Craftsman Bungalow Restoration #23: Making Kitchen Cabinets: Overview Design Phase

In the upcoming part of this series I will blog how to make base kitchen cabinets. I learned to make cabinets in a class and think that they are well within the range of any intermediate woodworker. This project will be a mix of traditional and modern materials/ techniques. In this project I will be making faceframe cabinets with traditional surface mounted hinges, plywood boxes, and modern drawer slides.

If you are interested in building your own cabinets I think it will be a useful project for you to follow along.
If you have been following this blog or the one on the other cabinets , you know that we have an empty corner waiting for cabinets.

Project Description

Here is a picture of the corner:

You can see a faint outline or “scar” on the floor where cabinets had been removed by the prior owner.

Design Specifications
Here is the design for the new cabinet.
Bungalow Style Corner Cabinet
This assembly is made of two cabinets butted into a corner. Standard cabinets are a net 24” deep, but these are custom sized at 16 3/4” to match the original scars on the floor.
The corner is going to become dead space. I weighed the options, but it is not worth the hassle of trying to reclaim the space.

Materials:
Cases Vertical Grain Doug Fir Plywood with solid end panels
Recycled Douglas Fir Face Frames stained Mahogany with Shelac and Poly Finish
Douglas Fir Counter Top with Poly Finish.
Recycled Fir Drawers with ply bottoms Natural / Poly Finish
Brass Hardware: Bin Pulls and Butterfly Hinges

Cut Lists
I try to plan out most of the project before heading out to the shop.
I drew up the face frames and cabinets in SketchUp with the dimensions indicated.
Then I imported them into EXCEL where I calculated the part sizes.

Plan of Procedure
Here is a rough list of the steps that I will take to make the cabinets. The face frames are made first so that I can custom fit them to the space even though my measurements should be dead on. Then I build the cabinets to match the frames.

1. Make Face Frames: Mill Stock, Cut Parts, Cut Pocket Holes, Finish Glue and Screw, Finish
2. Make Cases to match Face Frames: Cut Parts, Domino or Biscuit, Cut Grooves For Backs, Size Backs, Cut Pocket Holes for securing TopsPre- Finish and Assemble
3. Make Doors: Mill Bead Board, Mill Bread Boards, Mill Z’ Braces: Domino, Assemble, Fit, Finish
4. Make Drawer Faces: 1/4 Smaller than openings.
5. Make Drawer Boxes, (14” Deep x 1” Smaller than Drawer Faces): Mill Parts, Dovetail Fronts, Groove Bottoms and Sides, Fit Backs and Bottoms. Finish and Assemble.
6. Make Cutting Board: 1/2” Maple with Fir Handle:
7.Attach Face Frames
8: Install Drawers, Doors, Cutting Boards
9. Install Cabinets.
10: Make and Install Countertop
11: Make and Install Shoe Moulding

Next Time
I start knocking down the tasks. Maybe a run out for more plywood. Wish me luck. Comments, questions, and critique welcome.

My one decision that I need some feedback on is: What finish to use for the wood countertops? I will not be cutting on them.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne