Mission Entertainment Center Complete [PICS]

John Hedges

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I finally got the large TV I've always wanted earlier this year so it was time to build something for it to sit on. After 5 months (never said I work fast) it's finally done and in the house before the holidays. It is my own design and probably violates true mission style design in a number of ways. It is made from Quartersawn White Oak and finished to match some other pieces already in the room. The interior is all bookmatched veneers which really turned out nice (although they look blotchy in the first photo, they are actually not), but it kills me that you don't really see them in the finished piece (oh well). The legs were built to show Quartersawn Oak on all 4 sides. I used a Leigh FMT to cut the M&T and it was a very nice tool to have for a piece like this as I used M&T's everywhere including the joints on the face frames (I counted almost 70 M&T total). The thing I wrestled with in the design was how to integrate the slats on the side with the shelves, and ended up deciding on the effect of floating shelves, when viewed from the side.

My wife likes it so I'll call it a success. We will be changing out the drawer pulls as we're not wild about the ones on it now. There are 2 things I'm not happy about in the finished piece. The first is the wood on the drawer fronts ,which doesn't quite blend as well as I'd like with the frame around it, it really bothers me because I spent so much time trying to pick pieces of QSWO that would blend. The second is the design of the bottom of the sides which is more shaker style, as it causes too much cross direction grain in a small area which can be distracting to the eye. Here are some pics

A pic in the finish room before the top was permanently attached.

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A full view of the installed piece
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And a closer view
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A view of the side, showing the floating shelves. I borrowed the design of the corbels/finials (whatever their called), and the treatment at the bottom of the legs from a recent Settee in Fine Woodworking magazine that I really liked
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A closer look at the sides, showing the legs.
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A closer view of the grain and the finish
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And finally a shot of the drawers. I used full extension slides so we would have access to the back of the drawers. I got a really good deal on the side mounts, so I used them, but I would have preferred to use undermounts as I think they look better with dovetailed drawers.

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Please let me know what you think, Good or bad, all input is welcome.
 
John,

In spite of what you see as shortcomings, I think this is a beautiful piece. I don’t have any problem with the “shaker” style sides and believe they work very well with the rest of the piece. I must admit to being a bit biased as A&C is my favorite style by far. Even so, I think you did a grand job on the design and execution. Certainly something to be proud of!
 
Very nice piece. I wouldn't worry about the absolutes of a given style. You have drawn from Mission and A&C and made it your own and that's great. I like the drawer fronts. I try to get a somewhat opposing figure on the fronts as opposed to the frames. To me, that distinguishes the drawers so that they don't vanish into the piece.

The finish came out really nice. What process and materials did you use? That coloring feels just right for the style to my eyes.
 
John it is a beautiful job, but I agree with you, you should have used under-mounts. It is just a little jarring to see that bright metal covering up those nice dovetails. Other than that, I think you did a masterful job of design and construction. Beautiful wood!
 
Great piece.

Do those 'floating' shelves fasten to the vertical slats or to the legs?
They are sitting on the pins used in adjustable shelves which are in the legs. I had to allow for front to back wood movement as they are solid wood. I planned on doing veneered shelves but my drum sander died after I cut the veneers.

Darren, Yes it is my own design. Design is one of my favorite parts of WWing so I haven't made anything from plans.

Glen, for the finish I used the Jeff Jewitt schedule, (see http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/pd..._rev4-2008.pdf). Basically some dye (in my case a mix of Transtint vintage Maple, Red and Dark Mission Oak), Followed by a 1# cut of dewaxed shellac, followed by a coat of Bartleys Dark Walnut Gel Stain, and finally 1 coat of Original Waterlox (3 coats on the horizontal surfaces) followed by 1 coat of Waterlox Satin. The last coat was applied with 4 0000 steel wool to rub it out. I think i must have made 50 various samples before I found one that my wife and I both liked. I would have liked to try the fuming method but as I mentioned earlier I was trying to match some existing pieces we have in the room.
 
very nice job on the design,, the finish looks very inviting to the touch,, i would say yu dun real good on that.. its tough to get good qtr swn oak and you have some real nice stuff in this piece,, i think you might have been able to show it off better by having some rift sawn in some areas to contrast againts the good stuff.. but over all you done very well:thumb::thumb:
 
I love the design and finish. This is my favorite style. Thanks for the pics and post. Wish i could half or even quarter as good. All the defects that you see other people not directly involved never notice.
 
I really like that John :thumb: Great design you came up with. I favor mission A/C design and have plans on building some also. Will have to mark this for reference :D

Tom
 
John...if your njot happy with it you can send it to me and try again....:thumb:
I think its very nice, love the rays
Reg
 
John, that's a very nice piece of quality furniture. You should be very proud of that. What an accomplishment. The fit and finish look first rate. I really like the look of the wood as well. Normally I don't like oak, but this is some great looking qs oak. Nice job picking it out. Thanks for sharing with us.
 
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