Kitchen cabinet options - anyone build their own?

[Alan Gage]

I hope to have the sheetrock mostly finished by the end of the weekend and I'm starting to think about kitchen cabinets. I went to the local building center today to get a rough idea on price. I had no idea what to expect  but I was disappointed to get a quote of $4500. I'm not surprised but I was hoping for less. This is for pretty basic cabinets with 30" uppers and one lazy susan below. Plywood boxes and solid wood drawers/doors. Painted white. Counter tops NOT included.

They said if I went with MDF boxes I could expect it to be 25% less. This also downgrades my door/drawer fronts to MDF with some sort of plasticized coating (I'm not entirely opposed to that since I was leaning towards white anyway).

Anyway, to the point of the post. It got me to thinking about other (cheaper) options for kitchen cabinets. Such as maybe finding a place that sells the boxes, doors, and drawers unfinished and unassembled. It also got me to wondering about building my own from scratch and just how difficult it would be. If I could do it successfully it would be something I'd really feel good about although by the time I purchased the necessary tools and materials I probably wouldn't save much over just buying them from the building center. On the plus side I'd have all the tools and the ability to make cabinets and I could make them however I want.

Worst case scenario I buy all the tools and materials, spend a very frustrating month trying to get something decent, smash it all to pieces with a baseball bat, and then go buy cabinets from the building center. Not out of the realm of possibility.

So, has anyone here successfully (or unsuccessfully) made their own kitchen cabinets? Just wondering if it's even a feasible thing to consider doing myself.

Here's the floor plan of the house:


Almost there? by Alan  Gage, on Flickr

The long counter along the wall is 10'. The shorter peninsula is 9'. The section with the stove is 8' (4' between counters). No upper cabinets over the peninsula.

Not looking for anything fancy but this will be my actual house and not a cabin/getaway house. I'm not looking to build something people will drool over but I'd like them to be surprised to find out that I actually built them. I prefer simple shapes and lines and whether I build or buy would choose something like this:



Sorry for the long post. Lots of stuff bouncing around my head tonight. Appreciate any thoughts or ideas.

Alan

[CjAl]

i will be building mine.

my dad always built all his own.cabinettes for the houses he built but that was more common in the 80s. it can be done but it takes a fair amount of tools and some skill depending on.the level of the finish you want. my place will be rustic as possible so the bad carpentry just makes it look better. lol

[MWAndrus]

Another option is to build the basic carcasses yourself and buy the fancier doors pre-made from a cabinet shop. I would imagine that most of the specialty tools are used to make the doors. The carcasses are just big boxes that you could make with a table saw.

[Don_P]

I built ours from a tree that fell across the driveway one day. I'll build the cabinets on the job, still deciding whether to use oak from their site or some beech from our land. When I worked in a cabinet/millwork shop we would sell doors and frame stock to folks. There is a place down the mountain that sells unfinished plain jane cabinets at a good price. Sometimes a nice set comes out of a remodel.

[rick91351]

The premise most writers and teachers toss out there is; if you can build a simple box you can build cabinets.  I agree, but there are tons of helps and tools that make it so much easier.

Rockler Woodworking sells some great clamps and jigs for cabinets.  As well as cabinet hardware, from all over chart expensive to economical (junk). 

http://www.rockler.com/index.cfm?keyword=rockler&ne_ppc_id=776&mkwid=swEpeAjzi&pcrid=5045673480&ne_key_id=swEpeAjzi&gclid=CKafj_ChsawCFcQbQgodCF1UGQ

There is a great book written by Robert Lang.  Get it and read it cover to cover.  If you have never built cabinets before or if you have it is also great.  If you follow his material you will not be needing your fore mentioned Louisville Slugger bat.  That is a whole other exercise in wood working.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Kitchen-Cabinetmaker-Professional-Built/dp/189283622X/ref=pd_sim_b_4

Lang is very good at braking down woodworking in all phases.  He has even done work with Greene and Greene and Stuckley to where you can see how it all worked. 

I see now he is also authoring some stuff dealing with Skecthup 

http://www.shopwoodworking.com/view_reviews/1922/sketchup-for-woodworkers. 

   

[Erin]

Another option is to build the basic carcasses yourself and buy the fancier doors pre-made from a cabinet shop. I would imagine that most of the specialty tools are used to make the doors. The carcasses are just big boxes that you could make with a table saw.

This is my plan, too.
Cabinets are just plywood/MDF boxes and boxes are pretty simple and straightforward. But I want the doors to be pre-made hickory. 

[nathan.principe]

I just got thru building my uppers and will start soon on the base cabinets.  I found one video on you tube in particular that was a big help on building simple doors ( if I figure out how Ill post it here).  What I did was use 3/4" "cabinet grade" plywood for the cabinet boxes them self and also took the easy way out and face nailed the "face frames" to the plywood boxes using the same plywood lumber.  I counter sank the finishing nails and puttied over them knowing i was going to paint and distress them.  I added a little molding detail to the top of the cabinet and to the interior of the door frame and used chicken wire for the door panel

[Erin]

VERY nice!   

