first cabinets for our house

[keith ouellette]

These are for the laundry room. I thought it would be a good place to start. The pull out is for a pull out hamper. I still have to make a counter with a sink. I have to make some uppers also and when those are done I will probably re do the panel because I don't like the finish on it. Thakyou for looking and i look forward to any helpful criticism.

[Jim Becker]

Nice work, Keith!!! I will warn you...you're "honey-do-in-the-workshop" list is going to grow and grow now that you've demonstrated your skills... :D

[keith ouellette]

At first she wanted to buy cabinets at home depot but I promised her I could do it. I'm not even that good yet and I already have a back log. To bad she won't pay me with any more than appreciation.

[Don Bullock]

...To bad she won't pay me with any more than appreciation.

You need to follow Jim's example on this one. Just think of all the tools that you "need" to do the jobs she has for you "better." I think that's how Jim justified the slider.;):D

The cabinets look great. You've got a good start on the laundry room.

[Ellen Benkin]

Just out of curiousity -- how much did it cost in materials to do this and how many hours did it take? I know you had a lot of fun and were able to design and build exactly what you needed, but I sometimes wonder if building is financially wiser than buying.

I just threw together a little deck "bench" made out of 2x4s. I figure I have about $20 worth of materials including wood, screws, glue, and finish. It's well made and exactly the size I wanted, but could I have bought something just as functional for less?

[Mike Cutler]

They came out well Keith. Light, propotionate and a classic style. Continuing to build off them should make a great looking laundry room setup.
Well done.

What specifically is bothering you about the finish?

[Pat Germain]

Spiffy!

If your concern is the darkened edges of the panel, perhaps some more sanding would help there.

[keith ouellette]

Just out of curiousity -- how much did it cost in materials to do this and how many hours did it take? I know you had a lot of fun and were able to design and build exactly what you needed, but I sometimes wonder if building is financially wiser than buying.

I just threw together a little deck "bench" made out of 2x4s. I figure I have about $20 worth of materials including wood, screws, glue, and finish. It's well made and exactly the size I wanted, but could I have bought something just as functional for less?

I understand what you mean and have thought about that before I decided to get into wood working.
Lumber and sheets were about $100. If you add in the cost of my dedicated wood working building and tools were talking thousands. Pretty expensive for a pair of cabinets I could have bought for $100 to $300.
I could have gone golfing many times for that but golfing isn't much of a skill and will never pay me anything. I also couldn't have gotten the size i wanted unless I had them custom built (which still would have been cheaper).
The important thing is that this is something I wanted to do since I was little and have never had the chance. I built a chair out of scrap wood from a old picnic table when I was six. It was a piece of junk but I loved doing it.
I don't really expect to make any money doing wood working but if all I cared about was money I don't think i would like myself very much. Don't get me wrong. I like money. I just don't love it.

[Jim Becker]

Just out of curiousity -- how much did it cost in materials to do this and how many hours did it take? I know you had a lot of fun and were able to design and build exactly what you needed, but I sometimes wonder if building is financially wiser than buying.

Good point if there is a lot of them to do, but for Keith, I think that this was also intended as a skill builder.

I'm wrestling with this "as we speak". I have a lot of cabinets that need to go up in the addition for things like the laundry. I'm seriously considering ordering the boxes knocked down from CabParts just to save time. I've already shop-built the critical vanities which were a pleasure and too unique to buy, anyway. But for some of these utility areas, I'm thinking stock cabinet carcases; with purchased doors for the laundry and custom shop-made doors for my office.

[keith ouellette]

They came out well Keith. Light, propotionate and a classic style. Continuing to build off them should make a great looking laundry room setup.
Well done.

What specifically is bothering you about the finish?

If you look closely at the picture of the panel you can see a few streaks and some lines from the drum sander I didn't get out. I think I can do it better. I wrote about my finish problems on the finishing forum. Woes of a new finisher

[Michael Weber]

At first she wanted to buy cabinets at home depot but I promised her I could do it. I'm not even that good yet and I already have a back log. To bad she won't pay me with any more than appreciation.
Sometimes a little appreciation is just what a guy needs;)

[fRED mCnEILL]

For me saving money building my own is part of the satisfaction. I MAY be able to buy some cheap cabinets close to what it cost to build but the comparison is not apples to apples as the bought ones are VERY cheap and mine are "high end". I buy all my lumber rough from a local sawmill (last load was $1 pbf) and the hardwood plywood I buy from a specialty supplier. Prices are a fraction of the borg and it goes without saying the quality is much better. They also carry LOTS of factory seconds which works out quite well for MOST of my situations(who cares if the back of a cabinet has surface flaws.

When I started, my first project was 15 feet of wall unit in the bedroom. I had bought a lift of rough western maple from a mill going out of business for about $300. This was my first exposure to buying wood so I thought that is what wood would generally cost. Anyway the wall unit had 7 foot high rail and stile doors and I was having trouble getting straight 2 1/2 in.stiles 7 feet long. So I thought I would just run down to the local specialty liumber dealer to buy some nice narrow straight maple boards. BIG EYE OPENER. The peices 2 1/2 in.X8ft.long were $25 each so just to buy enough of those was going to cost more than the lift I had bought. I then decided I could problably spend a little more effort getting straight pieces from the wood I already had.

I read on here quite often of guys buying their lumber at HD or Lowes and shutter. There OK for 2x stuff but thats it.

