an easier starting point for the larger drill.

I used 3/32nd in bit to start. I drilled straight through the frame all the way out the other side. I made a few mistakes doing it by hand but nothing that ruined the final outcome. It would be easier and more accurate if you had access to a free-standing drill press.

I then used a larger 3/8th in drill bit to follow the holes made by the smaller bit.

Do this a total of 12 times, 3 holes on each front and back of both frames.

Congratulations! You know have a giant rain stick as the hollow frame will rattle with metal shavings for the rest of time! Luckily your furniture shouldn't move much so no one will notice.

This step has a lot going on with measuring and lining things up well, so take your time and pay attention to details for best results!

The all thread and acorn nuts are almost decorative at this point but they can still help secure the wood to the metal frames.

They don't need to go very far into the wood so I cut them at 2.25". No need to be super accurate here, especially since cutting threads is tricky anyway. We just need enough for it to get through the frame and bite into the wood.

If you use bolt cutters (I had to use a hefty pair of 36 inchers) it'll work quickly but it will crush the threads. In order to fix that we just need to sand or file the edges down again until the nut can thread on to it. Just shaping the tip to a bevel is usually enough.

If you use a dremel with a cut-off wheel or a hack saw, you may not need to do any corrective sanding or shaping.

The part where everything you've worked so hard on comes together. The final assembly!

I decided it would be best to assemble it directly into the frame so I can ensure everything stays square and accurate. There are a lot of pieces that are coming together that need to line up!

I started by creating a very square area to help guarantee that the frames have the correct alignment with each other. I even used the rafter square to check that the frames were also straight up and down. It's probably over-kill but small mistakes can compound as you build!

Lets start building by laying the first layer.

This is very reminiscent of Lincoln Logs! Following the chart, lay out a full layer of boards. Don't forget the little end blocks! Use your pre-measured marks or a tape measure to make sure all of your edges are lining up with every step.

Use the nail gun to attach the boards at each connecting point. This part was much easier with a second person on hand.

We built it from the bottom up with the bottom being the back side of the assembly. With this in mind we used the worst looking pieces first to hide them, leaving the best looking pieces for the front.

Keep building one layer at a time. Keep double-checking that everything is still in-line.

When you get towards the top you'll need to move the frame out of the way to get the nailer to fit. You should have enough built up by that point to be able to eye-ball it a bit.

Once you have all the layers assembled you'll notice that lumber is very loose with sizing and you've got gaps you need to fill!

We had to make spacers to fully fill in the frame but I think it was worth it for the clean look.

We once again measured, cut, sanded, and stained some little blocks to fit at the ends of each line. Including the tops, middles, and bottoms that ended up being 12 wedges. Most were 5/8" thick but a few needed to be 1/2" since wood can be unpredictable.

We ended up just nailing them on the ends of the rest of the wooden build.

Make sure your nails are spaced far apart because you'll end up drilling through these spacers in the next step!

This part was very easy and satisfying. Drill holes using the 5/16" bit and screw in the acorn screws.

Optional: Add little grippy feet to the bottom.

If you have an uneven floor like we do having as few points of contact is best. There is pretty much no way a solid bar can rest perfectly on the floor across 20in.

Once the nuts are tightened up you are done! Place the entertainment center in front of your TV and fill it full of as much stuff as you can fit.

I love the industrial look I achieved. I love how well everything fits. I love that I designed and made something that improved our space. I am very proud of the work we put into this project with what we had on hand and it's exactly what I envisioned.

This design can be done many different ways and I would love to see what other people do with this idea!

Good luck building!