[devildog]

made from birch. Some of the least expensive Ive found. We  like basic, not fancy.
http://www.us-liquidators.com/id24.html

[Alan Gage]

Thanks for the great responses. I kind of like the idea of just building the carcasses and buying the doors/drawers. I found a couple places (rockler.com and scherrs.com) that offer the service. I'll have to figure up roughly what I'll need and get some quotes from them. I'll also be checking out the local building supply recycle place to see if they have any kitchens that will work.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I'd been trying to narrow down which books to get so that helped. I also ordered:

Danny Proulx's Cabinet Doors and Drawers (Popular Woodworking)

Shelves Cabinets & Bookcases
Fine Woodworking, Fine Homebuilding

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

Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way (Real Goods Independent Living Book)
Sam Clark

The last one doesn't have anything to do with cabinet making but it sounds like a neat book and a neat guy. Wish I would have found it a year ago.

Alan

[rich2Vermont]

Also consider getting Norm Abrams New Yankee Workshop series on kitchen cabinets. The 9 part, 3 DVD set isn't cheap, nor would be his awesome array of tools and shop, but he does make it all seem very approachable: http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0801-0809

I bought "Cabinets and Built-Ins: A Practical Guide to Building Professional Quality Cabinetry " by Paul Levine. It's a bit dated, but some methods just don't change.

[Erin]

But some do...

Does anyone know any good cabinetry books that use pocket screws as connectors?

[rich2Vermont]

The Kreg pocket-screw jig people give a "free" download pdf of "Basic Cabinetmaking" by Mark Duginske, once you buy one of their jigs. The book makes use of a lot of pocket-screw joinery.

For unfinished cabinet doors of all varieties, also check out http://www.barkerdoor.com/default.asp . Their prices/products look pretty good.

[Erin]

Great...I bought my Kreg jig about four years ago!  lol

However, I found this link: 

And that is exactly what I was looking for. 

[Alan Gage]

Thanks for the link Erin. It was nice to have something to read while I was waiting for my other books. Definitely something to look into.

My Amazon books arrived yesterday and the Lang book looks great. I'm really glad I got it. Lots of information on planning before the build, which I really need. I think the cabinet build is a go. It will be a lot of research, planning, and work but I'm looking forward to it and will get a lot of satisfaction if it turns out decent.

I need to start rounding up some tools now. Any thoughts on what level of table saw I'll need? I'm assuming something like the portable Dewalt or other job site saws will be lacking. Maybe a used contractor saw? I'm sure I can find a big old heavy cast iron beast in someone's garage for a good price. Are they worth chasing after or is it a pain outfitting them with good fences and other "improvements"?

Looks like I'll be spending a good portion of the weekend organizing the shed and hooking up the wood stove so I can have a decent work space.

Alan

[Don_P]

It depends, if you can get the frame stock premade and are just building the carcases then a decent miter saw and skill saw would be the minimum. I've sawed the boxes out with straightedges clamped to sheets of ply and the skillsaw. From there a good router is useful for dado's and if you want to step up to lap or mortise and tennon joinery. If you want to make the frame stock then a decent tablesaw and a small planer are nice to have. By that point you can make the doors if you want. i've also made the doors by grooving the edges for the panels and running the grooves all the way out. Then grooving the ends of the rails and loose tennons (splines) can be glued into the grooves to attach the stiles and rails. Sort of like a poor man's biscuit joiner... which is another handy tool and way to build the frames.

[davidj]

Another option is to go with Ikea flat-pack cabinets as the structure - without the doors they're really cheap, the fake-wood is reasonable from a distance and they're pretty solid (especially if you skip the legs and put them on a simple wood frame).  Adding/changing shelves is trivial and the steel mounting rails are nice too. Then once you have the frames you can buy the doors you want from wherever (I've used http://scherrs.com before and they seemed good) and cover any of the exposed sides with matching trim wood.

For our kitched we actually bought the cheap white ikea doors aswell and decorated them ourselves.  We'll be covering all of the exterior exposed fake-wood melanine with pine at some point.  The whole lot, excluding the pine trim and counter, came to around $1000 ($1050 including the counter, which was on sale).

Here's a picture (without the pine trim, which is still on the to-do list):

More at http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3854.msg146011#msg146011

[NM_Shooter]

Cabinetry can be expensive.  Even trying to be cheap and do the work myself, my bathroom two-sink vanity is costing me more than I would like. 

I had the base cabinet in place, and had new drawer and door faces made at a local cabinet shop out of alder.  4 doors, three drawers, and two fixed panels cost me $800 finished.  I also upgraded and ordered blumotion slides and dovetailed drawer boxes which were $200.  I had to band laminate the front of the vanity too.  Should finally get it all together tomorrow, as the granite top and sinks should arrive literally in 10 minutes. 

