Why two TVs?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love football, both pro and college (#GoPokes!).

And anyone who has ever watched football knows that it has its slow moments. A great solution to those slow moments is to have a second TV available to watch a second game, TV show, or video game. Last year I spent new years at friends house watching College Football with a football game on TV 1, a second game on TV 2, and an Xbox on TV 3. I was sold, I had to have a similar setup in my house.

The wife was not as trilled with this idea. Who knew, right? After some discussion, she had a few requirements. First, the setup had to look good. Second, she preferred that the second TV could be hidden when it wasn’t in use.

Challenge accepted.

The Result

How

The first step was to get all of the ideas in my head out into the world. Therefore, I made a prototype from cardboard and tape. Once I had the prototype, I knew how to make the lift. It would be two U shaped pieces, held together by drawer slides, and ‘lifted’ by an electric screw-drive motor. Finally the inner U piece would attached to a large wide base. Almost complete! The base and motor are attached.

Parts

Item # H-8491, Heavy Duty Full Extension Slide 250 and 500 lbs $65

Heavy Duty Track Actuator – 200 lbs, 40″ Stroke $260

Handles on the back side. Don’t forget that this is a full 8×4 sheet of plywood, plus a motor…. so this thing is heavy!

TV Mount from Monoprice $12

One 8′ x 4′ x 3/4″ Plywood Sheet

Paint, Wood Glue, Wood Filler

Things I learned about sanding

The biggest time sink believe it or not was sanding. I really wanted the final result to look like it fit into the living room. To me, this meant the wood had to be a dark stain or or paint with a nice gloss. Pictures of sanding are about as boring as they get so I never took any. Just know that getting from the pictures above to the black finish below was at least 2 full days of work.

Sanding Tips

Get a electric sander; don’t sand by hand.

Wood glue and wood filler can be a PITA to sand. Get a good glue and a good filler that is known to be easily sand-able.

Instead of using wood filler, use something else like drywall compound or similar. It will allow you to smooth out seems, hide plywood edges, and fill holes far faster than typical wood filler.

References I found useful