Building a Faunette:
The Cabinet

General Guidelines

There is no particular way to make the cabinet. You can build it any way you want, but it should meet these criteria:

• Aesthetically pleasing (not distracting or unprofessional looking)
• Strong enough to hold the heavy battery and TV/VCR, as well as sturdy enough to endure rolling on city streets and up and down stairs
• Mobile (with wheels)
• As compact as possible so it fits inside vehicles and minimizes weight
• Displays the TV screen at standing eye level
• Has enough space inside to contain the technology components
• Dark in color to minimize signs of wear and tear
• Has a door to access components for installation and removal
• Steel reinforced corners to support walls

Following are instructions to make the cabinet out of wood. In theory, the cabinet can be made of anything, like lightweight aluminum with rivets, but that would likely take professional skill and cost more. These instructions apply to Faunettes with a 13-inch screen TV. Larger TVs need a bigger cabinet and more materials. Use this only as a guide.

Parts and Tools Needed

Below is a list of the materials I used. When you start working on the plan for your cabinet, you will quickly know what you need and what you don’t. Don’t become overwhelmed and think you have to buy everything on this list. Again, remember, this is only a guide.

Tools

• Circular saw, jig saw, and hack saw
• Electric or cordless drill with Phillips head attachment for screws
• Drill bits (various sizes)
• Paint brush
• Tape measure, pencil, Phillips screwdriver, straight edge
• 2- and 3-inch drill bits, used to cut door knob holes (optional)

Construction

Building the cabinet is 80 percent of the work involved in producing a Faunette. Making it look somewhat professional is important to its street use. The cabinet is made of ¾-inch pine plywood. You can use regular plywood, but it won’t look as good. You will need two or three 4- by 8-foot plywood sheets. Try lumber stores. Pine has one smooth finish side, is of good quality, and holds its form well over time. Once you have cut your cabinet pieces, waterproof the wood with a wood primer. Make sure it is an outdoor primer specifically to waterproof wood. You want your unit to withstand rain and moisture, so apply multiple coats. When you are ready to paint, use flat black exterior paint. Flat black shows the least amount of scratches and dents. Use at least two coats.

Very Important!

The width of your cabinet and height of the top (TV) compartment is determined by the size of your TV/VCR combo unit. Therefore, buy the combo unit before you build the cabinet. You can adjust the dimensions of your cabinet design to accommodate the TV. Since everything else is smaller than the TV, the TV determines the width of the cabinet.

Also, make sure you can find an anti-glare screen large enough for the TV you want to use before you buy a TV. So buy the screen and then the TV.

On my blueprints, my 13-inch TV/VCR combo is 14.5 inches wide, 15 inches tall, and 14 inches deep. My unit slides in and out with minimal clearance. To be on the safe side, be sure you have an inch to spare on both sides of the TV. Because there are some structural components that protrude inside the TV compartment, this extra space is necessary.

The interior corners of all four walls are fastened together with reinforced steel corner shafts (beams). There are holes throughout the length of the metal to put screws through. I got two 8-foot pieces from a hardware supply store and hacksawed them down to size. They are shaped in a 90° angle. To secure the beams to each wall, use wood screws from the inside. That way there are no visible screws on the outside of the unit. The most critical element is getting wood screws that go through as much of the ¾-inch plywood as possible without going all the way through. I used a lock washer under each screw, which adds depth that must be factored in. So, experiment with sizes using the steel beam, lock washer, and the depth of the wood. You want to use as much of the wood’s depth as possible without the screw tip sticking through to the outside.

The bottom of the unit must be reinforced the most to withstand the load of the battery and the TV from above. I used four 6-inch L-braces to attach the floor to the walls. The battery sits directly on these. I cut a piece of plywood the size of the floor and set it on top of the screwed-in L-braces to provide a buffer between the screw heads/steel, which stick out. These protrusions make it difficult to slide the heavy battery in an out of the cabinet. Use short pieces of the steel corner shafts to attach the other sides of the bottom piece to the lower walls.

The hole cut for the door in the cabinet should be large enough so the battery can be moved in and out with relative ease, but not too big as to compromise the integrity of the wall. There should be enough room to assemble your technology working through the hole. Cutting the door too low may weaken the strength of that side because of all the weight being held. Use your best judgment.

The plywood shelves are placed on smaller L-braces within the cabinet using screws coming up, underneath the shelf. The TV shelf should have even bigger L-braces for more support.

The holes for the speakers are cut with a hand-held jigsaw. I drilled ½-inch holes to give the jigsaw a place to start cutting. The computer speakers can be secured on shelf with metal U-shaped braces to hold them in place. Make sure they are well centered in the cabinet design.

The cast roller wheels should be at least 4 inches in diameter. They need to be heavy-duty. Use a nut and bolt with a wide spacer washer to distribute the load of the wheels to as much surface area on the wood as possible. Otherwise the bolts could rip through the wood. Position of the wheels is important. They should be close to the ground for tilting purposes. However, don’t drill the bolt holes too close to the end of a piece of wood or you will structurally weaken it. You can buy a metal kick plate (used on industrial doors) and screw it on before you install the wheels. The kick plate is definitely optional but is on the original Faunette.

The handles are made from large, sturdy, metal L-braces dipped many times into Plastidip. This adds an insulated rubber end for your grip. The more you dip it, the fatter and more padded it becomes. Hardware stores sell Plastidip in a can. I also use it to cover bolts that stick out in the TV compartment. It prevents scratches and insulates any scratches to the TV. The L-braces are secured with a bolt, lock washer, and oversized washer�not screws. You must drill a hole through the wood big enough for your bolts. L-braces usually have holes in them where you can place the bolts. Since these bear the burden of the load, make sure they are strong.

Securing the anti-glare screen can be tricky. A quick word of advice: Make it easy to take on and off and look aesthetically-pleasing. By some luck, I measured the width for the TV cabinet walls to be the same size as the outside width of my anti-glare screen. The screen fits flush inside the lip of all sides. I used some metal right angles to support the screen’s weight and keep it from falling inward. Then, there are pivoting pieces on the outside that hold the screen against the steel pieces that can be tightened/loosened with a screwdriver.

An easier method for the screen is to screw in some aluminum rails on either side of the TV compartment. Properly measured, you could then just slide the screen up and down though the rails to put it in place.

Optional: If you feel someone might try to break your TV screen, you can install another set of slide rails on the outside lips of the cabinet. A pre-cut piece of durable, clear Plexiglas is then slid down the rail guards in front of the anti-glare screen and TV. This is okay for night showings, but causes too much glare to use in daylight.

The umbrella serves to shade the screen to reduce glare and provide a darker area around the TV set. For appearance purposes, you may want to get an umbrella without a curved handle. Secure the straight handle with U-bolts through drilled holes in the cabinet. Either side is fine, as long as you can tilt the umbrella to follow the sun’s angle. A flagpole holder might work even better and is easier than U-bolts. Get a multi-colored umbrella. We found that the multi-color ones attracted more attention to the Faunette.

The accessory and TV shelves both need a large, round hole in the back to run wiring. I used a drill bit for cutting doorknob holes. A jigsaw can also cut a hole. You will be pulling the power cords in and out of these holes, so don’t make them too small.

The door is made out of the same piece of wood you cut out of the side cabinet wall. You might have to cut off an extra ½ inch all around the cut piece to make it small enough to open and close freely.

The programmable display board is best mounted on top of the cabinet for viewing purpose. A drill and screws may be necessary. You can spend more money and get a weatherproof one or make it detachable in case it starts to rain.

You should assemble the cabinet first and then fasten the technology to it. Make sure you have enough room to fasten components through the door opening. I inadvertently placed the door on the side of my unit. A better place might be on the back.

I remove the battery and TV every time I’m done using the Faunette. I have seen Faunettes that permanently secured both of these units to the cabinet frame. The advantage is that everything is always ready to go. The disadvantage is that it will be excessively heavy to load/unload, and batteries should never be stored on their sides to prevent acid leakage. Plus, the electron guns of the TV will be misaligned if the TV is set on its side too much. (TVs were not meant to be bounced around a lot.) A two-piece Faunette would eliminate this problem as both pieces can be transported upright. Otherwise, you slide the TV out and disconnect the battery cables to remove the battery every time you pack up.

Two-Piece Cabinet Option

For activists with extremely limited car space, the two-piece cabinet design might be preferred. To make a two-piece cabinet, the preceding instructions generally apply. Divide the cabinet into two equal halves. The TV, speakers, and display board go in the top half, while the battery and inverter remain in the lower. When the two halves are stacked, the power cords are dropped down through overlapping holes cut in the top and bottom halves. Then they are simply plugged into the inverter. Each half is a complete “box” (six sides each) that is fastened and unfastened using sturdy clasps used in storage trunks or in commercial audio equipment. The clasps supply enough support, combined with the weight of the units, to safely create one Faunette. Because the Faunette is tilted when rolled, the top unit might need more support. Use your imagination.

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