Fred Mc.

[Lee Koepke]

Sometimes a little appreciation is just what a guy needs;)
very true words.

ME looking at something I built ( even if its got some flaws ) is more valuable than saving money buying factory built stuff.

[keith ouellette]

very true words.

ME looking at something I built ( even if its got some flaws ) is more valuable than saving money buying factory built stuff.

I know exactly how you feel.

[Mike Cutler]

If you look closely at the picture of the panel you can see a few streaks and some lines from the drum sander I didn't get out. I think I can do it better. I wrote about my finish problems on the finishing forum. Woes of a new finisher

Ahh...I see now.

That's quite the write up on the finishing forum. You persevered and that's what's important.

I've seen the question of relative cost throughout the thread. For me it's a non-issue. I do this because I like to create something from a pile of boards, and to relieve the stress of the day job. It's primarily a personal satisfaction.
One thing I have learned about relative cost though. I may not be able to build it cheaper than buying, but I can darn well build it better.

keep up the good work Keith. It's going to be spectacular when you're finished with the whole room.

[Chuck Burns]

We were locking at having the kitchen done. It's a large kitchen with a large island, part of a great room, and we wanted Cherry and furniture grade cabinets amd trim. No counting the appliance package and granite I figure to save 20k building the cabinets myself.

I have the time to build them. My day job pays me for 70 hours a week whether I work or not: I just have to be available to take off on a moments notice 24/7 (except on days off). I'd as soon work in the garage building something as watch TV. And quite frankly the quality of most commercial cabinets suck. They look fine from a distance but up close all I see is shoddy.

[Jim Becker]

I've seen the question of relative cost throughout the thread. For me it's a non-issue. I do this because I like to create something from a pile of boards, and to relieve the stress of the day job. It's primarily a personal satisfaction. One thing I have learned about relative cost though. I may not be able to build it cheaper than buying, but I can darn well build it better.

I absolutely agree with you, Mike. That's one of the reasons it's so hard for me to consider buying some components for the addition as I'm likely going to do. (at least I'll still be assembling them and probably making many of the doors) But there are too many of them for me to construct to my personal standards in the amount of time I have...my business travel has really whacked so many of my weekends. But given the time, I'd build every single one!

Chuck, doing your own kitchen really is worth it. In 2003, I put a $60K kitchen in our home for $20K including high-end appliances. Doing all the work, including the cabinetry was how I accomplished that.

[Pat Germain]

Chuck, doing your own kitchen really is worth it. In 2003, I put a $60K kitchen in our home for $20K including high-end appliances. Doing all the work, including the cabinetry was how I accomplished that.

And there's no better way to justify buying nice tools for a skeptical spouse! ;) In my case, the women in my life can never have enough cabinetry. Shelves, bookcases, cupboards, cubbies, you name it. They wan't it all and lots of it. It seems like one moderate kitchen project can pay for a moderate woodshop.

[Jim Becker]

And there's no better way to justify buying nice tools for a skeptical spouse!

I don't have the skeptical spouse issue since Professor Dr. SWMBO and I, being married "later in life" and both having good careers, keep separate financials for the most part. (I pay for housing and related things like utilities; she pays for food, childcare, out of pocket medical, etc) But doing all the cabinetry I have been able to do for the addition made it possible for me to buy my sliding saw last spring...and I'm still coming out ahead of what the cost would have been for purchased custom cabinetry. That said, I agree that making nice results come out of the shop is going to help a lot with folks budgeting for good tools. And it's not just about making things, but being able to truly illustrate that you derive a lot of satisfaction and stress-cutting from the activity...which benefits everyone in the household.

One of Professor Dr SWMBO's Christmas presents was a picture of the nightstands I'll be building for our new master bedroom. I could tell she was pleased because she knows how much I enjoy making things for our home. The fact that she's going to get some input into the design was also a nice touch, since we each use our nightstands differently. You can't buy that in a store!

I'm glad that Keith got these first cabinets done. He did a great job and got some nice learning in, too. I'm looking forward to his next installments!

[keith ouellette]

We were locking at having the kitchen done. It's a large kitchen with a large island, part of a great room, and we wanted Cherry and furniture grade cabinets amd trim. No counting the appliance package and granite I figure to save 20k building the cabinets myself.

And quite frankly the quality of most commercial cabinets suck. They look fine from a distance but up close all I see is shoddy.

This is a statement I can agree with. We have kraft maid cabinets and though I wouldn't say they suck, for the money the joints and grain matching should be a lot better. If I were a little more highly skilled I could make them cheaper (and better) if I didn't count the cost of the shop and tools. I will get to that level someday.

[Steve Clardy]

Well done Keith

[Chuck Burns]

Jim,

I've been married 37 years and I think one of the secrets is that we've kept separate bank accounts. We both have great jobs, work hard and make a lot of money so when she comes home with a new chair for the living room or a new tool shows up in the garage their is no problem.

Estimates to do what we want in the kitchen/great room area including cabinets, appliances, granite and flooring came in at 80K! I believe I can cut that by better than half.

When the PM 2700 Shaper showed up recently she did say it looked awefully industrial and asked why a person needed that in a home shop. I explained to her that it would let me do a better and quicker job on the cabinet doors than with the router table. Ya gotta love big knives. Next is a Steff Maggi PF.