# Building Shop Cabinets



## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

I'm looking to build some shop cabinets, both wall and some bases. I'm looking to do something simple to minimize the time and to limit the skills needed (I have little experience building cabinets). I'm leaning towards a frameless design. Also, looking at using pocket screws and perhaps biscuits to hold things together. Definitely want a construction technique that doesn't need clamps (thus the screws).

I've been wanting white cabinets to help keep the shop as bright as possible. Also, wanting a slab door with easy to clean surface. For this reason I was originally thinking ¾ melamine. My concern is strength. Especially since I want some of the wall cabinets to be for bulk storage and therefore about 36" wide and 16" deep, without a stile in the middle and with some movable shelves. Also leaning towards full ¾" backs. Heavy, but easier to make (no rabbets or dados).

So I'm now thinking about going with birch plywood cases and shelves (maybe the prefinished) and still using white melamine for the doors. This would seem to get me the best of both worlds. I get the white, laminate doors that would be bright and easy to clean, while I get the strength of plywood for the cases and shelves. And if I care to, I can paint the exposed cabinet sides white and edge band the plywood as well.

About the only downside I see, is the inside of the cabinets will not be as lightly colored (plywood vs white melamine). Lighter making it easier to see inside the cabinets. Of course I could always paint any surface I want, but that adds to the time and effort needed.

Just wondering if this approach seems reasonable, or if anyone has some other ideas I should consider.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Yes on the frameless.

Check out double side melamine excellent material but no on the pocket screws if you use it.

Use Confirmat screws (you need special drill and bit).

You can cover screws if desires.

Woodworkers Hardware has all the hardware and drill bits, etc.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

I made the base cabinets under my bench top with 3/4" ply, pocket screwed. 4 frameless boxes total, each 2 feet wide, 2 are just boxes with shelf pins, the other 2 have 3" strips pocket screwed in to create dividers between the drawers. 1/2" back, rabbeted in. Easy construction, done in a day (minus doors/drawers). Has held up without issue for 3 years now. I have a 2" thick DF top on it.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Clin, cabinets the size you described will be heavy. Be certain to anchor them into studs and use a good quality wood screw (not drywall screws) with washers to secure them to the walls or use french cleats that are solid and well anchored. I wouldn't worry too much about the color inside the cabinets because they won't be open that much. If you elect to use particle board do use the confirmat screws and forget about the biscuits. You don't need 3/4" full backs, but you do need to screw through 3/4" material (think a 4" wide strip top and bottom). FWIW


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

Thanks for the inputs.

Definitely mounting to studs. I never would have thought NOT to do that. Something I don't understand is what is the advantage of a French cleat? I can see that the cleat is easier to mount since it is just a board and not the entire cabinet weight. But for a little ease of installation, the cabinet is perhaps a bit more complex to build and I would think a little trickier to line up the cabinets.

I realize I don't NEED full backs, but that makes construction simpler (no rabbets and such). I also have an AC drain pipe running slanted in one wall (protected by metal plates). Point being, screws will be in varying positions on some of these cabinets, not just within 4 inches of the top. So again, solid backs give me a bit more flexibility without having to customize the mounting points for each cabinet.

Also, my comment about the color inside the cabinets, is not concerning aesthetics, rather being able to see into the cabinets better when I'm looking for something.


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## ForestGrl (Jun 5, 2015)

Clin, I put melamine tops (counters) on very old cabinets, both to brighten things up and clean things up. They aren't as easy to keep clean as I'd thought. Household-type dirt, yes (dust, pencil marks), but little glue drips, anything with stain to it, grease-often doesn't come up/out. The next set will have laminate of some sort.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

I've thought about laminate. If I still went with something like prefinished birch plywood for the cases, I'd pretty much just be looking at laminating the doors and exposed edges.

Are there options beside just laminating them myself? Meaning, are there any products already laminated?

Would you typically laminate both sides of the doors and what would you use for the doors, particle board, MDF, ply?

I do like laminate since it is very durable. But obviously laminating a bunch of doors is a lot more work.

I know none of these things are difficult, but it would seem to add up to a lot of work when doing a set of cabinets.


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## tomsteve (Jan 23, 2015)

here whst i did when it came to shop cabinets in my latest shop:
ive built shop cabinets. spent a lot of money on em to build em.lots oftime,too.
i happened to go to ikea with my sister. found most of my shop cabinets there a helluva lot less than i could build em for and modified em alittle to suit my needs. a lot less expensive and gave me more time to work on other projects.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

There is a product called Panolam which is ply looks like covered with laminate, not melamine.
I may have the name wrong, but I know my supplier carries a product like this.

Clin, for shop cabs, I think the DS melamine is still your best bet economically for the boxes.
For the doors, you can use it just edge band everything it will work fine.

There is an excellent book by Danny Proulx on frameless cab construction.
I wore it out when I built my kitchen!!

Don't over think it - they are shop cabs…..

The IKEA thing is worth thinking about. We forget how valuable our time is, don't we?


