Shop cabinets, What is the best way to build them? Plans? Ideas? What works/doesn't? [Archive]

Joshua Dinerstein

10-07-2011, 12:04 AM

Ok. I am a little stuck and I could really use some help.

I have a 3rd car bay in my garage that I use as a shop. I have over the last few years I have realized that I am doing this wrong as far as it goes. I have limited "floor" space and, while not much of a revelation, I have come to realize that 8 shelves over the same floor space gives you 8x as much storage. Kind of a leap I know but there you go. :)

So I have started looking at what I can do to get lots more storage. I have gone thru lots and lots of options as I have looked at the best way to go about this. Cost is an issue but so is wanting to build out my shop thru my own hands.

The first option I looked at was building them myself. But I have spent almost all of my time turning wood so I have a very limited understanding of how to build them.

The second option I looked at was Big Box cabinets. I was unimpressed. They seem flimsy and are't what I want. I found limited options on drawers and shelves and what not.

The third option I looked at was Ikea. I know I know, Ikea is well Ikea. But it had lots more options, mix and match to get as many drawers as you want etc... But even still it was largely still limited. And the cost was still high.

Which took me back around to building my own. The more I think about it the more I would like to do so. But I don't know how... So I started reading up on how to do so. Oddly enough here on the creek I found lots of posts showing pics of what people have built. But nothing that really talks about how to build them. So either it is so simple everyone assumes it is something everyone knows or ??? I dunno.

So I guess the question I have is what is the best way to go about it? I have a decent Tablesaw. I have a Ridgid granite topped saw. I tried to break down a sheet of plywood on it and clearly I don't have enough infeed and outfeed support. It worked but it was... scary. I need a better way to do it. I have been thinking about either making a guide for a circular saw or getting a track saw. It just seems better to move the saw over the wood than to move the wood over saw in this case. Once it is knocked down it seems like it will be easier to manipulate all around.

Over all I have been thinking melamine and pocket hole joinery. Shelves on the upper cabinets and drawers in the lower cabinets.

So if anyone has any suggestions on tools? Processes? Designs? What is the best way to do this? What are bad ways to do it? Anything really? I do want to build them but I would like to do it right, and I don't have a clear plan on how to proceed.

Would love any advice or information anyone would care to share.

Thanks!
Joshua

Ryan Mooney

10-07-2011, 2:09 AM

+1 on a tracksaw. I have a festool and no real experience with others, but if they're anything similar they're very worth it. I also have the festool router and hole drilling jig for making shelf pin holes and its also pretty sweet for making things go fast. I actually "abuse" the shelf pin plate which rides on the track as an easy way to run long dados into sheet goods. I'm sure many people will (probably rightly) disagree with me, but I'm not personally a huge fan of most pocket hole work and prefer the dados for sheet good joinery. I find it easier to hold things in alignment because you have a positive connection point for stuff to fit into.

For breaking down sheet goods I have an open "table" made from two 8' 2x4's that site lengthwise across a couple of saw horses and then have four more 4' 2x4's notched into them. This makes a fairly stable platform to set the plywood on, supports it all the way through the cut and if you cut through a little its not cutting into your sawhorses (I can't take credit for this - some smart fellow on some other forum showed how to do it.. really a great idea). I also use this as a large cabinet glue up platform because you can easily clamp from the top, bottom, sides, etc...

I built a pair of rolling cabinets (18" deep, 36" wide and 7' tall) in a lazyish weekend with festool track saw and router setup the first time I had those tools together (and about 1/2 that time was spent scratching my head at how to properly use the guides - they could definitely use better instructions or maybe I'm just thickheaded :D). I basically made the whole thing out of 3/4" "cabinet grade" plywood from HD (how they call it cabinet grade boggles my mind - but its fine for a rough shop cabinet). They're split into an upper and a lower with 2/3 being below a fixed shelf (also set into dados in the sides and back). The lower part I put shelves and drawers in, the shelf areas are 18" wide, the drawer areas I made narrow (a bit less than 6" wide). For the drawers I actually ran three sets of holes into the upright pieces with the festool jig and then cut some thin (1/4" thick by 3/4" wide) pieces of oak strip and drilled holes in them to match the pin holes (basically made a small indexing jig for the drill press). These are held in place with dowels (just pressure fit, no glue - the hard part was finding true 1/4" dowels to fit in the 1/4" holes - thanks lee valley!!) and used those as guides for the drawers which have a matching groove cut in the sides. That idea wouldn't work for really wide drawers, but I find that ~5-6" wide drawers are better for shop use anyway and they work fantastic for that. I made a bunch of the drawers at about 2.5" high and about as many at about 5" high. With the guides just pressed into the holes if I decide I want more 2.5" drawers or whatever I can just pull the guides and move them easy.

I didn't put shelves into the upper part of the cabinets, instead I put pegboard in the back and am planning on eventually adding a swing way "door" slightly inset with various holders and what not on the inside and the outside of it (inset so the stuff on the outside didn't stick out - not sure that is a great decision.. but we'll see..). I could see an argument either way and whatever works best for you.

The cabinets were all glued together, clamped and I drove some brads in for good luck. I made a base under them from 2x3's and some casters from northern tool (not the best casters but pretty good at $7 ea..). They aren't fancy (understatement), but they sure work fine. I really like having them mobile so if I need to shuffle things they're easy to move (usually they sit in one spot, but shops evolve..)

I've certainly built nicer cabinets with less capable tools (and crappier with more capable tools for that matter :D), but the track saw and track router setup made this really easy. You can accomplish the same thing with a bunch of boards/clamps and a regular skilsaw + router but it won't be as easy to get spot on. I cut all of the boards and rabbets/dados to measurement and was only off by about 1/32 anywhere.

Steve Friedman

10-07-2011, 8:15 AM

Send $13.35 to Tom Clark to buy his booklet Practical Shop Cabinets:

http://www.tomclarkbooks.com/tomclarkbooks.com/Practical_Shop_Cabinets.html

Best $13.35 you'll ever spend. Makes building shop cabinets simple for those of us who don't do cabinetry. All you need is plywood, glue, brad nails, staples, drawer slides, hinges, and knobs. The most useful piece of advice was to use drawers for anything below waist level. Makes that space much more usable. Everything he builds is also designed to make maximum use of the plywood (e.g., all cabinets are 23-1/2" deep).

Also, I have a tracksaw and it's great for breaking down plywood, but except for the 1/4" plywood you need for cabinet backs, I usually have the lumber yard break down the other plywood into 2' x 8' strips to avoid borrowing a truck to get them home.

Steve

Jim Rimmer

10-07-2011, 11:42 AM

I'm going to build some cabinets, too, so I'll watch the replies here but can't help you much.

If you don't want (or have the $ for) a nice track saw, you can make your own. Take a piece of plywood (or MDF) of whatever length but at least 4' and about 10" wide. Screw and glue a piece of hardwood to it about 1/2 inch farther from the edge than your circular saw is wide. Leave enough of the base board behind the guide board for clamping. Then run your circ saw down the guide board and cut off the extra 1/2" you included. You now have a guide for your circ saw and the edge is exactly where it will cut. Not a track saw but it will allow you to break down sheet goods acxcurately.

Brian Tymchak

10-07-2011, 11:48 AM

I'm an advocate for pocket screws over glue and nails for shop cabinets. They are a very positive mechanical fastener. The hanging tool cabinets in my shop are put together with pocket screws and no glue. Use 3/4" plywood - stay away from the cheap Chinese ply in the BORGs. It warps something terrible, has lots of voids, and makes assembly difficult. Use full extension slides on drawers. Costs a bit more, but you will like them a lot better. Build your wall cabinets to mount with a French cleat system. Usually easier to mount on walls and IMO, distributes the load on the wall better than straight fasteners to studs.

