# Shop Made Cabinet Jacks



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Before starting our kitchen demo, I made a pair of jacks to support the upper cabinets. Please note this design was not my idea. But dang they work great. The cabinet merely sits on the jacks with no wobble or lean. To remove the cabinet, lower the cabinet if needed and slide the jack assembly in the track thereby literally moving the entire cabinet (42 inches wide) to the edge of the base cabinet. That made it easy to get a good hand hold and haul it away.

I can only assume installation will be the same process in reverse.

Full credit for this jack design goes to Greg Soper. Here is an article about the jacks and the man that designed them.

Here are a few pics. I used scrap plywood and screws to make the jacks. It only took a couple of hours. Some of that was spent trying to figure out how to shim the pieces so the pipe would fit nicely.

So, a 42 inch cabinet can be positioned with the simple turn of the hand wheels. Easy peasey.

Hope you find this info helpful.
Mike


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Very good idea . It never occurred to me that anyone even thought of that idea as I always assumed cupboards were guided on a board that was temporarily mounted on the wall .
I'm liking the jack idea though


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I used a ledger board nailed to the wall to install my last set of top cupboards which took about 90% of the work out of holding them up. Those look like they would take care of 100%. Good idea.


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## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

Mike that's a great idea. There is a neat tool for installing the new ones called the 'Cabinet Claw' you might want to take a look at. I bought a set when we installed mine and they almost turn hanging them into a one man job....... almost. The neat thing about them is they align the face frames and the sides at the same time, plus provide a drill guide, and a way to shoot the screw without releasing the clamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW63p49jkoU 

Pony 8510BP Cabinet Claw, 2-Pack - Hand Screw Clamps - Amazon.com
ie=UTF8&qid=1407305141&sr=1-1&keywords=cabinet+claw

Dick


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Willway said:


> Mike that's a great idea. There is a neat tool for installing the new ones called the 'Cabinet Claw' you might want to take a look at. I bought a set when we installed mine and they almost turn hanging them into a one man job....... almost. The neat thing about them is they align the face frames and the sides at the same time, plus provide a drill guide, and a way to shoot the screw without releasing the clamp.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW63p49jkoU
> 
> ...


Thanks. I have seen those before. I added them to my wish list.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Nice find Mike.


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## twallace (Jan 15, 2012)

Mike , that is a neat and more efficient method. I like it and will incorporate it in my work.
Thanks again.
tom


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Nice Jigs. N


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## Web Shepherd (Feb 8, 2012)

Cool ... thanks for sharing, Mike.

Bob


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## tvman44 (Jun 25, 2013)

That is really neat and provides very precise adjustment of height. I like.


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## Gerry Kiernan (Jul 19, 2007)

That is an excellent idea.

Gerry


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

sure would be nice if this forum had a KUDOS button...


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## Dan3103 (Feb 12, 2014)

That is "wicked awesome!" 

Thanks also for posting the link to the cut list and parts needed. This is definitely something I'm going to build!


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

I tell you what I did Mike, that was wicked easy to hang my cabinets I built and installed, about a year ago. With no jack. I used a version of the French cleat. The French cleat, if you haven't already heard about it, is two 1x4's with a 45 degree angle cut, leghth ways, on one side of each 1x4. Then you screw one to your wall (nice and level), with the cut angle up and in towards the wall, and the other you cut the widths to the widths of your cabinet, with the angle facing down and in towards the cabinet. Only thing is, I modified the design of my cleats, a little bit. I had noticed, while my son and I hung some new sheetrock, in area's, that my walls were not always very flat or square. So I was afraid that if I had to pull the cabinets in or out, that those french cleats, as I was pulling out, to line them up with the next cabinet, that it would also raise the cabinet up, riding up the angle. So instead I made mines with very loose fitting rabbets, instead of angles. I took one of the 1x2's with a rabbet cut leagth ways on one side and very carefully mounted and leveled it to the kitchen wall with the rabbet up and towards the wall. And then the other down and in to the cabinet. And then just a piece of 1x4, with no rabbet, a couple of inches from the bottom of the cabinet, as a spacer. Then all I had to do was get my son to help me lift the double cabinets (the heaviest) onto the cleat and then I was able to take my time and tweek in the level and flatness to the next cabinet, while he went back to working on something else. No danger of the cabinet slipping off a jack, or needed anyone to hold the cabinet against the wall. Then I just trimmed around the cabnets to hide the open space and cleats. I never imagined how easy it was going to be to hang those big cabinets.


