Bad Beginner Cabinet Tips

Do you want to build your first set of cabinets for the workshop or home but you're confused by the endless amounts of tips and information offered by internet gurus with commercial-sized operations well you're in luck because today we are getting back to basics and I'll show you how to build simple but professional looking cabinets in your own hobby shop I'm here at my local Home Center I'm getting the plywood I need for the project and I'm going to give you a quick recap on exactly what to buy but let's save that when we get back to the shop because I find this all incredibly uncomfortable and people are starting look at me all weird if you're a non-pickup driving son of a gun like me you can sympathize that a 4x8 to plywood does not fit in my car which means I need this broken down by my new friend Raheem I'm not asking Raheem to cut all the parts out just one rip so I can actually get it home and if your store's panel saw has been out of commission for 18 months like that ice cream machine in McDonald's that's never working bring your own tools and be that weird guy in a parking lot tailgate broke 2x4 for the wi okay I've got my pieces back home and this is really where you need to slow down especially if you're making multiple cabinets with different dimensions but here's a great rule of thumb using a circular saw in an edge guide to cut the parts for my cabinet sides and bottom now if I leave the edge guide locked into place this will ensure that my parts have the exact same depth this is also why I find programs like cutless Optimizer not not terribly reliable because they don't account for how she goods are truly broken down and while you maximize the yield it introduces too many opportunities for human error in my opinion and if you're one of those people that's thinking out loud I don't have one of those Edge guides well get creative and use a straight edge or eat out one less time next month and save up because this is only $45 I can only do so much people I know this doesn't quite look like cabinet Parts yet but stay with me now just because the sides are parallel to one another it doesn't actually mean that the ends are 90° to the side and if they're not you end up building a parallelogram instead of a box actually not entirely sure that's the right use of parallelogram is it we're going to go with that but this is one of the most important cuts of the entire project because it will be our reference to establish all other cross Cuts so use a nice square that you know is accurate and take time lining this puppy up now that cut done you normally would place these up against the fence of your table saw and you would cut the opposing side to its final width and if you don't have a table saw well let's just say that this video is a great excuse to convince your significant other that you need one however for the interim plant the two side Parts together and then cut them to their final Dimension at the same time so they perfectly match if you're following along at home great news because you now have two perfectly Square cabinet sides which means it's time to focus on the bottoms and top stretchers now that dimension is going to be completely dependent on your final cabinet width so dealer's choice however it is mandatory to cut the parts at the same time so they will be identical and I'll be using the miter saw and a stop block to get this done safely before I get too far ahead of myself though let's talk about plywood for Simplicity sake I'm going to break this into two main categories first you have construction grade products like OSB or sheathing which is only passable for exterior walls or subfloor is not really suitable for what we do the second category are cabinet grade offerings and this is a bit like asking which bear is best however here's a good rule of thumb if you're making something out in the shop the cheap radiata of pine or sanded plywood is more than adequate for a finished look inside your home get a decent Birch Maple or Oak veneer here locally that's sold by Columbia forest or pure Bron it might be different in your area now if you're looking to splurge you could buy Baltic Birch from a specialty dealer which has more ply layers and this helps it stay flat better and stronger for driving and screws but it does cost about 50 to 60% more than standard plywood again not necessary we now have the starting point for your typical Ikea cabinet we've got the sides stretcher and the bottom but you might be thinking come on Ikea what about the backs well not so fast my friend because I'm actually building cabinets for the shop and then my house in tandom I've got the opportunity to show you a couple different options for attaching The Backs a more traditional version and then something more DIY friendly now we're going to start with the more traditional because that does require some prep before assembly the side pieces of my laundry room cabinet are going to get a Groove along the inside of the entire height of the piece and the trick to getting that Groove in the correct spot is to use your back stretchers to set the fence distance and then I like to raise my blade to a/ qu of an inch using a/ qu of an inch drill bit for reference then you can take a couple passes bumping the fence away from the blade each time just make you're using a scrap piece to test the fit the goal is to cut a Groove that's just a smidgen wider than whatever plywood you're using for this back panel I'll cover the more DIY version and explain the pros and cons of each after I put these pieces together I find the Assembly of cabinet boxes is where a lot of the controversy seem surer its ugly internet head for instance you've got the overcompensating Doos in glue in one corner and then the other you have the Pinterest pocket hole print and princesses and then you've got people like myself that say it depends this set of cabinets is going in my laundry room and the sides will not be exposed they'll be screwed to one another and to the studs in the wall which means they won't be racking back and forth also how much stress do you really put on a cabinet when opening a door not much and that's a normal day in the life of these boxes so all I'm going to be using is a standard 1 and 3/4 in screw to fasten the parts together there's no need to waste time with pocket holes or glue it's just simply Overkill conversely this lovely specimen of a shop cabinet is going to hold a pretty heavy tool it's going to be wheeled around won't be attached to anything and has exposed sides so all of that adds up to pocket screws plus glue so when you see someone spouting off about the correct way to do something without ever acknowledging the application you have my permission to tell them shoo regardless of the pocket holes or normal screws I do like to use brad nails like an extra set of hands as an insurance policy of sorts and you might be fine without them you might not Parts start sliding around on you but it's quick and easy so why even risk it while we're on the topic this idea of protection became very real for my wife and I 6 years ago now when our family doubled in size overnight which is crazy to think that my kids are 6 years old now thankfully we received some good advice at the time to have a not so fun conversation about what would happen if one or both of us were to suddenly pass away at the time it was definitely uncomfortable but in hindsight it brought us the peace of mind we both needed by helping protect each other and our kids for my fellow parents did you know according to a 2022 Brooking study that it cost about $311,000 to raise a child and that's before College tuition kids are expensive who knew but a life insurance policy will help ensure that your children have the support that they need to live the life that you want for them them typically life insurance has been this crazy confusing topic that takes forever and then you end up not doing it but ethos focuses on creating a seamless customer experience by utilizing a 100% online application process you can get up to $2 million in long-term coverage without a medical exam or blood test all it takes is answering a few health questions online and you can get covered in minutes instead of weeks like I said life insurance isn't fun to talk about but the reality is the longer you wait the more you end up paying and trust me I know all about procrastination I basically wrote the book on it each year you wait your rates can increase anywhere from 8 to 10% and it's actually 9 to 12% each year after you turn 50 and all those statistics are according to Investopedia if you want to learn more about ethos or you're interested in getting your free life insurance quote check out the link in the description below and a big thanks to ethos for sponsoring today's video all right back to the build Moment of Truth suck it haters a big thank you to all my DIY Enthusiast for being patient but now we can finally attach the back panel if your cabinet has exposed sides like this one you likely don't want to see the edge grain of your plywood a couple quick passes with a rabbiting bit in your trim router will do the trick though I like to set mine to about an eighth of an inch deeper than my back panel thickness and a little router hack to safely use your tools is to make an L with your right hand and then put your thumb against the edge you will be cutting and whatever way your finger is pointing is your feed Direction now it's as simple as measuring your opening and cutting the panel to size I'm also using qu inch plywood for this now you might be thinking do I need half inch or 3/4 but the extra thickness just isn't necessary all you're looking for is something to keep the box from racking back and forth the rter does leave round corners which means you either Square them off with a chisel but ew hand tools are gross so I opt for rounding the back panel edges with a jigsaw time to see if it actually fits now I did cut this about a 30C of an inch shorter in both directions cuz it doesn't need to be super snug just want it to rest in your wrap Abit let's see what we dig oh yeah that'll be really good can glue that down later something else to note if you're not worried about the exposed edges or you're not going to see the size of your cabinet you don't need to recess this at all just take a/ quar inch piece of plywood and Tack it on the back and go about your day if you're starting to doze off how about a little controversy to wake you back up because it's time to stoke the proverbial grumpy woodworker Flames by talking toe kicks now you have two options here and the first is an integrated toe kick which means you're going to cut notches into the side pieces of your cabinets before assembly now the second method which is my preferred and the one I'll be demonstrating is an entirely separate toe kick I'll start by using the edge guide to rip fourin strips from my remaining 3/4 in plywood while my table saw gives me dirty looks that it's not getting any attention the front and back stretchers need to be the exact same width of my finished cabinet which is as simple as transferring that measurement to the miter saw and taking a couple chops a general rule of thumb for the toe kick depth is 3 in less than the total depth of the cabinet and don't forget to account for the thickness of your front and back stretchers if you tend to be math averse like me two off Cuts will save you from accidentally getting that measurement wrong I'm also cutting three extra pieces that are the same length and I'll show you why momentarily to save myself from having to fill screw holes before this is painted I'm opting to use concealed pocket screw SC for the main assembly of the tow kick and this is the exact same procedure as making our boxes the one difference are these extra pieces and the idea is once you secure these to the side and the middle it gives you something to screw the cabinet into the toe kick without trying to hit this Edge and if you're making a tow kick that has multiple cabinets on it place the middle supports where those cabinets meet and once we're done building the cabinets I'll show you how simple it is to level these in place every good box needs a good front and you have two choices here although as I'm saying this out loud I'm now realizing this video is starting to sound like a crappy game show behind door number one behind door number two I don't know I like giving you guys options let me know what you think of this format overall moving on if you're new to cabinet making option one is called frameless and it looks just like this the only difference is you would apply an edge banding before you assembled all these parts together to hide the ugly plywood edges I personally prefer to use frameless when I'm building solid wood furniture because I think it looks a little more modern and nice and neat however for this style build I prefer option two which is called a face frame and it's something you typically see in your own kitchen cabinets the good news is this is super easy and you can buy ready-made strips from your local Home Center I'm using 6ot select Pine 1X tws which are only $5 a piece and have no knots in them unlike the common board if you spend a little bit of time looking for the straight ones I think these are a heck of a deal you saw me measuring and cutting the two vertical pieces sambi woodworking lingo requires you refer to them as Styles and I like to clamp my styles to the box with the edges flush with the cabinet sides then I can create a referential measurement and sneak up on the vit for the horizontal pieces that are known as rails so remember if you want to be taken seriously at a woodworking store upon arrival walk in and Shout show me your rails and styles everyone will love it I promise promise I've seen people use Dows for face frame construction but again simple pocket holes and a little glue is more than strong enough in this application and it's quick and easy just make sure you're finding a way to clamp the parts down during assembly because as I've mentioned the one downside to these entry-level pocket holes is they do like to go for a walk when driving in screws I have my face frame almost done but I do want to add another rail that's going to separate the top drawer from the bottom door now instead of measuring this all you have to do is cut a couple spacer blocks that are the same size and you can shove it up against and everything will be dead Square this is a great tip for removing human error and something you should try to incorporate into your workflow whenever possible all right we now have a perfectly square face frame and if you want to double check that simple little trick is to take a tape measure and you can measure the diagonals from one corner to the next and then make sure it matches on the other side and we are in good shape here and the good news is even if your cabinet box is a little out of square a nice square face frame can help hide it if your cabinet does not have exposed sides pocket holes driven in from the side is a great way for attaching the face frame however I don't have that luxury on this piece so I'm going to use glue and clamps if you're feeling impatient or you're painting use some brad nails right through the front you can fill them later also if you're painting the cabinets they sell these pre-primed 1 by twos that also work great for face frames and are even cheaper than the select Pine all right for everybody that's following along congrats you are now the owner and operator of a non-lucrative and highly inefficient garage cabinet shop there are plenty of commercial operations that buy pre-made drawer boxes and door fronts but not us we're in the business of DIY so let's start with a cute little drawer box for this upper portion I'm going to measure this opening and subtract 1 in to account for the drawer slides and I'm also taking 1 in off the height as far as the depth that should just be a smidgen longer than whatever drawer slide you purchased the great news is you know exactly how to cut and assemble this together oh yeah it is exactly the same as making the Box even down to the recessed bottom panel I should have mentioned this earlier if you have a miter saw but don't have a big bench with a stop block like my setup anytime we need multiple parts to be the same length just batch cut them together now I want to be very clear and see if I can anticipate a lot of the feedback this video will inevitably get I'm not telling you this is the fastest way to do it and I'm sure people who have been working in commercial shops for years will remind me of that this is a video for DIY folks who have limited tools and are looking to conquer their first cabinets your first cabinets don't need to be constructed as efficiently and as quickly as possible your going to make mistakes but at the end of the day this is an approachable method that can get you going right away even if you don't own a table saw and if you've been building cabinets for 35 years what the hell are you doing watching this video anyways all right let's see if this bottom panel fits should oh yeah little bit of glue some brad nails and we'll be in action and just like that you've made a drawer now this were going in somewhere nice like your kitchen you probably want to add some Edge banding to the top here this is going in my shop so it's going to stay as is whenever you're installing drawer slides I find it much easier to let gravity be your friend not foe by placing the cabinet on its side because the face frame leaves a 3/4 in lip on the inside I'm using some scrap plywood to make up that difference and notice I'm using spacer blocks again to avoid having to duplicate measurements and since I know the tops of my pieces are even with one another I can then line up my drawer slides with those edges on both sides my only recommendation on drawer slides is to avoid using those really cheap ones from The Big Box store while the price is enticing they are such a pain to work with I'm going to leave a link below to an alternative that's reasonably cheap but so much better overall I don't know what I was thinking I guess forgot about math or something stalled those way too high let's try that again and now the second moment of truth I haven't actually tested this yet so it could be off again there's no telling I don't know feels pretty good since this is such a small opening there really isn't room for a traditional shaker style drawer front so instead I'm going to use a solid piece of 3/4 in plywood now I'm subtracting a/4 inch in both directions when I'm