Euro cabinet primer

[Larry Fox]

Can anyone recommend a good book / primer on Euro (frameless, 32mm, etc) cabinets? I have built a set with face-frames and used Udo Schmidt's book and liked it but it is focused on face-frame iirc. I find myself (very likely) faced with doing another set and would like to try frame-less to maximize space and to try something new.

Thanks in advance for your time . . .

L

[Sam Shank]

Google turns up a lot of stuff. Here's a link to a pdf that I had saved. It's a good starting point. McFeeleys had some info on their confirmat screw page as I recalled.

http://www.techdirections.com/32mmCabinet.pdf

[Phil Pritchard]

In the absence of a copy of the Blum Pearls manual (out of print a long time now) I'd suggest taking a look at the 32mm Cabinetmaking (http://32mm.dalrun.com/index.html) site. The main thing is to switch to metric for everything - the system doesn't work well with conversions

Phil

[frank shic]

Those are not bad references that you've been given, Larry. You may also want to check out the Danny Proulx book on building european cabinets. You get approximately 30% more usable space by building european and you can fit all of the hardware directly on to the 32mm spaced holes without having to shim out to accomodate the face frame overhang. In addition, you save yourself all the time that is required to mill face frame parts. Another great book for building european cabinets is the True32 book but it's on the pricey side at $50 and has very few illustrations. Here are a couple more links that may help:

www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Blums_Process_32_Manual_PDF.html (http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Blums_Process_32_Manual_PDF.html)
www.cabsystems.com (http://www.cabsystems.com)

I can also email you a copy of the Blum Pearls if you are interested. Charlie Karp is great at answering questions, BTW.

[Larry Fox]

Thanks for all the useful links and information guys - I will check them out. Having already done a set of face-frame ones, I think I have a good base and am just looking for something that I can read to understand the differences so I can do the translation and I think these resources will do the trick.

[Sam Shank]

So you guys that make 32mm cabs, how do you make all your holes if you don't have line boring machines?

[Steven Wilson]

Sam, I use a Festool 1010 router and the 32mm hole drilling kit (guide rails with 32mm spacing).

Frank, I've gone through the True32 Flow Manufacturing book, made 32mm cabinets the proper way (conformat screws, melamine, etc) and although fast and probably profitable I just can't stand melamine and particle board. If I want IKEA I'll just but from IKEA, I don't need to make it for myself. Besides solid wood (assuming you plane it yourself) is there any dimensionally consistant material out there besides that gawd awful particle board? I'm really more interested in more substantial cabinetry than what is available using melamine as a structural element.

[frank shic]

Sam, the festool 32mm boring system that Steven suggested will definitely work although I believe that it's much slower than a manual drill guide. The best one that I've found so far is the J&R drill jig. You can get the contact information off this website:

http://32mm.dalrun.com/System_Tools/Drilling/mbjigs.html

If you decide to order it, please note that you will have to pay by COD as the widow does not take credit card orders or have a website. It really is a shame since this thing works much better than any of the other ones I've seen so far including the Lee Valley system 32 jig.

Steven, you could always use prefinished plywood as a substitute for melamine although I've found that it's not nearly as stable, consistent or durable as melamine and it commands a higher price as well. Hats off to you for purchasing the book! I've found that Bob Buckley's advice has completely REVOLUTIONIZED by approach to cabinetmaking. I especially love the "Ten Commandments of True32 cabinetry" although I'm using the Grass 774mm end panels instead of the 768mm end panels that he recommends - too much binding on the countertop and the top of the first drawer!