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## Bushwhacker (Jun 16, 2009)

*Cabinet jacks.*



RainMan1 said:


> Very good idea . It never occurred to me that anyone even thought of that idea as I always assumed cupboards were guided on a board that was temporarily mounted on the wall .
> I'm liking the jack idea though


When I recently redid my kitchen, I used cinder blocks boards and cedar shims to level the uppers for attachment.


When the enemy is within range, so are you........


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Used one of the jacks today, and boy, was it ever the tool for the job! My son in law stopped by after work and helped lift the big cabinet onto the ledger boards. My wife set the jack under the cabinet, and with a few turns of the handle, it was a done deal. So easy, even a caveman can do it! Or a *******! Just ask her. 

Note: The cabinet is level two ways and plumb. Made me happy.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

KUDOS to your wife Mike...
that doesn't look like a cave, way too nice...
you must live out back in the yard...


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## Travisphoto (Oct 2, 2014)

*I've seen this before*

I don't know where but I've seen it before. I was going to try to make something like it when I installed my cabinets but, the wall cabinets went up first, so there wasn't a counter top to put the jack on. I ended up using a utility cart with two styrofoam packing inserts from a ceiling fan box on top of it and a piece of scrap plywood on top of that. I then put a car jack on it and another piece of scrap plywood on the carjack. I just picked up the cabinets and placed them on the car jack and raised them in place. I know it sounds funny, and it looked even funnier but it worked. I hung seven wall cabinets that way by myself lol.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Travisphoto said:


> I don't know where but I've seen it before. I was going to try to make something like it when I installed my cabinets but, the wall cabinets went up first, so there wasn't a counter top to put the jack on. I ended up using a utility cart with two styrofoam packing inserts from a ceiling fan box on top of it and a piece of scrap plywood on top of that. I then put a car jack on it and another piece of scrap plywood on the carjack. I just picked up the cabinets and placed them on the car jack and raised them in place. I know it sounds funny, and it looked even funnier but it worked. I hung seven wall cabinets that way by myself lol.


Sometimes, you just gotta be resourceful. Glad it worked out for you.


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## Jim Champaigne (Aug 26, 2009)

*Cabinet Jack*

The cabinet claw is a neat idea. I wish I had seen it prior to my kitchen remodel.

I did come up with a way to hold the cabinets (three at a time) up to the soffit. 
Use the crank end of a Pony pipe clamp, two 3/4 pipe elbows, one short (or close) nipple, one 60 inch length of 3/4 pipe and one 3/4 pipe flange (becomes foot on bottom of long pipe).
The Pony clamp becomes a spreader instead of a clamp. Since it has only about a two inch spread, use different lengths of either the 60 inch long pipe or the short pipe. 

See attached photo.


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

I never installed a lot of cabinets over the yrs but I worked for a few GCs that did remodel. In general the space used was 18", the cabs in my house are 17 1/2", I didn't get any flack from the builder or the Build Dept when the final came due.

We used a couple 4X4s nailed to some ply then used shims to bring the cab base up to the level line struck across the kit wall, (blue chalk rubs and washes off easy). In my limited experiences we never nailed or screwed a story board to the wall to set the cabs, too much extra work cleaning/covering up the mess. 

We used Jorgensen clamps to align the faces, you could have tons of those tiny clamps alignment clamps and take up no more space the one 8" Jorg.


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