On 8/13/2010 7:59 AM, busbus wrote:
My son is starting his first year of college next week and he and his
roommate have discovered the joys of Craig's List. They just HAD to
have a TV but neither set of parents were willing to buy them the $400
flat screen they were lobbying for, so they went scrounging.

Now, I love the fact that they decided to go this way and they found
exactly what they wanted: an old, 32-inch, flat-screen tube TV. Don't
ask me how the heck they are going to fit it into their dorm room at
school and I don't care if one of them has to sleep on the floor.

But I am going to try to slap together a quick stand for it and here
is the rub: it is 32" wide (because the speakers are on either side)
and 23" deep and has to weigh well over 150 pounds. They don't have
much room, obviously, and the stands we see in the stores either do
not support the sheer wight of this monster or they are way too wide.

So I was thinking about slapping one together myself using 2x4s and
either 3/4" MDF or plywood. Needless to say, I want this thing to be
as cheap as possible! I was thinking about gluing two 18" 2x4s
together to make an ELL for each of four legs and then lay a piece of
3/4" plywood or MDF on top. Maybe use a 1" board to connect all four
legs together at the top and then another set of 1" boards halfway
down to put a shelf in plus it should help it stay together.

Does this sound like a plan? Of course, I originally thought of a
couple 2x12s and some 12" concrete blocks but the moms puked. Ain't
nothing going to be cheaper than that!

busbus


I think I would use 2 X 4 for the corners. I would put the 4" side of
the back pieces parallel to the front of the TV; and the front two,
perpendicular to the front of the TV. I would then rabbeted a 1 X 4
into the top of the 2X4 to to form the top of the stand, and then cut
dadoes for another band of 1 X 4 several inches from the floor. That
would give you a stand with the strength and bracing sufficient for to
hold the TV. Make the dadoes as tight as possible.

If you don't think the 1X4 would give you the strength you need they
could be half lapped into the legs

If you used a better quality of 2X4 and 1X4 you would only need to cut a
shelf to fit the bottom 1X4's, and a piece for the top and it should be
strong and look pretty good.