Expert: Jamie Yocono - 7/26/2011

Question
I've noticed an awful lot of nice, solid-wood entertainment centers being tossed to the curb in recent months, or put for free on Craigslist (as people upgrade to flat TVs).  What do you think of the feasibility of reusing their wood and parts for new projects?  I see a lot of oak, some cherry, etc.  

I'm not a very skilled woodworker, so while this looks on the surface like it may be a nice source of free wood to work with, plus drawers and doors and sliding shelves and such, I wonder what you think the hidden drawbacks may be? (besides storing a heap of old entertainment centers in the garage of course!)  No one else seems to want to take these things.  Would the wood be workable, or would the finish be too tough to redo or remove, or are they impossible to disassemble without damage, or are there too many odd cuts and holes if you take the pieces apart?  Is it just not worth the effort?

My goal for now is to make some storage cabinets for under my workbench (about a 10 foot long area), and I like how entertainment center cabinets/drawers are very deep.  From your much more vast experience, does this repurposing/rebuilding seem like a good idea, or more like a disaster waiting to happen?  

Or maybe I should just wait for someone's unwanted old kitchen base cabinets to show up on the curb...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Answer
Hi Nick,

First - I think it's very cool of you to consider re-purposing some of the pieces you've seen lying around on people's front lawns. We live in a disposable society, and it's a shame. But - that said - I think sometimes there are good reasons why someone would throw a piece out. There is a lot of junk out there!

The drawback of re-purposing is that you run the risk of taking one piece of junk and turning it into another piece of junk! So if you're going to get into re-purposing, you nee to be a little discerning in what you use. I don't recommend you use anything made of particle board. Period. No pressed wood panels, as they will fall apart over time.

But I DO recommend that you salvage anything made of quality materials - like doors, drawers, hardware, cabinets, etc. At some point, you're going to be able to put them to good use, whether you simply use them as garage cabinet, or make a totally new piece from all the pieces and parts.

My best advice - learn some woodworking skills. You can have all that stuff accumulated, but if you don't know how to put it together, they will do you no good. There are some fairly easy systems out there for assembling furniture together. Let's be frank - you're not making high quality pieces here - you're re-assembling some parts together (and maybe adding some new ones) to make completely new (used) pieces.

I recommend checking out a Kreg jig assembling your pieces. For maybe $60 plus a good power drill, you can be assembling furniture in minutes. Here is a video that shows what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwrbJ3TXELM

There are quite a few versions of Kreg Jigs; you don't need an expensive one. The reason I'm recommending it is BC you said you're not terribly experienced. With a Kreg jig, you don't need to be. You can take components and reassemble them with ease, and honestly, the only thing in your way is creativity and innovation.

So that's my advice - stick with solid wood components, learn how to reassemble them with a simple system, and make some new pieces. It's not difficult, and who knows - with a little innovation, you could win the next Design Star show.

Hope this helps, good luck. Write back if you have more questions,

Jamie in Vegas


____________
Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com
My woodworking blog: www.wooditis.blogspot.com