IMHO, unless you plan to regularly work with plywood sheets in the future, you can save quite a bit of money by breaking down plywood with a $100 circular saw and a $25 clamp guide. You wont get the cleanest cut with that set up but you can cut a 4x8 into 4x4s and easily handle that size on a tablesaw for final cuts. Or break it down even further if you like. I'm not trying to start any disputes with those that have tracksaws. I'm sure they're great to use. Just want to point out that there are (much) less expensive options for just an occasional need.

phil harold

10-07-2011, 1:12 PM

I'm an advocate for pocket screws over glue and nails for shop cabinets. They are a very positive mechanical fastener.
IMHO, unless you plan to regularly work with plywood sheets in the future, you can save quite a bit of money by breaking down plywood with a $100 circular saw and a $25 clamp guide. this is a good plan

but,

I build my own guides for my skillsaws and routers out of 1/4" and 1/2" plywood 3" wide factory edge plywood with a 10 -12" 1/4" ply wood underneath cut off the excess by running down the 1/2"

use a good saw and more importantly a good blade 40+ teeth on a 71/4" blade

I sometimes clamp but most of time just drive a screw into the guide at either end into the plywood or door

rememember if you want a very clean edge cut the plywood with the good side down

picture is worth 100 words?
209409

Jerome Hanby

10-07-2011, 2:08 PM

For me my first step was to build a book case and screw it up...my dado jig wasn't square and all my dados had slope :eek:. I milled some scrap hardwood I had lying around and filled in the "bad" dados in my 3/4" maple plywood sides. Then I cut a "good" dado a couple of inches for the bottom, a rabbet on the top, and still had the original rabbet up and down the back edges for the back. I used my Kreg pocket hole jig setup for 1" screws to attach the top and bottom to the sides then cut a piece of 1/4" plywood for the back and screwed it into place. For the doors, I made down and dirty frame and panel versions using more of a slip joint than a mortise and tenon. Cut them with my Delta tenoning jig, Freud dado,Freud cross cut,and Freud Rip blades. Glued and pinned them with a piece of 3/8" dowel. For the panel, I used some pegboard that I bought off CL accepting that the sellers 4" x 4" description was correct, it wasn't and therefore wouldn't fit my walls. Bought some piano hinges at Lowes and still need to attach the doors to the cabinet. I'm about to buy an Earlex HVLP and think I'll use that to spray shellac on this thing. It will mount using a French cleat and replace some ratty looking shelves that were present when we moved into this place.

This thing is far from perfect, but it is going in the shop and is basically build from scrap that I had screwed up one way or another. If anyone wants to see this Frankenstein's monster, I'll try to take some pictures If nothing else, it would make you feel better about your own projects!

Since I cracked all but two of my eight door joints setting the pin, I'm thinking of buying one of those giant pencil sharpeners on my next LV order. Knocking the leadig edge off those dowels would have prevented the cracking. Of course having enough scrap that was thick enough instead of planing it all down to about 7/10" might have helped too!

Jim Rimmer

10-07-2011, 3:05 PM

this is a good plan

but,

I build my own guides for my skillsaws and routers out of 1/4" and 1/2" plywood 3" wide factory edge plywood with a 10 -12" 1/4" ply wood underneath cut off the excess by running down the 1/2"

use a good saw and more importantly a good blade 40+ teeth on a 71/4" blade

I sometimes clamp but most of time just drive a screw into the guide at either end into the plywood or door

rememember if you want a very clean edge cut the plywood with the good side down

picture is worth 100 words?
209409
That's what I'm talking about - yeah, a picture really helps.

Ben Hatcher

10-07-2011, 3:43 PM

If you modify your saw a bit you can actually get pretty reasonable chip collection, too. On a saw like this, you might be able to modify a crevice tool to cover the rear chip ejection slot. On my circular saw, I cut a chunk out of the front portion of the upper blade guard and modified an unused vacuum attachments to fit over the hole.

Art Mulder

10-07-2011, 3:44 PM

Send $13.35 to Tom Clark to buy his booklet Practical Shop Cabinets:

http://www.tomclarkbooks.com/tomclarkbooks.com/Practical_Shop_Cabinets.html

Best $13.35 you'll ever spend. Makes building shop cabinets simple for those of us who don't do cabinetry. All you need is plywood, glue, brad nails, staples, drawer slides, hinges, and knobs. The most useful piece of advice was to use drawers for anything below waist level. Makes that space much more usable. Everything he builds is also designed to make maximum use of the plywood (e.g., all cabinets are 23-1/2" deep).

+1 on this.

If you'd like a preview on this, you can pop over to familywoodworking.org and look up Tom's posts there. He posted a pretty detailed photo essay there which will give you a quick overview of his methods.

(disclaimer: haven't built any cabinets like this yet, but I am definitely interested in his methods!)

Jason Stein

10-07-2011, 4:28 PM

Check out Sommerfeld Tools. I was in the same situation as you with my entertainment center, I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't know how to begin. I saw Marc's demo at a woodworking show, realized how easy it was, bought his router bit set, went home, and went to work. It's basically six cabinets and two bookshelves on a 16' X 9' wall. People can't believe I made them from scratch. So when it came time to do my garage cabinets, I knocked those out without breaking a sweat. Table saw, router table and a pocket hole jig are your main tools. If you can't cross cut plywood on your saw, then pick up a clamp edge guide and use a circ saw. Sommerfeld has instructional dvd's, worth checking out.

Rod Sheridan

10-07-2011, 6:48 PM

Joshua, whenever someone wants a floor to ceiling set of shop cabinets, everyone starts thinking about 8 foot long sheets of material.

Everyone except me that is, I can't handle that size of material so I start small.

1) I make a 3 or 4 inch high ladder type base to sit on the floor, with 3/8" UNC cap screws threaded into propel nuts to level it on the uneven floor. Your sheet good supplier will rip you the strips, all you have to do is cross cut them to length.

2) I have sheets "crosscut" at the material supplier so that I have 3 pieces about 32" X 48". These fit in a mini van, I can carry one piece and manipulate it on a contractor style saw.

3) I make my cabinets in 30" wide modules maximum, that makes efficient use of the chunks, and I can actually handle that size of a piece.

4) Once the modules are made, I can lift them by myself and stack them on my nice flat, level ladder base. A couple of screws to tie them together and to the wall, and I'm done.

5) drawers and doors are dropped in after the cabinets are up.

You will have no problem building this sort of box with your table saw, and the pieces are a nice size to work with.

Regards, Rod.

P.S. I usually use rebates and dado construction unless it's melamine coated particle board. Then I use #8 X 2" particle board screws and but joints.

Joshua Dinerstein

10-07-2011, 11:44 PM

I will have to check that site again. I went to it a few weeks+ ago now when I was swinging back towards making them myself and it said he was out and there was an unknown amount of time before he would have more in stock. I will have to check again to see if I can purchase a copy of it.

Out of curiosity which tracksaw do you have? I have read up on the 3 options but as with anything reviews on amazon 33% love it, 33% like it and 33% hate it and think the inventors should die. I read up on the makita and the thin initial cut to prevent veneer destruction seems interesting as does the lower price. The Dewalt was interesting I guess mostly because I have a fair number of dewalt tools and really like them. And of course Festool I have read created them and does a great job with them... So I guess I just wonder what kind people have and like.

Thanks for the advice!

