Ad Hoc TV Project

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Once upon a time, back in 2005, I remodeled my sister's bath & bedroom.  The bedroom is SOOOO small, the only realistic place for a tv is in the upper right hand corner.  I built a triangular shelf 36" wide which equals 18" deep to the corner, about 5' off the floor, to fit the 13" TV with VCR that was popular at the time.  It's the oak trimmed piece below the tv in pic#5.  As part of the remodelling, I set a 4plex box behind it which had a duplex outlet and a cable jack behind the tv.On that birthday, however, she decide to splurge on a 19" flat screen plasma which was $850 !!!!!   at the time.  Fit beautifully.  It even sat on top of the cable box.  Then, a couple years ago, one of my friends gave me a 32" LCD TV, so I upgraded her to that one.    (I do NOT watch TV ).  She's been happy with it, except that it suddenly stopped working last week!  Then started.  Then stopped.  After that cycle reliability is always in question.  So, it's birthday time again and she found a Samsung LED 40" for 579!  Killer deal ... at least until next year.   Set it up on the shelf - barely fit.  Its OEM base hung over the front of the shelf 4", and it sloped back 5*!?!?! WTF?  Goofy lookin'.Well, time for a WELDING PROJECT to fix it and make it permanent!    First, it needs to hang over the front edge of the shelf 1.5".  Then, it needs to be bolted down real hard.  A big 10" of 1/4"x3" HR strap welded to 1/4"x1.5"x6" strap.  Space them apart .075" - a popsicle stick - and I can get nearly full penetration with an HHot Glue Gun 140 - even with C25!     Turned all the way up of course, 4&45, and welded both sides.  3/4" elevation at the back gives 5* of forward tilt - but I forgot - the tv already tilts back 5*!  So add an extra 3/4" and it leans forward at a GR8 angle 5*(deg) to be viewed from bed.  When I installed the 32" tv, there was no longer room for the cable box on the shelf, so I bent a couple 16ga zee's to make a quick hanger for it below the shelf.  With this tv, she got a new HD cable box, which was, of course, BIGGER!    But only wider.  Moved the zee's out, slid the new box in.  Perfect!  Drill / tapped the end of the strap to match the mounting holes of the OEM base but with 10-32 machine screws rather than sheet metal screws into plastic.  Painted it flat black, lifted it into place, bolt it down, wiggle it around, and voila - did a lot with a little!  The perfect TV for a bedrooom corner.   Attached Images
Reply:Looks good and will probably serve her well. Just one thing to keep in mind, strap does not have much strenght by itself if you place it flat. A welded rib on the top or the bottom will give you a greater rigdidity. If you can, try to use square or rectangular tubing for these kind of supports, they allow you to get by with a much thinner wall and you will end up with a stronger and ligther support.Anyway, if it works, then ir works and that's it. Great job!Mikel
Reply:Mikel - yes and no about the "strength".  I got the angle between the straps wrong by a degree or so and it took 3 whacks with a 3# deadblow to bend it 1/4".  The "span" for the vertical load is only 8" between the bolt down strap and the tv attachment.  I can stand on it without bending it.The TV only weighs 21 lbs and was originally mounted to its plastic base with four #8x1/2" sheet metal screws about 1.5" apart, barely visible in pic #4.However you are also right about "strength"!  I could take the TV by the corners and twist it!    Didn't think that torsion would be problem at first, except for maybe the length of that back bolt down strap.  But it resolved itself by the bottom edge of the TV slightly resting or "dragging" on the oak trim of the shelf.    I agree about steel tube and love it.    Use it for almost all of my projects.Will do a thread for my computer's monitor steel tube "arm" as soon as I can find the "before" and take the "after" pics.Thx for posting!