A bit of research turned up nothing that could handle the weight, looked good and could have speakers on top. A quick measure up and I figured I could build two big cabinets from a single sheet of plywood. Turns out Mitre10 Mega will cut boards to size for you for free!

Building the solid way

I opted for the glue and screw method and then replace the screws with dowel once it had all dried. It’s a quick method that if you are covering it anyway it is doesn’t matter what it looks like. The dowel allows me to run a ½ inch router edge over it all to give it that guitar amp / old TV cabinet look. I did botch one of the corners that I had to bog and sand after. Annnd my router doesn’t fit the ½ bit in it, so I had to make a quick spacer to lift it higher.

A quick test fit while I wait to get the tolex from Ryan from The Amp Shop. I ended up going two tone Green/Black which i’ve used with success in the past as I wasn’t going to get all in 3 yards ( sold in yards for some reason ).

Final Assembly

Using the same method that I use for covering guitar amps, cut into strips, do the sides first and then wrap the tops. You need to mask the sides when you glue the top / back or its a pain to clean up. I just used good old house paint test pots to black the inside. I ended up putting a little strip of tolex on the leading edge of the middle shelf as it was going to look funny.

All in all I turned out well. Max capacity of about 240-260 records.

Materials:

• 18mm plywood 1200mm x 2400mm
• ADOS Glue
• Tolex from The Amp Shop