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

If your concern is being able to see in them, it sounds like you may want to invest some money in shop lighting. I have 4 4' sections of fluorescent lighting that I got at HD, and it works great for our 2-car garage. I would like to get another one to hang directly over my bench, but that'll come later. Using maple/birch ply, you shouldn't have any issues seeing into your cabinets, if your shop is properly lit. Also, rather than trying to see to the back, you could have full-extension pullouts where feasible. Much easier to get what you need.


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## WoodNSawdust (Mar 7, 2015)

I built my own cabinets out of cabinet grade plywood using pocket screws and tongue and groove.

If I had to do it over again I would watch for a sale at a local big box store and buy theirs. This way I would have more time to do projects.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

I had looked into the Ikea approach, and many other RTA cabinets. Also at off-the-shelf cabs. Nothing came close to the sizes I'm interested in. Generally most are targeting kitchens and wall cabs are almost always 12" deep. I'm looking for something around 16". Custom cabs are more than I want to spend. Plus I'm actually looking forward to building them myself.

I don't really have a concern about seeing inside. Just looking to optimize. I.E., light interiors are better than dark.

I have a LOT of light with 8×4 ft florescent fixtures in a single car garage size space. You could do surgery in it.

I did look, and there is a product called Panolam, but it seems that it is similar to melamine rather than a Formica type laminate. Of course, doesn't mean it wouldn't be great.


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## ForestGrl (Jun 5, 2015)

Have to get a word in about LED's, since fluorescents have entered the discussion. This summer, I replaced my 7 relatively new fluorescents with Costco LED worklights at a price of ~38 each. It made a HUGE difference in the lighting-brighter, clearer. This even though the stated lumens were a bit less. Someone here at LJ wrote that those LEDs are desiged to send all of the light down, with none being wasted by going up into the fixture. Cannot imagine going back to fluorescents, ever.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

+1

Melamine, comfirmat screws and Institutional hinges.

http://www.cshardware.com/hardware/furniture-hardware/special-application-hinges/54-72022-02b.html?gclid=CLPs1Zj5tcgCFYqGfgodxNIFJA


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Clin, the french cleat advantage is that it is easy to mount the cleat to the wall and get it level, then hang the cabinet on it by yourself. Also, they are easily moved to other locations as your shop evolves. Using a 4" strip on the back of the cabinet can be the top portion of the french cleat.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Lots of reading, pictures and descriptions for my garage makeover.
I love the cabinets.
http://lumberjocks.com/MT_Stringer/blog/series/6453


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

ForestGrl,

I looked into LED lighting, but couldn't really find anything I liked for a reasonable price. Not sure what my local Costco might have had (or have). It was becoming a bit of a chore to specify something, so I went with pretty standard florescent fixtures with the intent to convert to LED when I stumble on the right thing. Which may even just be an LED replacement for the florescent tubes.

AlaskaGuy,

Your cabinets are pretty much along the line of what I've been thinking. Though still thinking of plywood cases and shelves since I'm considering some 36" wide units. What are the advantage to institutional hinges?

MT_Stringer,

I had already run across your cab build before. Looks good. I noticed you mentioned the setup for drilling the shelf peg holes. I know this is a very common way to support shelves, and I can see the advantage in finer cabinets, but I'm thinking of going with those long metal brackets (pilaster strips) and their clips. that screw to the sides of the case.

I'm sort of wondering why I don't see people using them in their shop/garage cabinet builds. Drilling several hundred holes seems tedious. Is there some reason the metal pilaster strips aren't used?


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## ForestGrl (Jun 5, 2015)

> ForestGrl,
> 
> I looked into LED lighting, but couldn t really find anything I liked for a reasonable price. Not sure what my local Costco might have had (or have). It was becoming a bit of a chore to specify something, so I went with pretty standard florescent fixtures with the intent to convert to LED when I stumble on the right thing. Which may even just be an LED replacement for the florescent tubes.
> 
> - clin


Our Costco carries them every summer. For a short period, they had just the LED bulbs. The price difference wasn't that great, and I think getting rid of ballasts was worth holding out for replacing the whole unit. It hurt a little to spend that much (7 x $40 with tax), but I was so tired of bulbs not working, buzz on the radio, and having to take dead bulbs to hazardous waste facility! The extra light was a big bonus, surprised me how nice it was.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

A new take on the shop cabinets and storage in general. I had been planning on covering a large amount of the wall area with StoreWall (a heavy duty, PVC slat wall). Basically everything that didn't have cabinets on it.

The talk of using French cleats for the cabinets got me to looking at French cleats in general and I see that some are using it for general wall storage. So I'm now thinking about covering essentially ALL of the wall space with French cleat supports. Spaced relatively tightly (12" spacing?), not just here and there.

This would give me the ultimate in flexibility, way cheaper than the top-end PVC slat wall I was looking at (stuff works out to about $9 sq ft). I like this idea a lot since it allows me to build hangers as needed and I don't need to make do with just slat wall style hooks and such.

