Reference book for kitchen cabinets

[Ron Kellison]

I'm getting a lot of heat regarding our current kitchen cabinets. I've gotten a couple of quotes and if the cabinets are spec'd as having solid cherry doors, no MDF, and top quality hardware the basic price looks to be about $15K. I have a decently equipped shop and I'm toying with the idea of building my own. I would like to get a better idea of what is involved, My local Lee Valley carries the following books:

Building Kitchen Cabinets by Udo Schmidt (Taunton's Pro Series)

Building Traditional Kitchen Cabinets by Jim Tolpin

Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets by Danny Proulx

The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker by Robert W. Lang

Which of these would you recommend as a reference source for building good quality cabinets that would enhance the resale value of my home and also give me a leg up on keeping my senior management happy? If there are others that you swear by please mention them!

Regards,

Ron

[Richard Gonzalez]

I looked at a number of books, and when I build my kitchen, Lang's The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker was the one I bought. He covers both frameless and face frame, overlay, half lap and inset doors, etc. For each, he covers all the details - edgebanding, raised panels, making drawers, even laminating countertops. There were lots of tips that I would not have thought of: jigs for assembling drawers, choosing grain patterns, laying out banks of drawers, etc. For example, I followed his advice and made separate bases - easier to shim level and allowed getting 6 cabinet sides per sheet.

Overall, I liked the book's options - it was not only one way is the best way - but discusses many options and the way to accomplish each - the word "Complete" fits.

For me, I was able to buy a tablesaw, router, and other tools and still come out much less than even cheap pre fab cabinets. Being able to to make custom sized cabinets really makes a difference as well - I built 44 inch tall, 14 inch deep uppers to fit our large plates, and hung them at a height my 5' wife could reach.

My only mistake was waiting until I was getting the house ready to sell to do the kitchen - my wife loved it. As for adding resale value - the kitchen did sell the house - 3 full price offers in only 8 days on the market.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

+1 for Lang's book -- and I have all you have listed!

[Van Huskey]

+2 on Lang's book, I learned more from it than any of the others I have.

[Roger Jensen]

+1 Lang

I also have them all.

BTW - $15K doesn't sound too bad. It is a lot of time and effort.

[John Gregory]

Norm did a video series on building a kitchen in a home shop. Click here (http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0801-0809)
I like learning from books and videos.

[Brett Nelson]

Yeah, Lang's book is good and I've also read the Taunton book on you list. Unfortunately for the latter, I didn't think it was all that great. Very basic IMO...

I would advise you to go a completely different direction though.

Roger Jensen makes a valid point. It is a TON of time and effort to build you own kitchen.... IF you are planning to cut all the parts and build your own doors and drawer boxes.

I would suggest that you chose which part you want to do. Build carcasses, or doors and drawer boxes. For the part that you don't like as much, just find a local fab shop.

For example, I recently built my own cabinets and all built-ins for the entire new home. Bids were coming in around $40K. When everything was finished, I spent $15K, including all Blum hardware throughout w/ blumotion. Took me a month with help, and here's what I did.



Designed all cabs on Ecabinets software.
Found a nearby CNC shop to cut all box parts, blind dado construction.
Outsourced the doors/drawer fronts to a local shop that only builds cab doors.
Outsourced the drawer boxes (solid maple with through dovetails).
Setup accts at two different hardware wholesalers, their prices killed all the popular online sites.

Some additional details...


I designed them to be euro style (frameless). They look great and are much easier for a first timer.
I ditched the garbage 2mm edgbanding and milled my own 1/2" thick hardwood edgeband. That way I didn't have to worry about bad adhesion.
Box parts came on pallets and sticker labeled. As long as tolerances are setup well, then parts fit together nicely. The blind dado in addition to the full thickness back panels ensured square boxes, so I didn't have to spend a bunch of time and clamps trying to get things square. Once locked together they were all perfectly square.
Doors and drawers arrived on pallets, "almost" finish ready. I had a mix of paint grade and stain, finished with lacquer.
Drawer boxes arrived on pallet ready to be assembled. I only saved a few dollars per box by doing the assembly myself though.
Design software allowed me to place hardware screw patterns in the parts, so installation of hardware was a simple matter of holding the hardware in place and pulling the screw gun trigger.
I purchased the Blum Ecodrill hinge jig for drilling the doors, and that was an amazing purchase.

I would really recommend going the direction I did. Even with great equipment, cutting that many parts gets very tiresome. The only way to do it efficiently is to cut all parts before assembly, so you'll need a very large staging area. I'm a month away from starting my next big cabinet build, and these will be very high end. I've got a ton of tips for the beginner. Feel free to get in touch, as I don't wish to clutter your thread, unless others are interested too.

[Mike Goetzke]

I'm going to start building my own kitchen cabinets soon. I have the first three books you have - may have to get the Lang. I bought an inexpensive cabinet software package called Cabinet Planner (http://www.cabinetplanner.com/ordering.html) . Takes a little time to set up your custom standards but the software programmer is available almost 24/7 to help. It has a 3-D feature too. It saved me a ton of $ because our original design looked terrible in 3-D. It also gives you a material list and cutting list.

Mike

[Sam Layton]

I also designed my kitchen with Cabinet Planner. It is a great program and easy to learn. I am installing my cabinets now.

Good luck, Sam

[Jim Andrew]

I did a big obnoxious kitchen for my daughter, and I built everything, except for the pull out spice rack, which she got from Rockler. It doesn't work the greatest either. The corner units I set up 4 or 5 " so they set up above the other cabinets and the crown goes back to the wall on those, also a tall above the refrig cab, so it looks balanced. I set the kitchen sink cabinet out and put 45 degree corners with flutes, and also built the peninsula with 45 corners, flutes, and built raised panels for the end and back panels of the peninsula, as well as the ends of the upper cabs.
Surprisingly, when you build all the boxes, then all the doors and panels, then all the drawers, it is amazing what you can accomplish in 2 or 3 weeks. And I measured everything myself in her house, so the cabinets fit without any hassle. As for books, I just studied the way box cabs from the store are built, and adjusted for the equipment I have. Used pocket screws on the face frames, routed grooves for tops and bottoms, and used my biscuit joiner to put frames to the boxes. Used a 1/16" shim to give the offset desired from the box to frame.

[Jim Andrew]

The other cool thing I did was used prefinished birch ply from Liberty Hardwoods. Once you get the box assembled, it is finished inside.

[Dave Sims]

As far as getting a better idea of what is involved, I watched a bunch of youtube videos. I liked seeing the process and techniques wood workers were using. I am very new to wood working, maybe two years. Believe it or not, I made my kitchen cabinets without a table saw.

Since you probably have much better tools than I did and you have the creek for help, I would say go for it.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1463500#post1463500