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reporposing an old TV cabinet?

15 years ago

hey guys. this is my first real project that is gonna take some actual knowledge and i just had a question or two...

well, i have this wonderful TV cabinet that i want to re-purpose. some of the pieces are missing, but i still have the knobs, turntable (i'm guessing it doesnt work tho), and that type of stuff. i'm thinking of turning it into a storage cabinet of some sort.

now here are my two questions

one: the lens is still...well...there...

i kinda want to remove that whole front piece and make it a shelf type deal. but it seems to be in there pretty good, cuz i see no nails or screws...would the best idea to be just to cut it out with a jigsaw or something?

and number two: as you can see, its a bit scratched up. is there any way to fix that without stripping and restaining the whole thing?

and if i do have to restain it...

what about this?

it seems it would be a little hard to scrape around that...

thanks tons in advance guys!

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Comments (6)

remodelfla
15 years ago
I would think the back can come off and I would try and take out the innards that way. What is the height of the cabinet? I can see it as a vanity/sink base. The wood surrounding the insets look like a veneer. I would clean it real well and try some kind of restore a finish on it first. The inset could always just be tapped off. You might want to change the knobs. ORB could work.
beckerster
Original Author
15 years ago
shows you how much i know...i didnt know there were products that restore finishes like that. i'll definately look into it!

the cabinet about 4 ish feet...mid chest on me. i was thinking of a TV cabinet. but then i realized that i watch so much TV that i'd never close it, so i'd never see the cool details on the door! so i'm thinking a storage cabinet of some sort. probably storage for my art and crafts stuff. then it would be closed most of the time.

the innards are pretty much all out. everything unscrewed pretty easily :)

problem being the front part where the lens used to be... i need to take it out if its going to be of any use...but i dont see any screws anywhere!

heres a shot of the inside, from the back:

theres a couple triangles of wood glued up there...but no screws...

is just jigsawing the front panel out my best choice?
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Oh what a great idea Tigerlilly, I bet it's going to look fantastic. Can you post a pic of the dresser or sideboard so we can see? Without seeing it, you could use wooden shutters attached to the dresser sides for the front. check out Home Depot for shutter doors you can cut or shutter for windows or an antique store for real wooden ones. Are you planning on keeping it "vintage" or more modern, straight paint or stain or distressing it? Go to a furniture store and check out entertainment centers for ideas of your project. Take along a piece of paper and pen and sketch it if need be. You've got me all excited about this piece. Can't wait to see it finished. Sal
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remodelfla
15 years ago
Those little triangles should have little tiny nails in them. I believe it's just a structural support thing. Jigsaw seems like a workable idea to me but then again; I tend to want to just forge ahead with things and see what happens!
oofasis
15 years ago
One of my home's treasures is the flatware storage cabinet my dad made when the tube blew in the TV. The console was a '60s piece, very simple lines, no storage, just housed a large screen TV in a pecan colored wood. My dad loved to putter at his basement workshop, and couldn't just throw away "good wood" -- so he removed the TV workings and made three drawers for the space. He added little pieces to the bottoms of the drawers to act as dividers for the flatware pieces, and lined all the drawers with velvet. I'm away from home for a few days, or I'd take a pic for you. Please post photos of your finished product!
wws944
15 years ago
Wow - Stromberg Carlson. Very cool find! It is pretty rare. Stromberg Carlson was only in the TV biz for a very short time in the 1950s. (They were bought out by General Dynamics for some of their non-consumer equipment.) Don't throw away that logo.

How about making minimal alterations and installing an LCD TV in the spot where the old picture tube was? I once saw an article about an interior designer whose client wanted a home theater setup. She found an equipment cabinet that was owned by the late Saul Marantz. They made a few smallish mods to the cabinet to house some modern components, and hopefully did not mess with its collector value.
beckerster
Original Author
15 years ago
we've had it in our family for a while. when i was young i would always ask my parents "can i have that when i grow up?" ive always loved it :)

funny thing is that i never thought to look up the manufacturers name until you brought it up! low and behold i google it and find old adds for it! hehe...

sadly i dont this its really "collector worthy", my parents didnt really take care of it...almost all of the innards are missing and my ex spilled soda on top and didnt clean it

...who knew that coke-a-cola could double as a wood stain remover *eye roll*

its pretty beat up, and not in a well worn, collectors way...in a "we dont care about our belongings" way. so i'm more thinking of just a really cool retro cabinet for personal use :)

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