by Dave Katsuki 1999 U270 36′
I finally upgraded our dinosaur (original) TV to a small LED flat panel. We don’t watch much TV, so the main goal was to keep the size small (we found a 26″ Vizio), shorten the box to reduce head contact, use the volume behind the TV for storage, and make the installation as clean as possible. We were having all the front cockpit pieces recovered, so it was a good time to do the TV.
I pulled the TV box out, shortened it, discovered that it needed to be ~1/2″ narrower to fit up between the existing cabinets, took the cabinet apart and cut it down, and then reassembled with new braces and top strut, installed, put in internal panels, then mounted the TV on Soss invisible hinges from the top. The Soss hinges need careful mortising, but the result is great.
Part of the excitement in this cabinetry was that the cabinet has no 90 deg angles! The ceiling is curved, the face points down and tilts to the left, etc. The other part of the excitement was doing all this in the RV park in Benson, outside the coach (good weather, thankfully) using hand power tools. Lots of fitting, sanding to size, etc. but we are quite pleased with the final result. Still need to put in a gas strut. Door retention is both with standard FT cabinet latches and also with a pin and knob with a washer epoxied on, which is inserted for travel and retained by a little neodymium magnet in the bottom of the cabinet (see picture).
