Building media cabinet using MFC

[nashant]

I'm about to undertake my most ambitious project to date and I wanted to ask some advice on various aspects.

Firstly, I've attached a couple of images of the design. Do you think that it will be structurally sound? At some point in the future doors will be added to the upper, side and lower units. Will it still be ok?

Secondly, about joining the boards together. I don't want any screw heads or anything visible, so they would be fine for the back panels but not for the side panels. Would you recommend using cam lock and dowels along with wooden dowels and glue? Or are screws, with some way to cover the heads, essential?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Edit:
Just did a cut list on cutwrights, and the total weight of the upper section of the unit is 48.9kg and it's holding a projector screen weighing 9kg along with whatever else gets put in the cupboards, nothing too heavy. The weight of the doors would be 11.8kg total. So total weight will be close to 70kg before storing anything in the cupboards.

Front:

Back:

 

[kinsella]

Nashant
As nobody have replied, i'll give it a go. Personally i wouldn't touch the cam fixing things. Great for Ikea and all. Looking at your design, i'd use a router and form rebates to house the ends of your horizontal pieces of shelves. This will add a lot of rigidity as it has more glue area plus i'd screw them also. You might want to consider making it in four pieces. ie left, right, top and bottom.
The top piece if full of books could be a fair weight and to think only cam fixings would be holding than would give me concern especially if you intend pulling an Plasma telly beneath. i'd maybe glue and then multiple bolts or screws through the end panels.

Fixing doors after isn't a problem as you can use European hinges and you can even fix them retrospectively.

Just my view on how i'd make it.

 

[nashant]

Cheers for the reply kinsella.

I would have designed it with the top fully supported by the side pieces but they don't make MFC long enough.

I'll leave the cam fixings then. The shelf pieces will indeed be screwed. Never used a router, and don't own one. If I was to do that, how much of a rebate would be enough? 8mm?

The reason for mentioning the doors is the extra weight it adds. Added an edit above about the total weight

 

[nev]

I would consider making it in 7 sections much like your rear diagram. Makes construction far simpler and portable. Sit one end of each top section on the sides to support weight and use some quality kitchen wall cab hangers to support the other and help stabilise the uprights. Assuming it's going against a wall.
You may also consider side panels/ fascia s, you can then simply screw all shelves and not worry about seeing fixings etc.

 

[AndyT]

Not wanting to put you off but picking up on your comment about not having a router... how well set up are you and how much of this are you planning to cut yourself? Making flat pack furniture, or solid furniture which looks similar, needs the sort of accuracy that big automatic machinery gives but is difficult to do on a small scale. Any errors in straightness or squareness will be made worse when you join several components together.

I'd suggest that you have a good look at what you could do with standard components from somewhere like Ikea. They will definitely be cheaper and more consistent than most amateurs can achieve. If you look at them as a source of customisable parts you may find a good way forward for your bespoke design.

If you do want to make it from scratch I would suggest considering getting your sheet materials supplier to make at least some of the important cuts. They can do it perfectly and the cut parts will be much easier to transport and handle.

 

[nashant]

Getting all components pre cut and delivered by CWorkshop. No way I would do that in my lounge. Wouldn't have the space and would probably cut through my sofa

 

[Swede]

Not wanting to put you off but picking up on your comment about not having a router... how well set up are you and how much of this are you planning to cut yourself? Making flat pack furniture, or solid furniture which looks similar, needs the sort of accuracy that big automatic machinery gives but is difficult to do on a small scale. Any errors in straightness or squareness will be made worse when you join several components together.

I'd suggest that you have a good look at what you could do with standard components from somewhere like Ikea. They will definitely be cheaper and more consistent than most amateurs can achieve. If you look at them as a source of customisable parts you may find a good way forward for your bespoke design.

If you do want to make it from scratch I would suggest considering getting your sheet materials supplier to make at least some of the important cuts. They can do it perfectly and the cut parts will be much easier to transport and handle.

I agree, a Ikea hack will save you both time and money.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Have a look at "torsion box" designs: basically a hollow rigid section works like a girder bridge - stiffness without weight. As suggested earlier, I'd modify your design so that the upper piece goes right across, and sits on top of the side shelves, rather than hanging off the sides of them. Sacrifice a bit of storage above for a thin torsion box arrangement (Ideally just above the opening for the screen), and you can probably hang a garden swing in the space!

Typically you might assemble this sort of thing with pocket hole screws and dowels (careful planning keeps the screw holes out of sight), but the torsion box would need glueing up to be strong.

Don't forget to account for the cupboard/shelf contents when planning. CDs and books can be heavy in quantity (vinyl is much worse!). I had a shelf collapse recently when one of the pegs for the library strip failed, dumping half a set of Encyclopedia Britannicas on the floor from about seven feet up the shelving (didn't do the spines any good!).

I agree with Andyt about an Ikea hack, but do make sure whatever you end up with is strong enough for the intended use.

E. (Supposed to be doing wardrobes at the moment)