Builder's Studio: Mid-Century Modern Record Cabinet
In this episode of Builder's Studio, Jonah shows you how we built this Mid-Century Modern Record Player Cabinet! This project is super easy to build and is sure to look great in any Mid-Century Modern space! The Osborne Wheeler Legs and Mounting Cleats add a classic look to the functional design. With the added grille door using our half round moulding, it really is a timeless piece!
Parts used in this build:
- Wheeler Classic Bun Foot (Part #4175)
- 14" Angled Mounting Cleats (Part #3913.14)
- Small Plain Half Round Moulding (Part #892060)
Assembly Instructions
Overall Dimensions: 35” x 15” x 24”
What we used:
Store Bought Lumber
Osborne Small Plain Half Round Moulding (part #892060)
Osborne Angled 14 inch Mounting Cleats (part #3913.14)
Osborne Tall Wheeler Classic Foot Legs (part #4475)
Other items needed:
• Miter Saw | • 1/16” Washers | • Measuring Tape |
• Router Table | • Writing Utensil | • Pocket Hole Jig |
• Safety Gear | • Drill | • Door Hinges |
• Wood Clamps | • Sander/Sandpaper | • Push Tool |
• Wood Glue | • Table Saw | • Scraper |
• Stain or paint for finishing | • Screwdriver | • Backerboard |
• Spacer Blocks (optional) | • Belt Sander (optional) | • Magnetic Door Catch (optional) |
Cut List:
Lumber needed to create panels: | Panels: | Door: |
Instructions:
Source all of the materials and supplies needed for this project.
Start off by cutting your lumber with a miter saw to a rough size to make it easier to work with when you have to glue up the panels for the overall cabinet box.
Once the pieces are cut to a more reasonable size, figure out the orientation in which you want each panel to look like. With store bought lumber you may run into issues with cupping or bending in your boards. To fix this issue follow steps 4-7. If the issue does not apply, skip to step 8.
First off, set up your router table (this will act like a joiner) while it is unplugged. Remove the outfeed fence and clean up on the tracks as some sawdust can get trapped overtime with a vacuum.
Next, take some 1/16” thick washers and add them to the back of the outfeed fence. This adds proper spacing to ensure minimal board movement and help keep the board square as it is pushed through.
For the fence, the outfeed side should be flushed with the beginning of the flush trim bit. This will leave space on the infeed side to ensure a proper gap for when you feed the board through.
Turn on the router table. Now place the wood through the router table using push tools as necessary to keep hands away from the blade. Remember you can only square up one side of the board on the router table.
Take the boards over to your table saw and use the fence of the saw and the square edge that was just created to rip the board down. Rip the board down into three boards at 5” wide to make an overall panel of 15”. This will match the depth of the cabinet.
Once ripped down, start to glue the panels up. Add a bead of glue then smooth it out with a scraping tool on the wood seams that will be connected together.
Now that glue is applied to each edge go ahead and put the boards in the correct orientation that was marked earlier. Clamp these on the sides and on the top as desired while drying.
Once dry remove the access glue with a scraper. Then, start sanding your wood with 150 grit sandpaper. Remember to wear appropriate safety gear while sanding. You can use a belt sander for the higher spots and the more stubborn glue areas.
Once sanded, use your miter saw to square off the edges. This gives a good piece to start pulling the measurements for the cabinet. The dimensions are going to be 35” long, 15” wide and 13” tall. Start cutting each panel to size with your saw and get ready to join them together.
To help with alignment, create pocket holes on each side panel. Add three to the top and three to the bottom of each side. This will create a butt joint when connected.
Now that you are ready to assemble the cabinet, mark the top and bottom panel to keep things organized, then install screws into the pocket holes. You can use a clamp to help pull things back into the square, if needed.
Once the sides are installed on the bottom panel, flip the assembly over onto the top and install all the pocket screws. Make sure the box is square before moving to the next step to avoid issues. Once the box is assembled, sand it at 220 grit and move on.
Next, we will begin working on our cabinet grill. This will act as the door for the cabinet. First, cut out some scrap 1x2 lumber at 12 ⅞” to use as the frame of the door then pull the measurements for how long you want to cut the moulding at. We chose to make the cabinet door about half the width of our box. Be sure to leave these an ⅛” short to make sure you will not interfere with the hinges when you go to install. There is 33 ½” of interior space in the box so cut eight pieces of the half round moulding at 16 ⅝”.
Once moulding sticks are cut, lay them out on the 1x2 lumber and add a little bit of glue to each end of the sticks. Create some spacer blocks with your spare mouliding to make sure you have proper gaps between each moulding piece making sure the grill looks uniform as you lay them down. Once the glue is tacked up, flip it over and make sure that it is square and install some staples making sure they are not too long that they go through the front of your grill. Once secured, you are ready to apply a stain to your entire project.
To install the cabinet door/grill, choose a hinge. Install these about 1” from the top and bottom of the door. Mark and pre drill the holes and install them with a screwdriver to prevent splitting. Lift the box on its side using some scrap pieces of moulding to make sure it is parallel to the thickness of the door. Mark those out and install them with the screwdriver, as well.
Take the set of 14” angled mounting cleats and place them on the bottom of the box in the desired areas. Predrill each hole then insert a proper length screw.
Once cleats are installed you can install the wheeler legs. We used the hanger bolt install service available from Osborne.
The final step is to add a backer board to the backside of the cabinets. Cut the backer board of choice down to the correct size and leave it slightly shorter on each edge. Place it on the back side of your cabinet and install using some staples.