If you scrounge craigslist or ReStore places, you can get a heck of a deal on the basic cases which you can refinish or re-panel.  If you want much more simple doors, buy laminate sheets and make your panels and doors out of those. 

[gdmiles]

I just purchased "ready to assemble" cabinets made by Conestoga Wood, and am in the process of putting them together.  These are not cheap Chinese RTA cabinets, but are top quality (US made) cabinets built for custom cabinet shops...or the homeowner who wants to do the work necessary to put the cabinets together. 

I ordered finished cabinets (all plywood construction) with pull out trays, and Blumotion hardware...for approx 65 percent of what the kitchen cabinet shops quoted me for "Medallion Silverline" or  "Diamond" cabinets with "furniture board" construction.

The cabinet boxes are assembled using glue, and a unique spline system that creates a very stable box.  The finish on the cabinets I received is excellent.  Also the interior plywood finish is nice.  You can also save more by ordering unfinished and paint or stain the cabinets yourself. 

These may not be the cheapest option, but you get a good quality product for what you pay for cheap cabinets at the big box store.  A few links below...I purchased through Northern Granite and Cabinetry, but there are other suppliers.

http://www.conestogawood.com/
http://www.northerngraniteandcabinetry.com/
http://cabinetauthority.com/

Theres also a couple of UTube videos showing the cabinet assembly method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV7iJffjSrM

[gdmiles]

Here's another video showing an alternative method for assembling the Conestoga cabinets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgOXA5GdMww

[Don_P]

Is Conestoga still producing?
http://www.irsauctions.com/index_lots.asp?pg=details&id=15324&flash=9

[Alan Gage]

I've looked at some of the RTA stuff and have seen what looks to be some quality cabinets. I don't think I'm going to go that route though. The ones I've priced haven't been a whole lot cheaper than what my building center priced me and if I'm going to buy cabinets I'd just as soon buy from them. They're a great local place and are always nice to work with. Also part of the reason for deciding to build my own is to be able to customize them a bit. I like the idea of having something that doesn't look like it just came off the line.

I think I'm going to go whole hog and build the doors and drawers too. I'll build a test piece or two first and see how it goes but I'd sure like to do it all. So I'm on the lookout for a good table saw and maybe a router. Hopefully I can find something used locally. I've got an old Delta 8" jointer I picked up at a school auction a month or so ago anticipating things might go this route. I haven't even plugged it in yet so I'll have to get it going too.

Alan

[Texas Tornado]

Be sure and check out pawn shops....Times are rough and folks are getting rid of tools, etc...

[metolent]

Please post some pics when you get going.  I went through the same thing recently.   One of the "mistakes" I made when I did the plans was I didn't space the kitchen window to accommodate standard cabinet dimensions, specifically the 36"x36" lazy susan base cabinet in the corner.  If I had moved the window and the mudroom forward just a measly 4", things would have been fine.  Oh well, I've learned.  Plus I have 9' ceilings in the part under the loft (and the loft juts out over the kitchen several feet for recessed cans), so I couldn't use standard 30" or even 36" wall cabinets, I'd have to order 42" to make it look correct in my opinion....and those 42" ones are a bit pricey. 

The point is that I'm building cabinets as well.  I actually got all of the carcasses made up this past weekend, and everything installed except for the one above the fridge and the fridge surround.  I'll build the faces and doors next, but I had to get the basic boxes installed so I could get the exact dimensions for the counters.  Good luck - I'm looking forward to seeing your cabinets!

[MushCreek]

I think you can build your own cabinets! I made new doors and drawer fronts for our kitchen. There were 26 fronts, and the materials only came to $300. Luckily, my wife prefers painted cabinets, so the joinery can be looser. One surprise I got was that 'finished' lumber is surprisingly inconsistent. I bought rather expensive poplar at the big box store, and started happily dadoing the various pieces, only to find out that the thickness of the wood varied considerably. This ended up causing a mismatch, which I then had to compensate for. I learned to always have the same side facing out, so any mismatch would be on the inside of the door. When I build the cabinets for our new place, I'll first run all of the material through a planer to make everything the same!

I have a Ridgid table saw in cast iron. When they came out with the new granite top saw, they were dumping the cast iron ones cheap. It is a very accurate saw; fine for a weekend warrior like me. The key to any table saw is to very careful and accurate in setting it up initially. Everything has to be perfectly square and parallel. The Ridgid was spot on, right out of the box. I'm a tool maker by trade, so I know how to check it very precisely. For cabinet work, high quality blades are required, and they ain't cheap, although it seems like in recent years even cheap blades seem to be pretty accurate. Spend the money on a decent dado set, though, like Freud.

When I build our kitchen, I plan to have mostly drawers, as they seem to offer more efficient storage. There are several systems out there that use a metal side with built-in guides. You just make the back, bottom, and front. These eliminate a lot of joinery work, although at a cost. These systems also offer a lot of accessories, such as adjustable racks and spacers. I know Blum has a good system, but there are others out there.

Here's a picture of the doors I made for our existing kitchen: