# Recommendations on a good Cabinet Makers Book?



## woodtarded (Jan 4, 2013)

Hello Fellow Jocks! For about the past year I have been messing around in the garage making small household items/repairs out of basic pine. I have been given Royal approval (from the Mrs.) to move a little deeper into the craft!!!!!!!! I am going slow so I dont have a huge amount of tools and such just laying around and not being used. I believe I have a very solid set of "basic" woodworking skills and would like to move forward from this point. I have an interest in furniture building/design as well as cabinet making. I would like and welcome any suggestions or advice regarding books to read or even simple projects that I could hone my skills on. Cabinets would be the most preferred starting point. Again, I welcome all advice as most of you have a vast amount of experience by comparison.


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## vipond33 (Jul 25, 2011)

Start with a foundation of knowledge concerning your material and basic techniques. IMO there is no better book for this purpose than R. Bruce Hoadley's "Understanding Wood". You will be a better woodworker without lifting a tool.
There are many fine books on cabinetry, rent them from your library before you buy, if you can. One that I would recommend is "The Art of Making Furniture" by John Makepeace. It has a nice mix of ideas, plans and techniques and while the styles may not perfectly suit you, the information given is germane to any type of building.


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## tenontim (Feb 24, 2008)

I'm starting to get some books together that I need to weed out of my library. I have a "Technical Woodworking" book that has over 470 pages of info. It's an older book, but the info is still good. Everything from design, joinery, using power tools, and finishing. I'm asking $15 plus $4 for shipping media mail.


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## TominTexas (Aug 20, 2010)

I would recommend: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction by Andy Rae. You might find a copy in your local library.

Tom


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

Jimmy, what is your approach to woodworking? Hand tools (planes, chisels, rasps, handsaws, etc) or electric tools (routahs, cabinet saws, etc)? I can suggest a great foundation book for furniture joinery (The Essential Woodworker, R. Wearing, Lost Art Press) but it may not apply to the way you want to work.


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## woodtarded (Jan 4, 2013)

Thanks guys for the responses…..

Smitty…I really have a desire to learn hand tools first. I do have a 13" planer, miter saw and several other power tools. I will be purchasing a table saw in the next month, but aside from that I would like to keep it to a minimum at this point. I feel like getting a good foundation with hand tools is crucial to becoming a "complete" woodworker. I have spent quite a bit of time researching the tools of the trade…scrapers, planes, backsaws, chisels etc. The ironic part of my journey so far is that the more I try to learn, the less I seem to know.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

Then by all means check out the Wearing book. Great foundations stuff in there…


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

This one is 20 years old. Shows an approach to making
a range of cabinet styles with basic machinery, from
kitchen and bathroom cabinets to credenzas.

http://www.amazon.com/Cabinets-Built-Ins-Practical-Professional-Cabinetry/dp/0875965903/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357922226&sr=1-1&keywords=cabinets+paul


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## NiteWalker (May 7, 2011)

My favorite cabinet making book is bob lang's the complete kitchen cabinet maker. It covers everything.


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## bernwood (Aug 19, 2010)

Welcome to woodworking Jimmy. As suggested by a few (my wife would, a librarian, would be pleased with that suggestion) go to the library because there are lots of great books about woodworking. I'm self taught mostly from books. My favorite is "Illustrated Cabinetmaking" by Bill Hylton. It's an American Woodworker series book published by Fox Chapel.

Don't forget this forum… come back and ask questions. Be patient with yourself and it's ok to learn you don't a lot. Been there and done that.One of the most frustrating steps in my journey was learning the beauty and simplicity of cabinet scrapers and how to sharpen one. There are different methods and you'll need to find which works best for you.

Again, be patient. I got into woodworking years ago when I prayed for God to teach me patients. That's when he introduced me to woodworking…


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

You mentioned furniture and cabinets but in woodworking a cabinetmaker is a furniture maker. I own 4 woodworking books: (actually I have no idea where the 4th came from, the first 3 are the important ones)

my personal favorite: *The Complete Woodworker's Companion by Roger Holmes*
It teaches you the basics of woodworking through a series of projects that are accompanied by some of the best illustrations and photos of any woodworking book I've read. This book is not well known but is excellent.

*Illustrated Cabinetmaking: How to design and construct furniture that works by Bill Hylton*
Basically a textbook on furnituremaking, dry but a good reference.

*Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner*
I've yet to go wrong with Flexner's book.

Traditional Finishing Techniques, a collection of articles from Fine Woodworking
I don't remember buying this book, maybe it was a gift, but it contains articles fleshing out the finishing process and a few things Flexner doesn't touch on.

One tip … learn the basics of standard case construction and you won't need to ask how do I build this or that, you'll know. The Hylton book is good for that. Same with tables, understand the construction and you can build any kind or size of table and it will be rock solid.

