Beginner cabinet construction

[Jeremy Taylor]

Hello all! I've been lurking on this board for several months now and spent many nights browsing old posts when I should be in bed! The amount of knowledge and information available on this board is simply overwhelming. Many thanks to all who have contributed.


I want to learn some basic cabinet construction techniques. My ultimate goal one day is to be able to build a wall unit for our bonus room consisting of some base cabinets with bookshelves above. In order to get some practice, I first want to build some cabinets for my garage similar to what's depicted in the attached photo (Slide-Lok brand cabinet).


Since I've been pretty successful cutting sheet goods with my circular saw and a homemade guide system, I'm thinking of purchasing the EZ Smart Guide system as an alternative to purchasing a table saw. Do you think this is an okay strategy? I would really like to avoid purchasing a table saw because 1) I don't have enough room for a decent one and 2) I have zero experience using one.


As far as joinery for the carcass, which should I learn first; dados / rabbets or biscuits? I do not have a router or a plate joiner so I would need to purchase one or the other. I'm sure I'll have both eventually.


The choice of material is also making things confusing for me. For the garage cabinets, should I go with plywood since that's what I would most likely use for my eventual wall unit (the whole thing will be painted white), or use mdf or melamine? The finish is not to important since they're for the garage.


I'll stop rambling. Thanks for any / all responses. Time for another cup of coffee since it was another late night!


Jeremy

[Tom Jones III]

I bought the book below and found it to be very helpful. It contains several different projects from solid wood very traditional construction to sheet goods modern construction techniques. I think if you spend some time going over a couple of the projects, maybe even making one then you will have a much greater knowledge to be able to design the cabinet you want to build.

Chests of Drawers
by Bill H. Hylton, Bill Hylton
ISBN: 1561584223

[Tom McCann]

Jeremy,

Your thoughts are dead on about ez system. I have owned 3 tablesaws and have sold all of them.

I have switched over to EZ Sytem and would totally recommend it. I would also recommend a router to use for dado, and rabbits. The things you can do are endless. I would start with a mid size router 2 1/4 hp.

Hope this helps.

Dino also sells a package that has a router attachment to help with differenct jointery.

Thanks Tom

[Al Willits]

I guess I'm the only one who owns a EZ system and doesn't think it replaces every cutting tool in my garage.
I bought it because I can't cut a straight line on long plywood cuts and the guide system does a great job of keeping the CS straight.
You don't seem to have that problem so I might give a bit of thought to buying only the EZ, in your shoes, I'd get the table saw.
Build a decent size sled for the TS and it will do wonders.

The EZ can evidently do just about anything the TS can, but not always as easy in my exprience.
Also the basic 100" version is either to long or to short, depending on what your doing, I'd replace one of the 50" guides with the 64" lenght (I think those are the right measurments) this will make cutting the long end of a 4x8 sheet easier....imho.
Also note I'm a newbie at this, but I'll keep my TS and EZ both.

Al...who thinks they work well...together..

[Scott Loven]

Kreg has a great DVD on doing trim work, shelving, built-ins etc. and a booklet on building cabinets that would be a great buy for your application. I used melamine in my kitchen cabinets, low cost, dont need to finish.
Scott

[joseph j shields]

Jeremy,

Welcome to the group!

A couple things....

#1. Building cabinets from sheet goods will require you to break them down from their 4'x8' size.

#2. This is where the EZ (or Festool) really shine. Trying to do this on a table saw is difficult and can be dangerous. (Before EZ & Festool I would have to rough cut the pieces with a circular saw & cut to finish size on the table saw. With either the EZ or Festool you can cut to finish size in one step!) (Also.... the EZ & Festools solutions will not produce tearout which you may have with just a circular saw)

#3. You will have some hardwoods to cut for your face frames and doors. This is where the table saw shines. The EZ & Festool can do this, but not as easy. Now I don't want to start a "holy war", but the EZ is better than the Festool when having to cut narrow stock like for the face frame... I KNOW this because I own & use both the EZ and Festool. The EZ has a better solution for clamping narrow stock to the guide than the Festool.

#4. As far as joinery, you have lots of options. I like the Kreg jig for the following reasons: It is fast, accurate, easy and you don't need any clamps! (A few years ago, I built 28 kitchen cabinets and only needed 4 clamps for the carcases ! - just for fit-ups) (Also... the Kreg jig includes a great DVD on building cabinets with pocket holes) (Note I would not use pocket holes for the doors...you will see the holes or the plugs)

Hope this helps!


-jj

[Ted Miller]

Jeremy, Welcome to the world of wood. Its fun watching a pile of lumber turn into something you can use or someone else can use. Since swinging a hammer ever since I can remember its still fun to work with wood.

Main thing is to purchase the best tools you can afford and learn how to use them as you need them for each project and not just buy everything insight as you will spend thousands and wind up with tools that just sit and gather dust.

