07-30-2021, 09:20 AM
The fireplace actually sits perfectly flush and slides well (not digging into the wood or anything) and is fairly easy to slide out if I need to get to the wiring. The listing for that on Amazon included very detailed measurements, so I knew exactly how to size the opening for an even overlay. I was pleased with that and am happy with how it turned out. It has a light-only feature, so we can have some fireplace "ambience" while it's 95 degrees and humid outside. You can't really see from the pictures, but to the left of the center channel, stuck to the top of the face frame, are the IR receivers. They are black and pretty small. I like that they are very unobtrusive.
I mentioned also that I was too aggressive in relieving the raised panels on the table saw. The angle would've been fine with thinner panel stock, but it ended up chamfering (and unevenly so) the actual square panel raised part that should be perfectly square. They are more than big enough to use elsewhere, fortunately. When I did my wife's desk (which I never posted for some reason) I used the door panels that I had intended to use for the wine rack (which I did post). Here's one of the panels on her desk:
![[Image: 20210721-081904.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/2t7yPqv/20210721-081904.jpg)
I thought the mix of sapwood and heartwood, especially with that sharp line, would've looked good in a prominent location like the kitchen. In that case I had to reduce the width of the door members (probably to hide a mistake), which meant the doors would've been too small with those panels. But I was able to reuse them.
One other thing I would like to say I might reconsider on is buying lumber in bulk. I bought a lot of sapele at one point, and I now have three pretty substantial pieces in the house - the wine buffet in the kitchen, the entertainment unit in the basement, and the desk in the office - that are almost completely made of quartersawn sapele. It's a really pretty and durable wood (and pretty easy to work with) but I don't know that I would do many more pieces with it.
I mentioned also that I was too aggressive in relieving the raised panels on the table saw. The angle would've been fine with thinner panel stock, but it ended up chamfering (and unevenly so) the actual square panel raised part that should be perfectly square. They are more than big enough to use elsewhere, fortunately. When I did my wife's desk (which I never posted for some reason) I used the door panels that I had intended to use for the wine rack (which I did post). Here's one of the panels on her desk:
I thought the mix of sapwood and heartwood, especially with that sharp line, would've looked good in a prominent location like the kitchen. In that case I had to reduce the width of the door members (probably to hide a mistake), which meant the doors would've been too small with those panels. But I was able to reuse them.
One other thing I would like to say I might reconsider on is buying lumber in bulk. I bought a lot of sapele at one point, and I now have three pretty substantial pieces in the house - the wine buffet in the kitchen, the entertainment unit in the basement, and the desk in the office - that are almost completely made of quartersawn sapele. It's a really pretty and durable wood (and pretty easy to work with) but I don't know that I would do many more pieces with it.