# kitchen cabinet making



## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

Hello, I am Michael, can anyone out there advise me on how to make my own kitchen cabinets? It's just too costly to engage a good furniture maker so I might as well try to do it on my own, thanks for allowing me to join the forum!


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

G'day Michael

Welcome to the router forum. 

Thank you for joining us

Try this web site for inspiration.

http://www.sommerfeldtools.com/

A number of the members use his videos.


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Greetings Michael and welcome to the router forums, we are glad to have you join us. 

You do not mention your experience level, or what tools you have. This information would help in advising you in your adventure.


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## derek willis (Jan 21, 2009)

mikesmw said:


> Hello, I am Michael, can anyone out there advise me on how to make my own kitchen cabinets? It's just too costly to engage a good furniture maker so I might as well try to do it on my own, thanks for allowing me to join the forum!


Does it really matter how you make them? after all you only see the door, you can join the carcasses with biscuits, screws, dowel whatever you lke , groove the rear adges for a false back, but do get a good door panel set and thst's what will show off a really good kitchen, top of page five in my downloads will show a few of the oak doors I made about 3 years ago for a kitchn, they were super smart I can tell you. Here it is:-

Picture 001.jpg (2.9 KB)


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## JKV (May 21, 2011)

Hi Michael, yes we can help. We will need to know what shop tools you have to work with. Lets start off with you box's, you can use 3/4" or 1/2" but you will be better off going with 3/4". Will you need step by step or do you have experience?
you can check out my uploads, these are some I built for my wife.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Michael

I suggest you get the DVD below,if you can swing it get the full set of videos, you can find his videos all over the place now days..

You can make a 10,000.oo set cabinets for peanuts if you use his video as a guide,they are that good and it's big deal how you make them, it's once in a life time project the norm for most people ..

For me I don't look to hard at the outside of the cabinet I look inside of them to tell me if the guy new what he was doing..or if they will take the test of time, they will be in place for 30 years or more the norm..

Cabinetmaking Made Easy-Sommerfeld's Tools For Wood

Marc Sommerfeld's New Expanded DVD Collection


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mikesmw said:


> Hello, I am Michael, can anyone out there advise me on how to make my own kitchen cabinets? It's just too costly to engage a good furniture maker so I might as well try to do it on my own, thanks for allowing me to join the forum!


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## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

Thank you guys for the valuable information, will keep you all posted on my progress. May God bless you all!


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## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

xplorx4 said:


> Greetings Michael and welcome to the router forums, we are glad to have you join us.
> 
> You do not mention your experience level, or what tools you have. This information would help in advising you in your adventure.


Thank you Jerry! I am actually a novice on this furniture making but I really would like to give it a try as I believe everything can be done as long as we have the will and willing to learn from mistakes. I only have drills(hammer and normal), a handheld planner, a trimmer, an orbital sander, an air nailer, hand saw, and a cut-off saw. I presume the trimmer can be converted to a router if I can get the compatible bits. I wish you can advise me what other tools needed on a venture like this and what I have to do for a start. Thanks!


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

Hi Michael,
Trim routers will not have the power to run the cabinet bits & most bits for these kind of operations use 1/2" shanks. I would take as a first step to get a cabinet making dvd from Sommerfeld as Bob suggested. Then you will see the type of equipment needed. I built these using the techniques on the Sommerfeld dvd's.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

jlord said:


> Trim routers will not have the power to run the cabinet bits & most bits for these kind of operations use 1/2" shanks.


That is very true, but it is possible to make "false" Shaker pattern doors by planting 6mm rails and stiles on top of a 12mm door blank. From the outside, once painted, these will look just like cope and stick doors, but without the need for any heavy gear. The trimmer can be used to radius the edges, etc.

Regards

Phil


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## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

Thank you again Guys, you all are really helpful. All the comments and informations from you are so valuable that I am beginning to have full confidence in my diy projects. Thank you and God Bless1


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Mr. Wong.

Check the web sites for Merillat, Armstrong, Quality Cabinets, Rev-a Shelf, etc. There is plenty information about their models, production systems, collections, dimensions, materials, accesories, etc. I took some of their ideas to built my new wall and base cabinets. Only the countertop was made by a local company. These companies have differents kind of cabinets for kitchens, baths, laundry rooms, closets and others.

Best regards.


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## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

Thank you for the info, I have just finished doing the cement works on my house renovation 
and I reckon I will start on the kitchen cabinet latest by early Nov as I still have ironworks to be installed at the moment, will be uploading some photos to be shared soon...Thank you!


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## jimmomech8 (Sep 1, 2011)

I might suggest you purchase the book by Jim Tolpin "Building Traditional Kitchen Cabinets". It starts you from the beginning to the end product and is very easy to read and understand. Lots of tips and shortcuts along with handy jigs to get the job done right. You can purchase at Amazon.


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## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

Thank you! Will try to get a copy for reference.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

*My remodeled kitchen*

Here are some pictures from my kitchen. It took more than a year to be done and it isn´t finished yet. Base cabinets were done from plywood covered with high pressure laminates both, inside and outside. The doors for base cabinets are made out from a dark brazilian wood. The wall cabinets were built from recycled plywood of the old base cabinets. When I wanted to buy the same brazilian wood for the doors it was sold out so my wife selected a clear pine wood and the resulting contrast is nice. Ideas for drawers, roll-out-trays and sliding pantrys were taken from specialyzed catalogs of Merillat, Armstrong, Quality Cabinets, Thomasville et al.

The countertop was selected by my wife. Only the cooker is new. There are some details to be corrected but tine is not on my side.


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## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

Wow! You really did a great job, I really like the narrow shelf where you keep the sauces and bottles...I definitely would like to incorporate the same in my kitchen cabinets...thanks for all the great photographs....will upload my photos once mine is completed...thank you!


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Thank you, Mike.

As I wrote to you, in the web sites of many cabinetry manufacturers there are many handful details that you can use when you built your kitchen. It is only matter to fit them to your available space.


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## bradinc (Oct 7, 2011)

mikesmw said:


> Wow! You really did a great job, I really like the narrow shelf where you keep the sauces and bottles...I definitely would like to incorporate the same in my kitchen cabinets...thanks for all the great photographs....will upload my photos once mine is completed...thank you!


I want to jump in, as I'm about to start the same project, mostly due to budget constraints.. that being said, I have build a handful of built-in cabinets, including bookcases with cabinet bottoms, entertainment centers, toy chests, etc...

When was the house built, and what is the architectural style of the house(mostly important if it's an older home). I was all ready to buy a bunch of panel bits when my wife reminded me that the style of home we have mostly calls for coves and roundovers, so we'll have fairly simple cabinet doors with recessed panels with either a cover or quarter round.... and I've made cabinet doors like that many times, so not much of a challenge. But our house was built in 1912, and much of the trim consists of fairly simple combinations of roundovers and cove moulding, as you can see in the post I put up showing our window stool. Our previous house, which was built ten years later, had similar trim, but a little more complexity - doors had crown at the top, which we had milled, but I probably wouldn't do that again simply because I didn't know better, and know I can do it a lot cheaper.

What type of wood were you planning to use? Cabinets doors take a good bit of abuse, especially if you have kids


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## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

Hi Alexis, thank you for all the valuable information!


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## mikesmw (Aug 6, 2011)

Hi Brad, thank you for sharing your info, ours is the present day concrete double-storey linked house mainly with right-angled corners and ledges, and since I am really new on this cabinet making project, I think I will stick to the simple one as you have mentioned and will only move on to try and make some more complicated ones once I am confident enough. I hope I can start on my project soon as I still have other small renovations to be completed before I can really concentrate on the kitchen cabinets. Anyway, I will be very happy to hear from every one out there who wish to impart some information since all informations received are really valuable to me, thank you!


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## karenbill (Nov 14, 2012)

I agree can't even believe it most of the interior pro guys hiding the best wood working plans from the public. and you can make some very attractive wooden﻿ projects with this kitchen cabinets package.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

karenbill said:


> can't even believe it most of the interior pro guys hiding the best wood working plans from the public.


Hello and welcome, Sandy

As one of the "pro guys" (at least in the past) I can assure that we don't hide any plans - because for many jobs there just aren't any, at least not that you could work from! In fact it isn't normal to make kitchen cabinets from plans at all other than a plan view of the entire kitchen showing the overall dimensions and shapes of each cabinet and possibly one or two front elevations. 

For the stuff like doors and face frames I've found that people tend to work out their own style and methodology to suit the equipment they have; for example I used to run a shop where we assembled beaded face frames with Lamello E20L biscuits and where we bought-in our pre-moulded face frame stock in, 3 sizes, pre-milled to our spec. The stile joints took a router cutter and a home-made jig, so cheap and chearful. The E20Ls whilst ugly will never be seen (by the client), are fast to use and can be made using existing equipment. In the same vein we assembled our carcasses using black phosphated carcass screws - no dowels, dovetails, pocket holes or biscuits, so nothing fancy - again, fast, strong, cheap and how they look matters not one jot because they are always hidden beneath decor panels. The carcasses themselves we made from melamine (MFC) because they don't need to be spray finished and is wipe-clean as made and the customer only ever sees the insides 

A carcass is nothing more than a modified box. Making them doesn't require plans, just sizes. It's working out your own "system" which takes the time and thought IMHO. For a pro that comes down to training and experience and isn't some great "trade secret". And what makes the difference between a so-so kitchen and a great one is often how you dress it, e.g. doors, panels, mouldings, upstands, etc, that and the attention to fit and finish, of course

Regards

Phil


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

karenbill said:


> I agree can't even believe it most of the interior pro guys hiding the best wood working plans from the public. and you can make some very attractive wooden﻿ projects with this kitchen cabinets package.


These spammers are getting dangerous, they're almost starting to make sense!


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## berry (Oct 17, 2005)

mikesmw said:


> Hello, I am Michael, can anyone out there advise me on how to make my own kitchen cabinets? It's just too costly to engage a good furniture maker so I might as well try to do it on my own, thanks for allowing me to join the forum!


Like a couple have suggested here, I got Sommerfeld's Cabinet Making Made Easy. I seem to do better with video's vs books. I think a pretty decent set of plans need to be worked up, both in terms of layout and how the cabinets will look. There are stock and finishing considerations. But what a joy and feeling of accomplishment when it's done.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

A good table saw will be very helpful ripping the to final size. Also, a good circular saw with a guide will really make it easy to cut down full size sheets of plywood to rough dimensions.

Good luck.
Mike


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## jannereeves (Dec 29, 2012)

Has anyone ever made RTA kitchen cabinets? How much the material would cost to make them for a 10*10 kitchen??


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