I have been around wood since I was 9 and I still read and learn new things daily, I can never know enough.

Lots of great info on this board about working with wood and many years experience and some great guys on here.

I am with Joe that the Kreg system has made my cabinet making a ease with pocket holes, assembly goes much faster and very strong.

I have to admit I am with Al on the EZ system, and my table saw does majority of my work and I was raised on RAS for making everything in the old days from cabinets, doors, windows, etc.

Good luck and enjoy cabinet building...

[John Stevens]

As far as joinery for the carcass, which should I learn first; dados / rabbets or biscuits? I do not have a router or a plate joiner so I would need to purchase one or the other. I'm sure I'll have both eventually.

For simple and strong cabinet construction techniques, I recommend that you read one of Danny Proulx's books on cabinet construction. You'll find it a wealth of introductory-level info on materials, connectors, tools and construction techniques. In addition, read Niall Barrett's book, "The Custom Home Office." Although there is a lot of overlapping info in Proulx's and Barrett's books, there's enough of a difference that I think both are well worth your time (and money if you can't find them in a library--I own both). After building cabinets according to the techniques in those books, I'm convinced that anything more complicated (rabbets, dados) is a waste of one's limited time. After you read those books, you'll have a better idea of what tools and materials to buy.

Regards,

John

[Ted Miller]

Jeremy, John posted some great reading there and also take a look at Jim Tolpin's books, he is a master with wood and really makes reading fun while learning...

[Jeremy Taylor]

Thanks gentlemen! I had previously ordered (and should receive anyday now) both Toulpin's and Proulxs' books. The Kreg system was definitely my choice for face frame construction. I hadn't thought about using them for the carcass construction. Thanks again for the input / suggestions. I know I'll be asking a lot more questions as I move forward.

Jeremy

[joseph j shields]

I hadn't thought about using them for the carcass construction.

Jeremy

When using the Kreg for the carcass think ahead and make sure your placement allows you to hide the pocket holes. (You can also use pocket hole to attach the frame to the carcass)

One other thing.... Early on I had a POS $200 table saw that cut very poorly. I ended-up buying a $100 Forrest blade (hard to think that my blade was 50% the cost of my saw ) , tuned the machine up, realigned the fence...and started getting fairly reasonable cuts. For $100 I got huge improvements without having to shell out $1,500 for a Unisaw.... (I eventually saved enough money to buy a Unisaw and reused the Forrest blade on the new machine)

-jj

[Burt Waddell]

Hello all! I've been lurking on this board for several months now and spent many nights browsing old posts when I should be in bed! The amount of knowledge and information available on this board is simply overwhelming. Many thanks to all who have contributed.


I want to learn some basic cabinet construction techniques. My ultimate goal one day is to be able to build a wall unit for our bonus room consisting of some base cabinets with bookshelves above. In order to get some practice, I first want to build some cabinets for my garage similar to what's depicted in the attached photo (Slide-Lok brand cabinet).


Since I've been pretty successful cutting sheet goods with my circular saw and a homemade guide system, I'm thinking of purchasing the EZ Smart Guide system as an alternative to purchasing a table saw. Do you think this is an okay strategy? I would really like to avoid purchasing a table saw because 1) I don't have enough room for a decent one and 2) I have zero experience using one.

I've been working most of the day cutting out cabinet parts with a EZ Smart. Sitting right beside my EZ table is a 5 horse unisaw with a 52" unifence and a 3 horse unisaw. Neither of the table saws have been used today. I envy people like you have never owned a table saw. I have to re-learn all of the techniques and you can just grab the rail and go. A table saw is far more dangerous than using the EZ.

As far as joinery for the carcass, which should I learn first; dados / rabbets or biscuits? I do not have a router or a plate joiner so I would need to purchase one or the other. I'm sure I'll have both eventually.

For making cabinets dado's and rabbits are about all of the necessary joints. You will need a router - around 2 horse will work fine and the SRK would make your life easier.

The choice of material is also making things confusing for me. For the garage cabinets, should I go with plywood since that's what I would most likely use for my eventual wall unit (the whole thing will be painted white), or use mdf or melamine? The finish is not to important since they're for the garage.

This question will receive numerous responses. My personal thought is that I don't touch the partical board or MDF. It is heavy, wears out your bits and blades quickly, and isn't anywhere near as strong as plywood.


I'll stop rambling. Thanks for any / all responses. Time for another cup of coffee since it was another late night!


Jeremy

Jeremy,

Welcome. You may want to visit the EZ Forum Right here on Sawmill Creek.

Burt

[Bill Neely]

You may want to buy Marc Sommerfeld's DVD on cabinet construction. It's somewhat of an infommercial but it's very informative and shows how to build face frames and carcasses using pocket screws. About $10.00.