cutting this and that'll leave me a nice eighth of an inch reveal around all four sides all right let's see how we did these are handy shims by the way I saw these in a Michael Al video last year and to say they have been life altering would be an understatement they're fantastic make sure you get yourself a set see that's looking pretty good cut it just a smidge in too short on the width but don't tell anyone it's what happens when you're rushing I want to go get my pad tie for dinner looks good overall though time to tackle our bottom door which means we can get our HDTV Shaker on now unlike the drawer that was inset which means it's flush with the face frame I'm going to demonstrate an overlay style for the door so when I take this measurement here I'm going to be adding half an inch in both directions now that you're a fancy pants woodworker you know the secrets to cutting the rails and styles while getting perfect dimensions and doubly good news because you can purchase select Pine 1x3s which come ready to go quick little tip for double check checking your measurements in a situation like this my door needs a finished width of 26 1/2 in but I need to account for the thickness of my two Styles so all I do is I set my tape at 26 1/2 in on this side and whatever the ruler reads on the other side is what I need to cut my rails to I have nice round numbers this time so it's pretty basic but when you have weird complicated fractions that can get a little messy and save it metric people we know I did say I want to te you how to make professional looking cabinets and while you could assemble these with pocket screws on the back side it's not the best look when the door is open so I'm opting for dowels instead Dow jigs can be pretty cheap and are a great alternative to pocket holes when you need concealed Fasteners now I can test fit this all together before actually gluing it I'm going to show you a Nifty trick for this door style without having to use a table saw with everything together in the Dows in place I'm going to use that same router bit you've seen throughout the video and cut a Groove all along the inside of this Frame that's the same thickness as my plywood Center panel these rabbiting bits are also known as slot Cutters just make sure you're buying one that cuts at least a/ an inch deep pretty cool right and after measuring and then cutting that Center piece to size we can do a test foit and there you have it Shaker style doors with a floating panel and no table saw well done if you're following along all right this has had plenty of time to dry and I want to reiterate this might not be the fastest way to make a door but if you're still building out a tool collection I think it's a really viable option and the results speak for themselves because this looks pretty good I'm not a huge proponent of telling you to buy one trick items but if you foresee more than one or two doors in your future a simple jig like this one will pay for itself many times over and there is no big clunky drill press required just a good oldfashioned hand drill and it will get you perfect and repeatable results I bought this around 7 years ago and I think it's around $30 now but it is one of the best purchases I have ever made like frameless vers face frame cabinets deciding on inset versus overlay doors and drawers really just comes down to a matter of personal preference with that being said if you're just getting started an overlay style is much more forgiving and can more easily cover up an opening or two that may or may not be slightly out of square unlike inset which can be downright cruel at some times especially when you do a 16th of an inch reveal all the way around my advice you should learn both but I would definitely start with the overlay and if you're wondering why I haven't taken off this select Pine sticker yet come on people you don't splurge on select Pine and then remove the sticker this is a badge of honor you don't take the hood ornament off of a Jaguar do you I didn't think so now was a very appropriate time to attach the back panels and as promised I want to point out the differences between these two styles with the more advanced traditional version these stretchers in the back double as nailers meaning something to screw the cabinets to the wall and they are completely hidden so it looks pretty professional after it's all put together you can of course add nailer strips to this DIY version but the downside is they will be visible from inside your cabinet when you open the door not the end of the world but if it's for something like your kitchen not the best look as a workaround instead of a/ quinch plywood for the back panel you could inset half inch and that will give you more than enough bite to act as a nailer so pick an option based on your own situation and budget but now I can show you how simple it is to level these toe kicks Welcome to our pantry laundry room combo I'm going to be adding two cabinets next to this one that's already existing it's from Home Depot don't tell anyone with my toe kick in the right spot I can use these handy shims to get the platform perfectly level in all directions and any spot that needs to be propped up gets a piece of scrap plywood and then some screws when you're setting multiple cabinets this is so much easier than trying to shim each one and get them perfectly level with their brothers and sisters and all that's left to do is screw them down into those toe kicks making sure you're hitting the horizontal stretchers now like most Home Improvement projects this one isn't quite ready for a final reveal and much to the dismay of my wife will likely stay exact exactly as you see it for the next 5 months fortunately for my DIY Shop cabinet there's no more decisions to make which means I was able to get the hardware installed and the wheels put on the bottom now go get out there and spend twice as much time and money building something that you could buy ready to go I'm kidding of course or am I we'll see you

Channel: Lincoln St. Woodworks

Views: 839,279

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Id: xzzOZF48aJw

Length: 24min 21sec (1461 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 23 2024