cabinet making ?s

[scottymac]

newbie here and just purchased the ts3650 with intentions on building kitchen cabinets for new home.Ive never built cabinets but im confident i can do it with good instructions my question is what, where ,when, and how is the best instructional material to buy for the entry level wood worker for building cabinets. :confused:
thanks, scott

[franklin pug]

i took a class at lee valley on it. it was great - and very specific for kitchen cabinets (lowers and uppers). it was 2 days long. check it out at leevalley.com

[BadgerDave]

One very good book on the subject is Illustrated Cabinetmaking by Bill Hylton, ISBN 0-7621-0183-0.

[amcnerl]

I used to live in Denver and a friend enrolled in a cabinet class at 1 of the university's there. All he had to provide was the funds for materials and the class, along with him, built the cabinets and installed them while under instruction. You might want to check out a college or another local school for a similar program.

[Undermidnight]

I too am about to embark on building cabinets for our house and purchased the TS3650 for the task. I have built a few cabinets with the help of a coworker and found that it is not as hard as one may think. I will not be taking classes, however, that sounds like a good idea what the others have suggested.

I will be doing a couple things a little different than traditional kitchen cabinet making:

1. I am going to be using pocket holes for the carcase and face frame instead of dados and dowels. Pocket holes really save time and you don't have to mess with glue (except for the doors.. and there are ways to make doors too with pocket holes!)
2. My wife and I want a simple, "shaker-style" cabinet door (essentially tongue and grove type rails and stiles) for the doors. No templates and raised planels which will make it easier.

I have yet to get started on the real cabinets, however, I will be making some cabinets for the laundry room and garage before the real work begins!

Good luck! I am pretty excited about getting started.
Jason

[10sCoachRick]

"1. I am going to be using pocket holes for the carcase and face frame instead of dados and dowels. Pocket holes really save time and you don't have to mess with glue (except for the doors.. and there are ways to make doors too with pocket holes!)"


The Kreg fellow in the DVD said he used glue even while using pocket hole joints. I understand the dis-assembly benefit but I believe I will use glue for final assembly of my faceframe and carcass. I don't have any experience with this system but hope to familiarize myself with it this week.

[Undermidnight]

Yea.. I plan on using glue as well when the time comes.

Jason

[chief rock]

Pocket holes are great for the face, have used them for years but don't skip the glue. glue is an essential part of joining for cabinets and furniture. The class is a great idea and most colleges and tech schools offer night classes.
I taught one a few years ago. cabinet are basic with the right tools but there are a lot of pointers a cabinetmaker can make to keep you out of trouble.

[djb]

I found Tom Clark's booklet very helpful for making simple design cabinets. Keyword is simple - Tom's design is not full of fancy joints and cuts, but the cabinets are solid. The dawers, for example, are just square butt joints. I plan to make cabinets later when we build a house, and I'll have no problem using this design for kitchen cabinets.
Tom's booklet can be bought here (Click Me (http://www.shop-cabinets.com/)). A good $10 spent, IMHO.
Maybe you can practice on a few shop cabinets, then head for the kitchen. :)

Also, instead of a raised panel, how about a simpler straight (or plane?) panel? I made a few many years ago, and I remember it being a fairly simple construction. Pocket holes sound like a lot of work!
I may not understand completely, either - is pocket hole construction meant to be used instead of a panel? :confused:

- djb

[VASandy]

djb, the "pocket hole construction" they're talking about is merely for joining the face frame together, and other items. It's a joinery method, not a panel method. Pocket holes replace biscuit joinery for the most part. Since you don't have any tricky line-up issues with pocket holes, construction is that much quicker. You only drill the holes in one of the joining pieces. Specially designed screws handle the actual joining. It's a system championed by Kreg. Works very well.

[djb]

OK. I was thinking the pocket holes were for the door frame, and if a panel is used, then the panel holds it all together. Connecting the face frames on installed cabinets with pocket holes makes sense now, but if the frame is not very wide, could the screw just be counter-sunk into the neighboring frame? I've never made custom installed cabinets before, just single stand alone cabinets, but I have installed pre-fabbed kitchen cabinets and counter-sunk screws to connect the frames. Is counter-sinking unorthodox...?

I guess I'm sceered of pocket holes! :eek: I don't have a jig, though, either.

- djb

[VASandy]

Don't be skeeert!!! Embrace the pocket-hole!!! :D

If you've done biscuit joinery, you'll see the bonus of pocket-holes. They're not for every situation, but they work well for a lot of things.

[chief rock]

Anyone who has tried to "toenail" oak with a finish nailer should appreciate pocket holes. It's not for everything, (in spite of what Kreg spouts) but where it works, it works very well!

[Undermidnight]

Don't be skeeert!!! Embrace the pocket-hole!!! :D

If you've done biscuit joinery, you'll see the bonus of pocket-holes. They're not for every situation, but they work well for a lot of things.

All bow to the pocket hole! :)

It is the only reason I will be making my own cabinets. I will be using it for the face frame and the carcase. The door I will probably glue.

Jason

[zenophus]

I use pocket hole joinery for portions of the carcass and definitely the face frame. IMHO it blows biscuits away for strength and ease of assembly. However, I have NEVER been able to get the pocket hole plugs to work....they just seen too big.

Zeno

[Rembrandt]

Hello. We share a mutual beginning. I too am a newB and building kitchen cabinets. I bought several woodworking books (I can send you the titles tomorrow if you want the best I have)
If you have a Borders or Barnes & Noble book store, I'd recommend you browse through each book carefully, as there are so many ones that I find are not what I want. I'm using 3/4 plwood w/ birch veneer. I'm also using dados & glueup. I'v invested about 3 grand on tools; Delta biscuit cutter, benchtop drill press, band saw, (will upgrade later) and a 31/2 HP Porter Cable router in a Rockler fixed base table. I've also bought (and recommend a Craig pocket hole tool for assembling draws and doors.
Are you building just the carcasses? ...or doors also? I'm using oak for the doors, and recommend you go to Lowe's, HD, and/or other showrooms to see what kind of design suits you and your family. Lowe's has lots of nice doors to check out, and if you ask, they will show you construction etc.
Paul

[AnthonyD]

Hi guys AnthonyD here , I have built cabinets on and off for the last 20 years. I have gone through many of books . I Learned mostly on my own . I would reccomend Danny Proulx 's books. He is since passed away but his books are excellent and concise. I have 5 or 6 of them check out your favorite book seller and if you have any questions just reply and Ill be glad to give any other information Have a great day !