If you want to build kitchen cabinets that's another ball of wax 
Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets (Popular Woodworking) by Danny Proulx


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## rossboyle52 (Dec 31, 2012)

I recommend subscribing to fine woodworking magazine. https://www.finewoodworking.com/
If there is a cabinet shop in your area don't be afraid to pay them a visit. Talk to some of the cabinet makers while you are there. A lot of times they are eager to brag and share little tid bits of information. 
Being a UPS driver for many years has enabled me to gather a lot of tips and tricks from different woodworkers and cabinet shops. ex; Crown Point Cabinets. 
I have also been able to collect a fair amount of free stock from a couple of shops that I deliver to. You would be amazed at what they throw into the compactor.


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## woodtarded (Jan 4, 2013)

Thanks for all of the great suggestions guys!! Tom- I decided to go with the The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction by Andy Rae, just because it seems to have a lot of different subject matter in it.

Smitty-I will be looking to pick up the Essential Woodworker very soon!

Rick-I actually have Undersatanding Wood Finishing already. I have read it several times! The advice on learning standard case construction is great!

Thanks again for all of the advice everyone!!! Its great to be able to have the input from everyone!


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## kaype (Jul 23, 2011)

Just a thought if you have a Kindel you can rent books for free in there library. It is a cool idea to puruse before you spend your money and buy a book that does not work out for you.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

The Lee Valley catalog has a good selection of woodworking books available.


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## Apluskitchens (Oct 5, 2013)

Well, Thanks. I never thought that my comment form great home remodel suggestions ist soooo inspirating…


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## Bill7255 (Feb 23, 2012)

For cabinet making I use the Somerfield's tongue and groove system. I had bought several books to gain the basic knowledge of different ways to build cabinets. I saw Somerfield's system first at a WW show. They have a video you can buy for about $10 from their web site that is very well done using their router bits. I got more from this video than all the books I bought. This is the way I am building my cabinets and I am very happy with the method and results. For building cabinets you will need a good router table and a Kreg jig for pocket holes if doing face frames. Some people use the pocket hole system to build their cabinets. Drawers can be built by several method, but I use the Leigh jig for dovetail construction. If you use cup hinges you can drill them using a drill press, however I use Somerfield's Easy Bore for mine. I would use a drill press if I was only doing a few, but I had over 100 holes to drill and for me the cost was justified. I have not drilled one wrong to date. The books will give you different ways to build cabinets, but these are the methods I use. I don't have any affiliation to any of the above products, just use them as they are good. Hope this helps.


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## alohafromberkeley (Oct 26, 2011)

I would recommend George Nakashima's "The Soul Of A Tree"...This is the book that really opened my eyes to see the philosophy of woodworking. It's not a "how-to" book but his ideas and designs transcend the usual build a box ideas.I also have a great respect for the James Krevnov books (esp."The Impractical Cabinet Maker").Both contain a wealth of concepts that have literally changed the face of modern woodworking. Like I say, they're not "How-to" books - more like "Why-Not!" books.


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## matermark (Sep 16, 2014)

Some of the better books, in my opinion, are:

Building Kitchen Cabinets, by Udo Schmidt.

Building Kitchen Cabinets Made Simple, by Gregory Paolini.

Illustrated Cabinetmaking: How to Design and Construct Furniture That Works, by Bill Hylton.

Udo Schmidt's book was more for traditional cabinetry, like faceframe cabinets. It started out with a chapter on tools used.

Illustrated Cabinetmaking, to me, was a disappointment because it covered many basics but had very little on actual cabinetmaking, matter of fact, there were probably more pages on building a kitchen table or nightstand or hall table or even chairs than kitchen cabinets!

Hope this helps.


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## KitchenCabinets (Oct 14, 2015)

We have several local woodworking clubs near us that get together, share knowledge and tools.


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

Local libraries have a wealth of books on woodworking in general. Nice thing is the books are free.


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## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

If you are looking at the basics (old school), Bernard Jones - "The Complete Woodworker" gives you the foundations and looks at the tools of an older time. It goes into the joinery, wood selection, cabinetry, and furniture during a time when making it by hand was the way of the time.

There are many ways of doing things but this is a "down to the roots" type of learning when apprenticeships were a real part of learning the profession.


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## RogerM (Oct 31, 2011)

If you are wanting to get into making nice cabinets with a minimum amount of tools you might consider looking into Sommerfields Tools Cabinet making system. Their basic system is based on 3 router bits (which should be used in a router table) and a pocket hole jig. I have successfully used it for a number of years with excellent results. You can view their system on You Tube (3 Parts) 




Their router bit system can be viewed at:

http://sommerfeldtools.com/professional-equipment-and-tools/router-bits-and-sets/router-bit-sets/3-pc-tongue-groove-cabinetmaking-set


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