My first cabinets

[Tony Cox]

Here is my first attempt at making cabinets. I have two of these and I am getting ready to start 2 more cabinets to complete what I need for the garage. These are going to be part of a 13 foot L shape workbench in my garage. It will be 2 of these 4 drawer units, 1 unit will have a single drawer at the bottom and a space for my fridge at the top. It will be about 21 inches wide. The last one will be about 12 inches wide and will house my computer and have a couple of drawers under the computer.

It will make a little more sense when I get them made. These 2 are made from pine. I was using pine because these are for practice. I think I will make the other 2 from ash. I haven't decided yet. I just want to make sure I can get the finish close to the same. The cabinet box is made from pre-finished cabinet plywood that I get from a close-out cabinet place for $10 per sheet. I spent $70 and got 5 sheets of 5/8" and 2 sheets of 1/4". I didn't think I could really go wrong.

More to come,

Tony

[Roger Warford]

Very nice Tony. What sort of joinery did you use for the frame and carcass?

[Tony Cox]

Everything is put together with pocket holes. I love my Kreg jig.

[Glenn Clabo]

Perfect tool for your project Tony...and I can't wait to see the entire picture of the garage!

[Frank McKinney]

Looks good. Can't wait to see how it all comes together. I'd love to come across a deal like that for cabinet grade plywood, pre-finished or not.

Frank

[John Thompson]

Very nice Tony.. The pine should be fine for the shop unless your expecting "royalty" over and it's cheaper. Save the better stuff for inside..

Sarge..

[Tony Cox]

Very nice Tony.. The pine should be fine for the shop unless your expecting "royalty" over and it's cheaper. Save the better stuff for inside..

Sarge..

What I find is the hickory I purchased actually comes out cheaper than the pine I was getting from Menards or Lowes. Also, a guy I work with has a lumber mill and the ash he is selling is cheaper. I have some options so that is why I will probably use something other than pine for the rest of the cabinets I am making.

Tony

[Tony Cox]

Looks good. Can't wait to see how it all comes together. I'd love to come across a deal like that for cabinet grade plywood, pre-finished or not.

Frank


I got the second cabinet assembled last night. I didn't have the camera in the garage and it was late, so no pic yet. It looks just like the one above anyway. I am waiting on the drawer pulls from Rockler. They should be here today or tomorrow. Now I can get started on the other 2 I need. I can't wait to get these done and start installing them. Some upper cabinets will be next so I can replace the wire shelving that I had installed. I thought I would like that stuff, but I really hate it. I think the cabinet option will look awesome.

The plywood is stuff that is damaged or in some way unusable by the cabinet manufacturer. I found that I can find the decent sheets and I don't have any of the damaged area in my cabinet. I just plan my cuts around the damage. Which, by the way, is usually on the edges so that makes it easy.

[John Thompson]

What I find is the hickory I purchased actually comes out cheaper than the pine I was getting from Menards or Lowes. Also, a guy I work with has a lumber mill and the ash he is selling is cheaper. I have some options so that is why I will probably use something other than pine for the rest of the cabinets I am making.

Tony

I suppose I wasn't thinking, Tony. I have been using the same hard-wood source since 1974 and the thought of purchasing wood from Lowe's or Meanards never crossed my mind. From what I have seen.. you probably could have done the cabinets in mahogany cheaper than buying pine from Lowe's.. :D

Sarge..

[Tony Cox]

I suppose I wasn't thinking, Tony. I have been using the same hard-wood source since 1974 and the thought of purchasing wood from Lowe's or Meanards never crossed my mind. From what I have seen.. you probably could have done the cabinets in mahogany cheaper than buying pine from Lowe's.. :D

Sarge..

You are completely right about the mahogany. The walnut I bought from Frank Miller Lumber a couple weeks ago comes out cheaper than the pine I bought from Menard's. I had never worked with rough sawn lumber until now and I think I am going to love it. I just purchased a Ridgid R4330 planer on Tuesday. (See thread here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=83277)
I am getting a jointer from someone I work with and will probably pick that up next week sometime.

Tony