Thread: Cutting a 2cm channel into a cabinet

How thick is the base you want to rout into. 2cm wouldn’t leave a lot of “meat” in most cabinet shelves/tops considering the weight of the tv.

for starters, welcome to the forums ...

the easiest way to do what you want is to hang the TV off a wall bracket -- yes, doing so is more expensive in terms of hardware but it does mean that you are not trying to cut a slot in what is almost certainly chipboard with a 0.5 mm (or thinner) veneer.

If you really must cut the veneered chipboard, use a very sharp stanley knife to score the veneer before using a router to excavate the slot.
However, be prepared for the entire unit to lose its rigidity when you excavate the slot. One of the reasons I suggest hanging the TV off the wall instead of modifying the unit. If modifying the unit remains your preference, you may be able to reinforce the area around the slot but I'd have to see a picture of the wall unit before commenting further.

Originally Posted by ian

for starters, welcome to the forums ...

the easiest way to do what you want is to hang the TV off a wall bracket -- yes, doing so is more expensive in terms of hardware but it does mean that you are not trying to cut a slot in what is almost certainly chipboard with a 0.5 mm (or thinner) veneer.

If you really must cut the veneered chipboard, use a very sharp stanley knife to score the veneer before using a router to excavate the slot.
However, be prepared for the entire unit to lose its rigidity when you excavate the slot. One of the reasons I suggest hanging the TV off the wall instead of modifying the unit. If modifying the unit remains your preference, you may be able to reinforce the area around the slot but I'd have to see a picture of the wall unit before commenting further.

Ian's suggestion would work but how about fabricating a bracket/mount out of plywood that fits very closely to the opening size, attach the TV to the mount and push to whole lot into the opening. If the mount is painted flat black you will never see it. Trying to fit a wall bracket into the opening then mounting the TV on it might be nearly impossible in the opening now I come to think about it. The wall bracket would have to be mounted on a panel and the whole lot put in to the opening unless you can get into the back of the cabinet.

Your given dimensions indicate that there is only 4mm difference between the cavity and the TV height. Is there a reason you want to take 20mm out of the shelf or are you just allowing more clearance?
Is the stand removable? If it is, can you take it off and remove say 10mm from the bottom of it in some way without destroying it?

Thanks for the suggestions so far all.

I didn't really consider the integrity of the cabinet and how 20mm might affect it. I only suggested 20mm to give a bit of breathing room for the TV but I could get away with 10mm.

Might look at the option of forgoing the stand and wall mounting into the gap, it'll have about 20mm top and bottom spare without the stand so will be tight but might be possible.

A photo of the stand would have been helpful. If it has a cabinet below the shelf you want to cut into, I would rout out a piece the same as the base for the TV and then screw a new baseboard underneath the existing shelf, easy as.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Originally Posted by wasteland

I didn't really consider the integrity of the cabinet and how 20mm might affect it. I only suggested 20mm to give a bit of breathing room for the TV but I could get away with 10mm.

Might look at the option of forgoing the stand and wall mounting into the gap, it'll have about 20mm top and bottom spare without the stand so will be tight but might be possible.

as Crocy says, a photo would be very helpful.

Just remember, once you breach the veneer, the cabinet will lose about 33% of its rigidity.
Even cutting 10 mm into the chipboard will essentially render the shelf unless, unless the shelf is supported in some manner.

Wall mount it on a backer board that is only slightly smaller that the opening then slide the board, mount and tv full assembled into the opening. The backer board will have to be stabilised somehow but I don't think that would be mission impossible and may not even require fixing to the cabinet. Paint the backer board flat black and job done.