Home Theater Hacks

Hack #76. Add Rollers and a Stand to Your TV

A television is a tremendous pain to move, even if it's going only six inches. With some MDF and a few casters, you can add mobility to your TV set.

If you've ever had a connection come loose from behind your huge television set, you realize what a pain it is to move the set, try and reconnect the cables, and then ease the set back into place, all without causing the wire to come loose again. A great solution to this (and all other TV movement problems) is to build a small stand for your TV, put it on wheels, and relax.

Required Materials

Here's what you need:

• Three MDF shelves (1-inch thick, cut to TV base dimensions)

• Four brass ball casters

• Four 4 x 7/16-inch bolts

• Four 7/16-inch nuts

• Eight 7/16-inch cut washers

• 220-grit sandpaper

• 400-grit sandpaper

• Four work clamps

• Wood glue

• Paint

Construction

The directions that follow will produce the same stand pictured in my home theater (see Figure 9-3). Of course, you can make any changes you want to produce a different stand.

Figure 9-3. DIY TV stand

1. Most MDF shelves come with a bull-nosed edge on one side. The first thing you want to do is sand the bull-nosed edge smooth. Use the 220-grit paper first and follow up with 400-grit. This will smooth out the surface, making the paint flow better later on.

2. Take two of the MDF shelves and place one on top of the other to ensure that they are the same exact size. ...