Getting started building built-ins

[Shawn Russell]

I am a complete novice to building case goods and have not ventured into finish carpentry.

I would like to tackle building a few built-in pieces: bookcases, console, bench seat, and storage cabinets.

What books or videos would you recommend to give me a wide overview and the finer points of building builtins well?

As far as equipment I have the following: circular saw, cordless drill, sliding chop saw, jig saw, router, trim router, sander, and an assortment of hand tool saws, chisels, and layout tools.

Or if there is anyone in the Atlanta area that wants to instruct I would love to learn hands on.

[johnny means]

Forget all the stuff for sale out there and just run to Youtube and other internet sources when you have a question.

[bobby milam]

I agree with Johnny. Buying books and videos is ok but they will have different approaches. Check out youtube and you'll at the very least get an idea of how you'd like to go about it. I'd recommend off the top of my head looking at kreg pocket hole jig videos. They have some decently detailed videos on how to do it using their system. Your tools are a little limited so you might be interested in getting a pocket hole jig for the joinery. They are relatively cheap and very easy to use.

I plan on doing the same thing as you, in time. I'm going to practice building cabinets for my shop first.

[Joseph Tarantino]

long term, i'd subscribe to wood magazine, shopnotes magazine and woodsmith magazine. wood is a great overall reference for both projects and project plans. shopnotes specializes in WW techniques and woodsmith specializes in employing those techniques to build projects.

[Stephen Cherry]

Shawn, you may be needing a table saw, or at least a guide to run your circular saw against to strait line boards.

The kreg tools site has some nice videos with projects. Bookshelves, cabinets, etc.

[Shawn Russell]

Thanks for the information. I was looking at the Kreg tools, a similar set by Marc Sommerfield(looks like a Kreg but all metal), a biscuit joiner, a dowel machine, or a domino.

The Kreg setup looks the most simple, wide distribution(the borg even carries it) and the least expensive.

From what I have looked at so far it seems I need to nail down carcass construction and then start building on top of that.

Cheers

[Steve Keathley]

One hint when beginning. Stick with painted pieces while starting out. That way, if your joints, and cuts aren't absolutely perfect, and they probably won't be, you can fill the gaps with paintable caulk or wood filler and hide the little imperfections. Before getting my shop, I built some pretty nice built-ins with some saw horses, a circular saw, cheap mitre saw, and a long metal straight edge.

One of the ways I figured things out was I crawled inside of some existing cabinets and looked at some existing furniture to see how they were made. Then I just copied what they did.

[Ellen Benkin]

The first thing I did after retirement was build a set of built-in bookcases using fewer than the tools you have. If you need long pieces cut to a specific width, ask the lumber yard to cut them for you. Then all you need is the circular saw to cut them to length. The key to making them look "built-in" is to run the room's base molding around the bookcases and some form of crown molding on top. Also, almost every woodworking magazine will have an article on how to build these at least three times a year. Good luck and have fun.

[Prashun Patel]

I'd get a subscription to Fine Woodworking Online. You get searchable access to past articles. They have a bunch of articles on built ins and carcass construction. If it were me, I'd buy a kreg pockethole jig before anything else. I found it the best bang for the buck out there for a lot of cabinet construction. Even though I prefer to use other methods of joinery after several years, I still turn to it for many things including face frames.

[Shawn Russell]

Thanks for all the advice.

My wife and I are just going to jump right in and make corrections as needed. :)

[John TenEyck]

Thanks for all the advice.

My wife and I are just going to jump right in and make corrections as needed. :)

Well, that's one approach. A better approach is to learn from others and Prashun offers good advice. There are a couple of really excellent articles in FWW about how to design, contruct, and install built-ins. Reading those will save you a LOT of heartache.

John

[Prashun Patel]

Shawn-
I also like to jump in and make corrections as necessary. However, I'd suggest that you jump in virtually with Google Sketchup. It's free, and will help you and your wife visualize your project. Most importantly, you can then post the images here on SMC and get free critiques. There will be a lot of things that aren't immediately obvious; the pictures will help minimize those, and will optimize the material you need to purchase.

[Shawn Russell]

I may have used the wrong vocabulary. I ordered the online version of FWW. I am not going to hesitate in proceeding is what I meant by jump right in. I have been wanting to start for the past few months so we have started the layout and design ideas. For our first project we are going to make a simple bookcase with a uniform base and top cabinet. I am sure we will encounter a situation or two where we end up with more questions; our home does not have the most square or plumb walls.

[Jeff Monson]

our home does not have the most square or plumb walls.

Not many are Shawn, there are a lot of tricks in getting built-ins to fit correctly. Don't hesitate to ask, no matter how simple the question. I have learned a ton on this site regarding a project like you are about to take on, here's some I just finished up on http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?204167-1st-built-in-s-are-done!