Having said that, I would likely still get some sections of slat wall or just pegboard, but hang these using French cleats.

Any ideas on sizing and spacing of the slats, rails (what do you call them?). Seems natural to rip some birch ply lengthwise at 6" (less saw kerf), then rip those at 45 deg. One 4×8 sheet would give me 128 linear feet.

Any ideas on spacing of the slats? Obviously, the tighter the spacing the more slats I need to make, but is there such a thing as too close? Of course they can't be closer than the width of the cleats (3" or so). But would there be any reason to go that close? Any ideas on an optimal spacing?

I have about 500 sq ft of wall space I might put this on. If I spaced these 12" apart and ran them floor to ceiling (unlikely), I could create all the slats out of just 4 sheets of plywood. That's about $200 versus a few thousand for the Storewall over something like 300 sq ft I was looking at.

Also, concerning mounting, I would of course mount the slats into studs. Is one screw per stud enough? I'm inclined to go with 2 screws at each location. I figure the load is almost all shearing force on the screws with very little force actually trying to pull the screws out. I.E., bigger screws are more important than longer screws.

And as far as ripping all that plywood, it helps justify the new SawStop PCS I recently bought.

Thoughts?


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## tomclark (Feb 16, 2010)

I made a couple dozen shop cabinets over the last 30 years. All plywood with face frames for super strength. All machinery stands in the shop have been replaced with cabinets with tons of storage. They are very quick and easy to build.
You can never have too much storage
Many more photos here.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

Tom,

You do have a lot of fine cabinets. And in fact, I ordered your book a few days back. I'm looking forward to reading it.

I see you're into RC airplanes. That's a hobby of mine as well. Sailplanes mostly and some electric powered.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

"Any ideas on sizing and spacing of the slats, rails (what do you call them?). Seems natural to rip some birch ply lengthwise at 6" (less saw kerf), then rip those at 45 deg. One 4×8 sheet would give me 128 linear feet."

Google "french cleat images" for lots of options. I suggest making a few and hanging them where you need/want them now. Make and place more as future needs develop. Maybe you will want more cabinets and maybe you will want tool holders for your new chisel collection. Obviously, the spacing will be very different. If you want to hang really heavy stuff, you might consider using hardwood or even metal. Use good wood screws and not drywall screws which are too brittle. I don't think there is any real advantage to having longer runs, all you really need is to hit 2 studs. FWIW


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## Planeman40 (Nov 3, 2010)

Here is an idea to keep in mind.

Back in the mid 1980s I came across some nice industrial floor and wall cabinets that came out of an old high school chemistry lab. These were industrial laboratory cabinets made of solid oak and heavily built to last. I got them at a donation center and paid $850 for the *entire classroom's cabinets*. The drawers were many and large, the cabinets were spacious, and the wall cabinets had oak framed glass sliding doors and nice shelves. I couldn't buy the wood for that. Admittedly there were some "inscriptions" on them in a few places like "Henry loves Babs" and the like, but a few passes with a belt sander cured that. So you might want to keep an eye on what is happening with the schools on your area and check on any high schools that are going to be "repurposed" or torn down.


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## groyuti (Oct 12, 2015)

[No message]


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Get Tom Clark's book! 
I finally put it to use, its a great method.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

Maurico,

I already have Tom's book. Though haven't absorbed all the details yet. But I like his approach. Biggest take away (so far) for me is just attaching the back panel without and rabbets or dados, and just rounding over the edge to hide it.

While I appreciate fine woodworking, the engineer in me leans toward the form follows function direction.

I'm still in the chicken and egg stage of trying to get my shop put together. Tough to work with junk all around and no place to put it. No place to put it without building cabinets. Can't build cabinets until I get some other things built, like outfeed table and get all the junk put away.

Can't wait until I can actually build projects. The list keeps growing.


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

Clin, I built some cabinets in my garage out of 3/4" sanded shop plywood. I did put a face frame. I used plexi glass in the doors. I'm really glad I did. It makes finding things super easy. I design them to get a single cabinet out of 1 sheet of plywood. Used a French cleat to hang them. I may even add a couple more later this winter.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

> Clin, I built some cabinets in my garage out of 3/4" sanded shop plywood. I did put a face frame. I used plexi glass in the doors. I m really glad I did. It makes finding things super easy. I design them to get a single cabinet out of 1 sheet of plywood. Used a French cleat to hang them. I may even add a couple more later this winter.
> 
> - BurlyBob


The only surface that will stay clean in my shop is the cabinet doors. Making them see-through shoots that all to, ah heck (not sure what the bad words are here on LJ).

But I do get it. You can find things easy, but they still stay clean.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Clin, I hear you man, I am starting to make a more clear distinction in my head, there are times when I want to build a family heirloom, and there are other times when I just need some boxes to help me organize all my stuff, not everything needs to be an heirloom piece that last three generations, for many things I'm fine if they last 30 years. and as Tom has shown his cabinets can last at least that long.


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