Joshua

Dennis Hook

10-08-2011, 2:52 AM

I always try to keep in mind that all cabinets are; in there simplest form is a box. Break everything down in your mind to boxes. Even the parts you use such as the 4’x8’x3/4” panel is a box, it has width, depth, and thickness. Hence a rectangular shaped box. We take boxes and put them together with other boxes to make bigger boxes.

For example I will use a 24” wide cabinet, made for a counter top height of 36” with a depth of 25”. The cabinet is 1 inch less in depth that the counter top, so it is 24” deep, which includes the doors/drawer, fronts. The cabinet is comprised of parts that are easier to keep track of if we give them names. I will list out the names of the individual components as I have named them and also the abbreviations I use on my cut sheets.

The cabinet is comprised of:
2 end panels called wall ends or WE
1 bottom or BOT
2 sub-tops or ST
1 back or BK
2 nailers or NAIL
To support the cabinet and hold it off the ground I build a box and call it a base and all the parts are called BASE. The base is comprised of:
2 pieces that are the width of the cabinet at the front and rear
4 spanner pieces similar to the ST
Here is a picture showing the parts and their names.

209509

Using the dimensions listed above we can figure out the parts sizes. If the cabinet is 24" wide, we would deduct the thickness of the two WE, each being 3/4" thick would = 1 1/2". So 24" - 1 1/2" = 22 1/2", this is the width of the BOT and ST. The depth of the BOT is figured after deducting the thickness of the BK, NAIL, and the DR or doors. So 24" - 3/4" (DR) - 1/4"(BK) - 1/2"(NAIL) = 22 1/2". I always cut my ST to a depth of 4". The depth of the BOT is also the depth of the WE. The length of the WE is figured by deducting the height to counter top (36") - the base height (4") - the counter top thickness (1 1/2") which would give us 30 1/2".

209506This is the front view of the cabinet.

209507Here is a side view.

209508Here is a top view.

Now we have to translate these parts to a 4’ x 8’ panel product. The picture below gives you an idea of how the parts are configured on the panel. You cross cut with a circular saw to get the manageable pieces to cut on the table saw and rip these down to final sizes for the cabinet parts. Here is a possible picture of the layout.
209510

I for one to don't invest in too much complicated joinery for shop cabinets. If these are to be a showcase of your work then by all means have at it, but if the point is to gain storage room so that you have the organization to work smarter and cleaner, then build easy and strong. My shop cabinets are butt jointed, glued and screwed. They have been treated rather roughly and they are holding strong. After I have my carcasses together then I can make them more attractive by adding nice door and drawer fronts. Extra door panels can be applied to the WE of cabinets that show to finish those off. If you wish I can go into the assembly process, but thought this might give you a ball park feel for things.
Take care,
Dennis

Peter Kelly

10-08-2011, 11:15 AM

http://cabparts.com

You won't likely be able to make cabinets on your own cheaper or faster. If you're in Utah, shipping from Grand Junction, CO ought to be minimal.

Thom Sturgill

10-08-2011, 1:27 PM

Don't forget Norm Abrams videos and plans at New Yankee Workshop (http://www.newyankee.com/byCategory.php?Workshop), I know the show is off the air, but the website is still there.

Tom Clark FL

10-08-2011, 8:50 PM

I have around a couple of dozen home-made shop cabinets in my shop. All the cabinets use the same super simple construction method. I break down sheet goods with just my circular saw using home-made guides. Parts count and material useage is at a minimum, yet the cabinets are all extremely solid. Here are a few photos to give you some ideas. One shows the very simple construction.

All use face frames as I find that design to be extremely sturdy and don't have to worry about how much weigh I put in or on the cabinets. Butt joints and glue and finishing nails make for super fast construction. One photo shows a new cabinet. The cabinet was built yesterday. The drawers today, and the drawer fronts go on tomorrow. I am finally replacing the steel leg bench that I have been using since 1984. The hardwood top was moved to the new base.

By the way, these cabinets are quite inexpensive to make, far less than what it would cost to purchase them.

Sorry, the photos don't seem to show up in the order they were loaded in. (?)

Steven DeMars

10-09-2011, 1:03 AM

I have the Dewalt with the both tracks & love it . . . Table Saw accurate . . . Really works well . . . Just support your stock well . . .

Steve

I will have to check that site again. I went to it a few weeks+ ago now when I was swinging back towards making them myself and it said he was out and there was an unknown amount of time before he would have more in stock. I will have to check again to see if I can purchase a copy of it.

Out of curiosity which tracksaw do you have? I have read up on the 3 options but as with anything reviews on amazon 33% love it, 33% like it and 33% hate it and think the inventors should die. I read up on the makita and the thin initial cut to prevent veneer destruction seems interesting as does the lower price. The Dewalt was interesting I guess mostly because I have a fair number of dewalt tools and really like them. And of course Festool I have read created them and does a great job with them... So I guess I just wonder what kind people have and like.

Thanks for the advice!

Joshua

Joe Scharle

10-09-2011, 8:37 AM

Get "Introduction to Cabinetmaking" by Mark Duginske either from the Kreg website or write to:
Mark Duginske
P.O. Box 406, Merrill, WI 54452.

It's a small booklet on pocket hole cabinet making, and you can start building the same day.

Jerome Hanby

10-09-2011, 9:29 AM

Hi Tom,

I ordered your book. The PayPal link was a little odd, hope you received the order okay. Think the only notify you may get is the one from PayPal.

I have around a couple of dozen home-made shop cabinets in my shop. All the cabinets use the same super simple construction method. I break down sheet goods with just my circular saw using home-made guides. Parts count and material useage is at a minimum, yet the cabinets are all extremely solid. Here are a few photos to give you some ideas. One shows the very simple construction.

All use face frames as I find that design to be extremely sturdy and don't have to worry about how much weigh I put in or on the cabinets. Butt joints and glue and finishing nails make for super fast construction. One photo shows a new cabinet. The cabinet was built yesterday. The drawers today, and the drawer fronts go on tomorrow. I am finally replacing the steel leg bench that I have been using since 1984. The hardwood top was moved to the new base.

By the way, these cabinets are quite inexpensive to make, far less than what it would cost to purchase them.

Sorry, the photos don't seem to show up in the order they were loaded in. (?)

Tom Clark FL

10-09-2011, 8:29 PM

I am finally replacing the steel leg bench that I have been using since 1984. The hardwood top was moved to the new base.

Finished the drawer fronts today. The photos show the old bench as it was for 20 years, and how it was just transformed. I could have made the change years ago, but the bench was quite useful as it was. It kept all the most used tools plugged in and ready to go. That was very handy when I was making a lot of telescopes. Now that I am retired, there is not so much work going through the shop, so I can play at a more relaxed pace and not be in such a rush!

One thing about building your own shop cabinets that no one has mentioned so far: It is so easy to customize what you build to fit exactly what you need and the space you have. Also, you can build a design to any size you want very easily. Once you have built your first cabinet and find out how easy it is, your shop will be customized to fit you and the type of work you like to do. Purchased cabinets are seriously lacking in drawer space…

Alan Schaffter

10-10-2011, 12:16 AM

I recommend a slightly different approach based on your statement:

"Cost is an issue but so is wanting to build out my shop thru my own hands"

From your description it sounds like you have been getting by for awhile without shop cabinets- so waiting a little longer shouldn't be a problem. By your questions, it sounds like you are a novice woodworker. So, with those two pieces of information, I suggest you get and read a book or two on building cabinets- good cabinets, then make the best cabinets you can. Use this as an opportunity to improve your skills and learn new ones, try more than one technique. If you just slap together some "shop" cabinets, that is what you will have- "slapped together shop cabinets" and you will have learned little. You don't need to spend a lot of money on them- you don't need to build them from hardwood, etc. Use some decent birch ply and straight pine for face frames, and door stiles and rails. You should be able to make everything with your tablesaw and hand tools.

I used the process of building my shop cabinets to learn and improve my skills. I used oak harvested when they cleared the lot for my house so the face frames and doors cost me almost nothing, but I took my time building these cabinets and glad I did. I experimented a little too with M&T, pocket screws, etc.:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1414/medium/PB190036.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1414/medium/P9270148.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1414/SinkUpper-31.jpg

Alan Lightstone

10-10-2011, 12:58 AM

That's nothing. You should see Alan's dust collection.

I couldn't agree more with Alan. As I am learning, I have vowed to use different techniques (or at least one new technique) on every project. Using this approach, each completed project looks better and better. Learning how to square lumber, pocket screws, dados, dovetails, stopped chamfers, jointing, planing, sanding, finishing - all used for the first time on my shop cabinets.

I started with my workshop. Building cabinets, customizing them for my individual space and tool requirements. Built a few jigs along the way to make things easier.

Now I'm on to interior furniture, having learned many useful skills along the way building those shop cabinets. I'm happy my mistakes are hidden out in the garage.

Paul Murphy

10-11-2011, 12:03 AM

I would [and did] build my own cabinets, it's great experience, all you pay for is materials, and in a garage you can plan to avoid potential problems with the concrete footer present in many garages. In my case the footer was tall enough that notching stock cabinets would have cut into the bottom shelf/drawer. Building my own cabinets saved me from that dilemma, and I got exactly the cabinets that I wanted, with the countertop height that worked for me.

I used the home-built "tracksaw" solution to cut plywood resting on strips of wood, and the cuts with a Diablo 40t blade are great if you screw a MDF "ZCI" to the base of your circular saw. A brad nailer and pocket screws saved lots of time, and allowed me to get by with a minimum of clamping. I brushed on a waterborne finish, but honestly spraying would have saved a bunch of time. I have a lot of pull-out shelves in the base cabinets, and they were well worth the effort.

Enjoy the project, it will be well worth doing yourself.

Joshua Dinerstein

10-11-2011, 12:05 AM

From your description it sounds like you have been getting by for awhile without shop cabinets- so waiting a little longer shouldn't be a problem. By your questions, it sounds like you are a novice woodworker.
You are absolutely right. I am a very novice wood worker. I have spent several years turning and have really loved that. At this point I am looking to learn from this process. I suppose what I was hoping to do was to short-circuit that learning curve just a bit. I have been wondering about plywood versus Melamine, pocket screws versus other joinery types etc...

Pocket screws appeal because they simplify setup and assembly. But if they won't hold up over the long term for the cabinets then they are worthless to me. If they work well but it is a good option for my first few cabinets. Etc...

So, with those two pieces of information, I suggest you get and read a book or two on building cabinets- good cabinets, then make the best cabinets you can. Use this as an opportunity to improve your skills and learn new ones, try more than one technique. If you just slap together some "shop" cabinets, that is what you will have- "slapped together shop cabinets" and you will have learned little.
I like this idea. I actually ordered and received a book from Amazon on building cabinets. I was unable to find one at the local library. The one I got was "Kitchen Cabinets Made Simple" by Gregory Paolini. I hope that this is a reasonable book. Do you, or anyone else have any recommendations on other books?

Thanks!

Joshua

Alan Schaffter

10-11-2011, 10:36 AM

I had originally planned to finish my shop in an "old saw mill" motiff with weathered boards, etc. but then I saw an article in FWW where Scott Gibson built some A&C kitchen cabinets. Since I had a ton of almost free oak I decided to to go that route.

I'll tell you truthfully, my cabinets photograph well, and my shop actually won an award, based partially on their appearance, but they don't look nearly as nice up close in person (and that doesn't even address things like mixing quartersawn, riftsawn, and flatsawn oak in A&C cabinets :eek: ). I repeatedly ignored and had to re-learn the same lesson- "be careful of and don't take too many shortcuts, you'll likely be sorry later". For my lower cabinets I built a 2 X 4 box/toe kick and leveled it "sort of". I joined sections and dadoed the melamine (over particle) bottom to accept melamine partitions, added strip across the top front and corner bracing at each partiction, added blocking at the back to attach the partitions to the wall (the drywall forms the back of cabinets), and used pocket screws to make the face frame which I attached with glue and finishing nails. The whole thing was pretty much cobbled together. The floor wasn't level, the walls not plumb, so this was the hard way to do things. It would have been much better to make the cabinets then install them instead of building in place. I rationalized the shortcuts and less than satisfactory results to myself by saying they are just shop cabinets! I had to do that too often!! If I had to do it again, I would have made separate single or double cabinets the right way!! I did that with the upper cabinets and was much more pleased with the results. One suggestion on the lower cabinets- don't skimp on the drawer boxes or slide hardware. If you are like most, you will overload the drawers and be sorry when they start to fall apart or don't open correctly. Though I made boxes from ply, I used good ply, dovetailed all corners, and used 100# ball bearing, full extension slides.

Kent A Bathurst

10-11-2011, 1:39 PM

Couple comments:

First:
The circ saw and a guide will do you just fine. I made a set for a friend, who has a PC circ saw and a router. I had him get 1-1/2" x 1/4" [or was it 3/8"?] alum bar stock from Granger - not huge $$. Drill + tap holes, and then used 1/4" machine screws in countersunk holes thru 1/4" ply. The reason for the alum bar stock was [a] very straight, [b] last a lifetime, [c] easy to change the bar to a new ply base, if needed, because of the screw attachment.

We made one with 96" base and one about 30" base. BUT.....the bar overhangs 6" on either end of the base - this allows for dead-on alignment of the saw at the start of the cut when you need the full length of the base. Also - I just got back from there, and built a 24" x 72" cabinet with 12" x 8" cubbyholes, with dadoed and tenoned 3/4" and 1/2" ply. I used an extra chunk of bar stock and made a jig for the router and bit, to align the dado cuts. Worked perfectly - but only for that specific router and that specific diameter bit. The other side of the base can be used for a different setup, and the base can be easily replaced for other setups/cuts.

Second:
This might sound weird, but I helped a neighbor do this some years back. To maximize storage space in his garage, we built wall-mounted cabinets that sat about 6" above the height of his vehicles' hoods, and mounted them on the walls in front of where the cars were parked. The cars' fronts' go in right under the cabinets. Now - he can open the doors and reach in from the side, but actually to get at them, the cars have to go - so those are used for non-shop storage of general stuff, but still..........created a bunch of extra storage space that way.

And, last - since you are new to this, if I might offer a tip to help prevent stupid mistakes that someone may have made somewhere along the line: When using the circ saw jig, as you make your layout/cut marks, put a short squiggly line where the saw blade is supposed to make the kerf. This helps keep you from setting up the jig on the wrong side of the line, and making a cut that is blade-kerf-width too narrow. Not that I have personally done this, of course - just heard tales.:D

Joshua Dinerstein

10-11-2011, 11:12 PM

Hello Kent,

Thanks for the reply.

The circ saw and a guide will do you just fine. I made a set for a friend, who has a PC circ saw and a router. I had him get 1-1/2" x 1/4" [or was it 3/8"?] alum bar stock from Granger - not huge $$. Drill + tap holes, and then used 1/4" machine screws in countersunk holes thru 1/4" ply. The reason for the alum bar stock was [a] very straight, [b] last a lifetime, [c] easy to change the bar to a new ply base, if needed, because of the screw attachment.
Do you happen to have any pictures or anything of this setup? I think I am following you but I am a bit uncertain how the bar comes into play? It is attached to the base of the saw? Or to the guide? I am guessing the saw if it can used with a router as well. If I am correct in thinking that then how did you square it to the blade? I think this might be something I can build in order to get started. I found some bar stock at Grainger online. 1/8th x 1 1/4". I think 1/8th might be to thin. It was 8' long which is a lot of metal for what I am thinking I need. I will keep searching and see what I can come up with.

