Cabinet Making #1: Looking At Actual Cabinet Construction

Last year I bought a half kitchen with the idea that I would add the cabinets to my workshop and give it an upgraded feel. (Right now everything is gray melamine which I got from an office that was being torn down.) When my wife saw that I was going to use the cabinets in my shop she immediately said they are too nice to get beat up in the shop. Too nice is a relative term. Let’s take a look.

Here is an example of one of the cabinets.

Here it is from different angle.

These are Kitchen Craft cabinets and I would consider them a good quality cabinet. From the surface they look great but let’s take a closer look.

Dovetails are the hallmark of good cabinet making and they are used here.

But it’s obvious that they are machine cut.

How are things held together? Let’s take a look.

and let’s not forget this one too.

I do have to say that cabinet fronts are all wood and the soft close drawer sliders are really nice. However, there isn’t much else to the cabinet.

Considering my wife was balking at letting me put the cabinets in the shop (even though I bought them specifically for this purpose), I thought I would give making cabinets based on this design a try. The goal WASN’T to make furniture quality cabinets but to see if I could build something of equal or slight better quality WITHOUT spending a lot of money or time making them. More specifically, I had just bought a 12” Sliding Miter Saw and I wanted build cabinets specifically for this.

This series is designed to show you what I came up with.

Enjoy!

Tim

-- www.craftedbytim.com - A Woodworking & Renovation Blog & www.craftedbytim.com - I make. You buy.