How to make open ended wooden cabinet joins

[ajkgordon]

I'm looking to make a low TV shelf/cabinet but am unsure as to the best way of joining the wood to make it rigid.

Essentially, it will be an open ended box. So, a base and a top of the same dimension and then two sides. Front and back will be open. So it will be wide, shallow and short (approx 800 x 300 x 300 mm).

I'm intending to make it out of something like those sheets of staved wood, then stained or even painted.

It will be on castors.

It will have an LCD TV on top weighing around 20kg and DVD players, etc. in the open bit of the box.

My question is what is the best way to join the base and top to the upright sides ensuring that it is rigid enough not to collapse diagonally?

 

[big-all]

not a good idea to have no support across the diagonals with all that weight acting on the joins

my suggestion is buiscuted/dowelled together but to have a bit off your solid timber about 5" wide at each side securely affixed in at the back to give some bracing

to be honest a mostly closed in back will look a lot neater otherwise all the extra cable will be on show and falling out the back like spaghetti

 

[ajkgordon]

Good idea. Thanks.