Ah there it is. 1/4" thick and 1 1/2" wide.

And, last - since you are new to this, if I might offer a tip to help prevent stupid mistakes that someone may have made somewhere along the line: When using the circ saw jig, as you make your layout/cut marks, put a short squiggly line where the saw blade is supposed to make the kerf. This helps keep you from setting up the jig on the wrong side of the line, and making a cut that is blade-kerf-width too narrow. Not that I have personally done this, of course - just heard tales.:D
A very good idea. Thanks!

Would love a little more info on how you made your guide? How did you remove the dado in the guide and keep it all straight and perfect? A dado blade in the table saw? Or ???

Thanks!
Joshua

Joshua Dinerstein

10-11-2011, 11:27 PM

I used the home-built "tracksaw" solution to cut plywood resting on strips of wood, and the cuts with a Diablo 40t blade are great if you screw a MDF "ZCI" to the base of your circular saw. A brad nailer and pocket screws saved lots of time, and allowed me to get by with a minimum of clamping. I brushed on a waterborne finish, but honestly spraying would have saved a bunch of time. I have a lot of pull-out shelves in the base cabinets, and they were well worth the effort.

That is a Fantastic Idea! I have been thinking about tear out on the melamine/plywood and this should solve it very nicely. If I couple with the other idea of the aluminum bar then I would get pretty much exactly what I want for this process. I will have to give it a try. How did you cut the groove for it? It would seem you just barely loosen the depth setting screw so it will slide but not shift left to right and then slowly lower it down thru the zero clearance insert piece screwed to the buttom.

BTW how did you do that? Did you just drill holes in the base plate of the saw? It seems possible to do, especially if you take that plate off of the saw first. I guess I jut never contemplated modifying the tool that way. Now it seems both possible and even desirable to do so.

As a follow up question to one and all is there a circ saw that is a better than the others or a particularly good model or is anything within a certain price range "good enough"? I looked at HD and they had some pretty cheap stuff under a hundred but for between $99 and about $150 there were lots of options: DeWalt, Ridgid, Milwaukee, Makita. A similar but slightly different list, kind of favoring Porter Cable at Lowes. And on Amazon lots and lots of options. Everything seems to be just a tad cheaper but of course seems to be a $250 saw for $100 so buy it now. Seems likely that the list price is slightly inflated tho they do see like some good deals.

If a brand isn't better is the type of "shoe" (if that is the right word) better in one style than another? I have seem some that seem completely flat top and bottom like a bent at the ends sheet of metal and others that were clearly cast. It seems like the flat sheet would be easier to machine, drill and tap but might be weaker or ??? As I have said and I am sure you can tell I am something of a novice so any advice or suggestions would be great.

Thanks!
Joshua

Steven Wayne

10-11-2011, 11:31 PM

I ordered the Tom Clark book.. Thanks for the recommendation.

Steven Wayne

10-11-2011, 11:33 PM

The Festool TS-55 is the very nice option for a track saw. Festools aren't cheap. I have bought several recently and they are a joy to use. They really do seem to think of everything in the design of the tools.

Kent A Bathurst

10-12-2011, 7:36 AM

Hello Kent,
Do you happen to have any pictures or anything of this setup?
Would love a little more info on how you made your guide? How did you remove the dado in the guide and keep it all straight and perfect? A dado blade in the table saw? Or ???

Joshua - nah, no photos. Stuff is at a house on the lower Potomac in VA. Attached AutoCAD sketch tells the story. The bar stock is attached to the plywood. I drilled and countersunk holes through the plywood, then ran the screws up through the plywood into the tapped holes. I don't know that you need to run out and buy a tap and die set - although even an el-cheapo set would be fine for these taps in aluminum. You could just run longer screws through untapped holes, and use lock washers [or blue Loctite] and nuts for fastening. The reason I used tapped holes is that I wanted to have nothing projecting from the top side of the bar, for saw motor clearance when dropped for max depth of cut. Dunno that would even have been an issue - I might have been over-driving my headlights there.

On the dadoes - I didn't explain myself very well. I just used exactly the setup shown, and used the router and bit to cut off the plywood. Then, that edge of the plywood tells me exactly where the edge of the dado will be cut - line the edge up to the layout marks, and run the router down the bar stock. Exactly the same as using one of these for a circ saw.

The point I was trying to make is that you might have one of these that was custom cut to tell you where the circ saw blade will run. That one, though, will not work for the router, because the offset is different - so, you need one for each unique machine setup, that's all.

You found some stuff at Grainger, looks like - here is exactly what I used: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/Flat-Stock-2EZG1

(http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/Flat-Stock-2EZG1)On the circ saw itself - a couple observations:
1] I am the last guy in the world to think someone spent too much money on any given tool - or a plane till full of them, or a wall full of them, or a shop full of them :D. I would love to have some Festool stuff, but I don't use things like circ saws enough to warrant the expense. I have thought about one of their ROS, though, and if my antique PC ever decides to throw in the towel, I may well get one. I personally would just have a hard time spending that kinda money for the Festool track saw setup for what I do, but I would never criticize someone that did. If I was doing job-site work, though - it would be a different story.
2] Any good-quality circ saw will do the job for you - handle a few and see what you like. The blade does the work, so get a good blade. It's kinda like fly fishing gear - you don't cast with the reel, so get a decent reel and spend your money on the rod.
3] I really love the PC Sawboss, but the ownership-du-jour dropped that product. It was smaller frame, lighter weight, and blade-left design - perfect for breaking down plywood. Assuming you are right-handed, I would encourage you to look at a blade-left design - that puts the blade directly in front of your face as you cut. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why the standard "right handed" saw makes you lean over and peer around the blade housing to see the action.
4] My circ saw is a 20+ year old Crapsman......I don't think very much of the old boy, but he spends 360+ days per year on the shelf, so he earns his keep. He will cut a straight line, and he has a decent blade on him, so whaddya gonna do, eh?

Lemme know if you need something else.

Kent
(http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/Flat-Stock-2EZG1)

Russ Abbott

10-12-2011, 4:41 PM

I "second or third" using Tom Clark's method for shop cabinets, fast, strong and reasonably priced. You will be glad you ordered the book.

Good luck!

Russ

Chris Harper

10-12-2011, 6:50 PM

I actually ordered and received a book from Amazon on building cabinets. I was unable to find one at the local library. The one I got was "Kitchen Cabinets Made Simple" by Gregory Paolini. I hope that this is a reasonable book. Do you, or anyone else have any recommendations on other books?

Thanks!

Joshua

Somewhere I have a copy of Danny Proulx's book, "Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets". I really like his hybrid approach of combining European hardware with a face framed cabinet. To simplify it, he mounts the sides of a single face frame stile flush with the insides of two side by side cabinets so Euro slides can be used. I don't have Tom Clark's book but plan/need to order it. I've read a lot of posts from him and from others who have used his ideas. I could see combining some of both author's ideas in my shop.

Chris Harper

10-12-2011, 8:13 PM

Somewhere I have a copy of Danny Proulx's book, "Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets". I really like his hybrid approach of combining European hardware with a face framed cabinet. To simplify it, he mounts the sides of a single face frame stile flush with the insides of two side by side cabinets so Euro slides can be used. I don't have Tom Clark's book but plan/need to order it. I've read a lot of posts from him and from others who have used his ideas. I could see combining some of both author's ideas in my shop.

Just found the book. What I said about the stiles is not correct. The description above is how the cabinets at my mom's house were built. Proulx used 1" FF stiles that were flush with the inside of the cabinet and overhang the sides by 1/4" or 3/8" depending on whether 3/4" or 5/8" thick carcass material was used.

Sorry for any confusion.

Paul Murphy

10-12-2011, 8:56 PM

That is a Fantastic Idea! I have been thinking about tear out on the melamine/plywood and this should solve it very nicely. If I couple with the other idea of the aluminum bar then I would get pretty much exactly what I want for this process. I will have to give it a try. How did you cut the groove for it? It would seem you just barely loosen the depth setting screw so it will slide but not shift left to right and then slowly lower it down thru the zero clearance insert piece screwed to the buttom.

BTW how did you do that? Did you just drill holes in the base plate of the saw? It seems possible to do, especially if you take that plate off of the saw first. I guess I jut never contemplated modifying the tool that way. Now it seems both possible and even desirable to do so.

As a follow up question to one and all is there a circ saw that is a better than the others or a particularly good model or is anything within a certain price range "good enough"? I looked at HD and they had some pretty cheap stuff under a hundred but for between $99 and about $150 there were lots of options: DeWalt, Ridgid, Milwaukee, Makita. A similar but slightly different list, kind of favoring Porter Cable at Lowes. And on Amazon lots and lots of options. Everything seems to be just a tad cheaper but of course seems to be a $250 saw for $100 so buy it now. Seems likely that the list price is slightly inflated tho they do see like some good deals.

If a brand isn't better is the type of "shoe" (if that is the right word) better in one style than another? I have seem some that seem completely flat top and bottom like a bent at the ends sheet of metal and others that were clearly cast. It seems like the flat sheet would be easier to machine, drill and tap but might be weaker or ??? As I have said and I am sure you can tell I am something of a novice so any advice or suggestions would be great.

Thanks!
Joshua

Joshua, I underlined your correct answers because I type so slowly. To expand, have a look at the circular saws starting ~$100, and look for a shoe that doesn't flex or have excessive free play. I have an older porter-cable that has nice dust collection, and that saw has the mdf shoe. I also like the Milwaukee that I think is still currently sold. Dewalt and Makita look to have nice rigid shoes. As was mentioned the Festool track saw is great, but I have made do with the circular saw I already own, as the Festool commands a premium price.

Jeff Nicol

10-12-2011, 10:47 PM

Joshua, So far you have gotten a lot of great information, and making straight cuts is definitly key to getting things built square and strong. You can't go wrong with pocket screws and a Kreg setup is worth every penny you spend on it. The circular saw thing is really a good group of blades for the saw you can afford. I have a 15yr old "Skil" brand that has never let me down ever, and I have beat the snot out of it! But with a good blade it becomes a very nice cutting machine, and straight line clamps work well and any saw can be modified to work as a track saw. That being said, Milwaukee saws are tough to kill along with the Makita, Bosch, and Hitachi. But the Dewalts and others will do the job also, I look for ease of use and adjustability from 90 to 45 cuts etc. So when you decide on a saw let me know and we can figure out something for the base and track system, sounds like a new and fun thing that would not take too much of my ever evaporating time.

Have a great night my friend,

Jeff

Steve Meliza

10-14-2011, 8:45 AM

I had run across Tom Clark's Practical Shop Cabinets (PSC) in the past, but this thread reminded me of it which is really good considering I'm about to spend the next 3 months or so making a workspace out in the garage. I had been planning to follow some plans by Norm, but that meant several tool purchases and a lot of time to build the cabinets. My copy of PSC arrived yesterday and I've almost read all of it and am convinced to ditch shelves and cupboards for drawers and use the simple but effective joinery shown. I'm excited that I can delay buying tools like a biscuit cutter till some other time and no longer worry that making a workbench and cabinets won't get done in the time frame that I have in mind. Thanks Tom!

David Hostetler

10-14-2011, 10:22 AM

Joshua, my shop cabinets are folding clamshell cabinets that I go the plans from either Wood Magazine or Shop Notes. I don't recall. Each clamshell door has 2 sides of peg board, so you have basically 5 peg board layers, and 4 shelves suitable for quart cans of finishes, or supplies, not to mention with some slight modification using the cabs for hand plane storage is a breeze... I built 2 of them, and placed them 36" apart on the wall, I mounted them carefully at EXACTLY the same height / level and added a 3/4" ply top spanning the tops of both cabs, and coming 14" out (extending 2" beyond the tops of the cabs) with rounded corners which I use to hold my handheld power tools. I keep all my handheld power tools and a lot of the related accessories in either the OEM cases, or I added ballistics nylon cases for organizing. A lot of guys don't like this approach, but it works exceedingly well for me...

Matt Cook

10-18-2011, 2:34 PM

A little late to the party but here's my .02:

I don't like shelves. I prefer drawers. Some shelves are a necessity however I believe that for shop storage, nothing beats a long, wide drawer that has dividers. You'll need some deep ones and some shallow ones to handle all of your stuff but, for the most part, drawers are easy to build so there's no reason why you can't size up your stuff and build purpose designed drawers. A drawer, when closed, always looks neat and tidy. Shelves require attention.

If you can minimize the time it takes to get a tool out and put a tool away, you can spend more time actually working on the project itself and less time on setup and breakdown.

Alan Schaffter

10-18-2011, 8:06 PM

While I like drawers for some stuff, I think shelves are better for others- I put all my screw and fastener jars on shelves. In my last shop I put all my power hand tools in drawers where they were out of sight. I didn't like that so in my current shop I designed a cubby setup. The photo below taken after the one taken earlier in this thread, modified my tool cubbies with little drawers. The sliding/tilting drawers hold parts, accessories, and supplies for the adjacent tools. It is very convenient and I still like it 4 years later.

Old shop and storage drawers. Now where did I put that drill????

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/Shop_21.JPG

New shop. Upper cabinets and open shelves holding screws, nails, etc.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/Backbench-54.JPG

Back bench with power tool cubbies. Everything within sight and easy reach:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/Installed.JPG

Special cubby for cordless drills includes chargers:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/IMG_3055.jpg

Special tilt-out tool parts/accessory drawers:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/IMG_2842.jpg

Tim Janssen

10-18-2011, 8:34 PM

I 5th Tom Clarks book, see
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=37396
That was three years ago, a ton pf stuff in the drawers and still working fine.

Tim

Joe Angrisani

10-19-2011, 9:22 AM

Joshua, my shop cabinets are folding clamshell cabinets.....

Any chance you could put up a few pictires?

Steve Friedman

10-19-2011, 9:50 AM

Old shop and storage drawers. Now where did I put that drill??

Let the P-Touch be your friend and you'll never have to wonder what's inside those drawers.

http://www.brother-usa.com/Ptouch/#.Tp7VSpz0_GZ

Alan Schaffter

10-19-2011, 10:46 AM

Let the P-Touch be your friend and you'll never have to wonder what's inside those drawers.

http://www.brother-usa.com/Ptouch/#.Tp7VSpz0_GZ

Fancy brass label holders and contents written in caligraphy on fancy vellum or parchment cards - I won't accept anything less! :D

Jerome Hanby

10-19-2011, 10:59 AM

Aren't labels only useful if you put stuff back where you got it originally? Sort of like a double rainbow, sure it happens, but how many folks ever see it? :eek:

Steve Friedman

10-19-2011, 11:16 AM

Aren't labels only useful if you put stuff back where you got it originally? Sort of like a double rainbow, sure it happens, but how many folks ever see it? :eek:

Funny! When I'm working, I have a habit of laying every tool on the nearest horizontal surface as soon as I need to put another tool in my hands. When it gets so bad that I can't find what I want, the drawer labels are very helpful to clean up. So, double rainbow shows up around every couple of weeks. PLEASE no YouTube videos!

Steve

Jerome Hanby

10-19-2011, 11:20 AM

I was mostly being silly. I've spent so much time banging my head against the wall because I can't put my hands on something that I've become almost compulsive about putting tools back where they belong. It's gotten to the point that I spend way too much time going back and forth fetching and returning the same tool. But, it is aerobic! Hopefully my shop "remodel" will solve some of that running around.

Funny! When I'm working, I have a habit of laying every tool on the nearest horizontal surface as soon as I need to put another tool in my hands. When it gets so bad that I can't find what I want, the drawer labels are very helpful to clean up. So, double rainbow shows up around every couple of weeks. PLEASE no YouTube videos!

Steve

Greg Portland

10-20-2011, 7:55 PM

So if anyone has any suggestions on tools? Processes? Designs? What is the best way to do this? What are bad ways to do it? Anything really? I do want to build them but I would like to do it right, and I don't have a clear plan on how to proceed.Grizzly used to sell melamine cabinets + euro hinges at a very cheap price (don't seem to have them any more). Have you looked through Ikea's entire catalog? I seem to recall them having some all-melamine options. For me, it was worth it to just buy a bunch of cheap cabinets. The time & expense it would take me to build the cabinets was not worth it. If I was making nice high-end cabinets for the shop then it would have been a different story (and of course much more expensive). However, at the time I just needed immediate storage.

With melamine, I would recommend butt joints + confirmat screws + dowels. Build a jig to drill the dowel and screw holes (you want a special confirmat screw drill bit!). Get some melamine glue (Titebond melamine, etc.) and go to town. I'd recommend an LR32 system using euro hinges and drawers. LR32 will help you keep all the dimensions straight. Go to a real lumberyard and get the better quality melamine... IMO it's worth the slightly extra cost.

Greg Portland

10-20-2011, 7:57 PM

Also, this is a great book that will help you with this project and more advanced cabinet projects: http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-Kitchen-Cabinets/dp/1558704612

oops, see that others have already recommend Danny's book.

Jerome Hanby

10-24-2011, 8:21 AM

jay gill

10-26-2011, 1:50 AM

Joshua, one trick I learned to make pocket hole cabinets was to make a 1/16 inch deep dado for the top, bottom, or any fixed shelves. With 3/4 inch sheet goods and 1 1/4 in screws they do not poke through and there is enough of a lip to make the joint rock solid nor is there the possibility of it slipping out of alignment. As for quality circular saw I have a Porter Cable with the magnesium base and user a 40 tooth finish blade. The base is molded and I feel much more solid than the thin stamped ones. All the adjustments are tool less including the blade change. I have broken down sheet goods with it with much success using a long aluminum straight edge. I will reiterate what has been said: support the material well. As for eliminating tear out I take two passes. The first very shallow- about as deep as my combination square blade is thick- think scoring blade on high end table saws - and then make the actual cut. Also the table saw you mentioned you have is pretty nice, you should think about setting up temporary indeed and out feed support for the sheet goods. Simple 2x4 saw horses adjusted to withing a half inch or so of the table height turned sideways are quick to assemble temporary options that can easily be broken down when finished so you don't need to build elaborate tables. I do agree with some of the posts that suggest you should use this as a learning experience and attempt methods beyond screws through the outside, as you'll appreciate making mistakes here and not on something nicer you build down the road.

Don Wacker

10-26-2011, 11:11 AM

FWIW PC makes a little worm drive saw that makes breaking down sheet goods a breeze with one of those cheep clamp guides. With a piece of hard board carpet taped to the saw base its zero clearance like the festool little green gizmo.

Don

Matt Cook

10-26-2011, 11:30 AM

My shop has evolved simply by working in it. Having learned that setup and teardown time really takes away from the minimal time I actually get in the shop, I started to think about ways to speed the access to a given tool. Having internal drawers was one way to prevent from moving a tool to get at another tool. Here you can see that I can get at any drill bit in no more than two moves.

http://www.3amcook.com/Persisting/Shop Cabinets/Internal_drawer_m.jpg

http://www.3amcook.com/Persisting/Shop Cabinets/Internal_Drawer2_m.jpg

A little trick from back on my days working on the ambulance - those medic kits work just like a tackle box. Making a drawer side out sideways allowed for different levels of storage in a single drawer. I did have to use full extension drawer slides to get at everything.

http://www.3amcook.com/Persisting/Shop Cabinets/add_drawer_m.jpg

Probably my favorite storage solution thus far (and the one I access the most frequently) was spawned from an idea I got from a friend. This shelf allows access to any drill in two movements and keeps things nice and neat.

http://www.3amcook.com/Persisting/Shop Cabinets/Drill Storage_m.jpg

I have a 2 ton metal lathe I had to build shelves around. The main problem is, the lathe itself is a dirty piece of machinery even when you keep it clean. Since it sweats grease, oil, and metal shavings, any attempt to get near the thing gets something on your clothing. My solution was to build a telescoping shelving the length of the lathe that allows me to pull each out 18" to gain access.

http://www.3amcook.com/Persisting/Shop Cabinets/teleshelf_m.jpg

After building my base cabinets I ended up with small scraps I would otherwise throw out. I ended up using almost all of it to make these little portable bins. Now, during assembly, I grab the one I need and move it to my workspace easily and putting it away only takes seconds.

http://www.3amcook.com/Persisting/Shop Cabinets/partsbins_m.jpg

Keeping them shallow enough and big enough to fit my hand easily makes getting even the last screw a breeze. The bins were assembled for function over finish. They'll get banged up over time but can be easily replaced when necessary.

http://www.3amcook.com/Persisting/Shop Cabinets/partbin_individual_m.jpg

Not all of these ideas are perfect for everyone however maybe you can take them and twist them a little to work for you.

Steven Wayne

10-26-2011, 12:08 PM

Matt, you gave me so many great ideas for ways to get more, useful storage in my shop. Thanks! I have some work to do!

Jerome Hanby

10-27-2011, 4:31 PM

Just got another benefit out of Tom's book. I'm completely reorganising my shop as part of adding the sub-panel, outlets, and lighting. I have multiple dust collectors including one that needs 240 volts. I'm going to put the table saw, planer, and jointer in an island with the big dust collector right in the middle (like he shows in his book) and drop 2 240 volt circuits and a couple of 120 volt circuits from the ceiling right over the island. Not rocket science, but I was already dreading having 240 volt extension cables to step over and big runs of tubing for DC. This will let me use the big boy for the big dust/chip producers, one of my smaller ones in my Wife's lathe work spot and another in the Shopsmith/router table work spot.

I've pretty much read Tom Clark's book front to back and think I've finally pounded it into my head that these are shop cabinets and function totally trumps form. One thing in his book that I found a small, temporary exception to is how to buy hinges. He states that buying them in bulk will save you a bunch of money, and normally I bet that's absolutely true. But at the moment, Woodcraft (http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2001088/2422/Hinges-Inset-38-Bright-Finish-2.aspx) has their brass 3/8" offset hinges, the style Tom uses in his book, for $1.27 a pair! That was a good deal cheaper than any bulk price I found for 50 or 100 pairs. My local WC didn't have them in stock, so I ordered 50 pairs online. Hopefully enough for a lifetime of shop cabinets.

Joshua Dinerstein

10-27-2011, 6:32 PM

So when you decide on a saw let me know and we can figure out something for the base and track system, sounds like a new and fun thing that would not take too much of my ever evaporating time.

Hey Thanks Jeff. I will do so. I fear that my time had evaporated for awhile as well. For a few weeks the wife has been sick. It appears that with the stress of the twins and the 2 yo she has developed an ulcer. How rotten. But she is on the right drugs and hopefully things will start healing soon.

I would love you help in getting this all figured out!

Thanks,
Joshua

Lou Stags

10-27-2011, 9:59 PM

I've pretty much read Tom Clark's book front to back and think I've finally pounded it into my head that these are shop cabinets and function totally trumps form. One thing in his book that I found a small, temporary exception to is how to buy hinges. He states that buying them in bulk will save you a bunch of money, and normally I bet that's absolutely true. But at the moment, Woodcraft (http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2001088/2422/Hinges-Inset-38-Bright-Finish-2.aspx) has their brass 3/8" offset hinges, the style Tom uses in his book, for $1.27 a pair! That was a good deal cheaper than any bulk price I found for 50 or 100 pairs. My local WC didn't have them in stock, so I ordered 50 pairs online. Hopefully enough for a lifetime of shop cabinets.

Hi Jerome,

I am going to be moving into my shop pretty soon and will be needing to build cabinets. I am a complete newbie woodworker and I am really considering spending time to build more than "simple" cabinets with the goal of trying to learn some skills. I know I will be spending a lot of time trying to build nicer cabinets when I could take a much simpler approach. But I am thinking that I won't really care about all the mistakes I am going to make because they are just shop cabinets...

But if I think about it for more than 5 minutes, I am wondering if I should spend less time and just build simple functional cabinets????

Lou

Lou Stags

10-27-2011, 10:00 PM

@Matt Cook: Great stuff Matt!!! Thanks for sharing those pics. Really gave me some great ideas.

Jerome Hanby

10-27-2011, 10:29 PM

One thing about Tom's book, you can use his methods and dress up the face frames a bit and end up with cabinetry that looks good enough for any room in the house. I guess it's all about what you want to accomplish. If you want handsome functional cabinets, it's hard to fault Tom's approach. If you want to push yourself as a woodworker and show off some joinery, then cope and stick; and mortise and tenon to your heart's content. On the two pieces of shop furniture I've built to date, the Shopnotes Mini Lathe stand for my Wife and a cabinet from parts of a "doll house" book case where I botched the dados, I made the doors as panels (hardboard on the first, pegboard on the latter) with frames using pinned open mortise and tenon joints (I think you might call them slip joints. Main reason I made them that way is to use my new tenoning jig. The drawers for the lathe stand were my reason to work out how to use my lock miter joint, After months of fooling with that, I got it to the point where I could make the joint...and I just didn't like it, didn't seem strong enough and my poplar drawer sides didn't take the routing too well. Fell back on a joint I knew how to make and used box joints for all three drawers.

For me, I have to get better organised or I'll never be able to finish anything. I'm going to shameless leverage my $10 purchase of Tom's book into a ton of cabinets that I can actually build and afford to build. I'm going to mount so many French cleats that I may achieve French embassy status! My box of 40 hinges from Woodcraft's clearance sale came in two days ago, I've picked up enough plywood to get started, and I'm shopping for a good deal on 22" drawer slides.

Hi Jerome,

I am going to be moving into my shop pretty soon and will be needing to build cabinets. I am a complete newbie woodworker and I am really considering spending time to build more than "simple" cabinets with the goal of trying to learn some skills. I know I will be spending a lot of time trying to build nicer cabinets when I could take a much simpler approach. But I am thinking that I won't really care about all the mistakes I am going to make because they are just shop cabinets...

But if I think about it for more than 5 minutes, I am wondering if I should spend less time and just build simple functional cabinets????

Lou

Steven Wayne

10-28-2011, 1:34 AM

I'm shopping for a good deal on 22" drawer slides.

I bought some from this guy (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Full-Extension-Ball-Bearing-Drawer-Slides-100lb-15-PACK-/120737150778?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item61cbfde352#ht_500wt_1156). $102.51 for 15, yes FIFTEEN pair, shipped. I don't know of a better deal. The slides are great. I'll be ordering more.

Jerome Hanby

10-28-2011, 9:09 AM

I can't get on the 'bay from work, but I emailed that info to myself at home. That price works out to about $6.84 a pair, nearly $10 a pair cheaper than the ones that I would buy from Lowe's.

I bought some from this guy (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Full-Extension-Ball-Bearing-Drawer-Slides-100lb-15-PACK-/120737150778?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item61cbfde352#ht_500wt_1156). $102.51 for 15, yes FIFTEEN pair, shipped. I don't know of a better deal. The slides are great. I'll be ordering more.

Matt Cook

10-28-2011, 11:30 AM

That's a very good deal (if they're quality slides). I pay attention at the wood supply locally and buy them when they are trying to move inventory that's been sitting. Even then I get them at no cheaper than $8.50 per pair when I buy a case. Saving an additional $2 per pair would make a huge difference on the bigger projects. Thanks for the info.

Jerome Hanby

10-28-2011, 6:51 PM

Well the price is for real. I all but purchased 20 pairs of Gliderite slides based on a recomendation from another 'creeker, but of the cost for each 10 pack of slides and the shipping, the shipping was much the highest price! Looking forward to receiving these. Thanks for the recommendation!

I bought some from this guy (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Full-Extension-Ball-Bearing-Drawer-Slides-100lb-15-PACK-/120737150778?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item61cbfde352#ht_500wt_1156). $102.51 for 15, yes FIFTEEN pair, shipped. I don't know of a better deal. The slides are great. I'll be ordering more.

Joshua Dinerstein

11-02-2011, 6:24 PM

Jerome Hanby

11-02-2011, 8:37 PM

Received he slides today. Look like great hardware! Once I get a better idea on how many drawers I'll end up building, I may place another order!

Well the price is for real. I all but purchased 20 pairs of Gliderite slides based on a recomendation from another 'creeker, but of the cost for each 10 pack of slides and the shipping, the shipping was much the highest price! Looking forward to receiving these. Thanks for the recommendation!

Joshua Dinerstein

11-03-2011, 2:41 AM

Received he slides today. Look like great hardware! Once I get a better idea on how many drawers I'll end up building, I may place another order!
That is great to know. I am designing what I want to build and I am getting ready to order some myself. Save some for me. :)

Joshua

Greg Portland

11-03-2011, 2:41 PM

Thanks for all of the great ideas. The next, possibly last question I have centers around materials.

My wife loves the very clean organized look of White Melamine doors, drawers, cabinets etc... She is I personally feel borderline OCD. She just really needs it to look great.

I want durable and lasting and strong enough to hold up to shop type use. I had thought that Melamine was strong enough given that my kitchen and bathrooms are made of it, with real wood elements, and they have lasted fro a great many years.

So I guess I am just wondering if anyone has anything to add about the basic material of choice? Can I do better than just getting by with melamine? Or do I really need to go Plywood and try to find a way paint it/stain it to keep her happy.

I have wondered about getting melamine doors and drawers and mounting them on Plywood boxes. But that started to seem like it could be the worst of both worlds.

Oh and BTW, those stacked and staggered drawers are a totally awesome idea. Thanks for sharing that one. I intend to make great use of that one.

Many Thanks,
JoshuaJoshua, there are a variety of options with Melamine. You can get it with different types of cores & quality levels. There is also the option of white laminate over plywood & vinyl wrapped plywood (pre-laminated options available). The nice thing with laminate is that you'll have some options regarding the gloss of the surface. The downside is that you'll need to laminate all the exposed door & cabinet edges (versus just using iron-on white edge banding that already matches melamine). Perhaps there is a glossy white edge banding option?