how to build a simple wall cabinet box

1/2 or 3/4 plywood. Apply double-faced tape to the inside face of the drawer front, align it with the door, and press it against the drawer box. Before I used my door hinge jig to create pockets for my European style hidden hinges. Then, I tap my fence outward to sneak up on my mark for the back groove. You'll also cut the middle rail beneath the drawers 2" wide. You'll fill the gap with the face frame overlap on the sides. The screws won't show after you glue the frame to the cabinet. A wall cabinet in its most basic form is little more than a plywood box that is securely mounted on the wall. It is best to drive the finish nails with a pneumatic nailer, but you can also drive them by hand with a hammer and nail set. Learn about the specialty tools that make cabinetmaking a breeze. I like using pre-surfaced lumber here because it doesnt require any milling machines, I can just cut it and begin building. Get DIY project ideas and easy-to-follow crafts to help you spruce up your space. 6) Apply glue to the tenons plus a dab centered in each frame part groove to keep the panel from rattling. Want to learn more about built-in cabinet installation? Using an iron activates the glue and sticks the edge banding to the shelf. Position one of the French cleat halves along the top edge of the cabinet with the square edge of the cleat against the top of the cabinet and the narrow face against the cabinet back (the beveled edge points down). Tenons should fit dadoes snugly, with the outside faces of the front and back flush with the ends of the sides. Blessed with an eye for potential, David Willett looked at his dark, unfinished 112-car garage built in 1956 and saw the bones of a workshop. Adjust the fence until you cut a 38 " tenon on test scrap that just bottoms out in the stile grooves. Cut two pieces of 1x4 lumber to length at 11 1/4 inches. Place the template on the drawer front panel [below], and drill the hardware mounting holes. Relax. Unfinished garage becomes a woodworking haven. Set your tablesaw fence 14 " from the edge of a 14 " dado blade set 14 " high, as shown in Step 1 below. And when I pull the lever forward another bit drills the pilot hole. You can see here Im using just my thumb as a clamp which I would never attempt with a 15 degree drill pocket hole. Support the other end of the side panel with top stretchers that you'll pocket-hole-screw in place. Wall cabinets typically have one or more shelves (not including the bottom of the cabinet) and may or may not have doors. Cut the upper and lower vertical dividers to fit between the middle rail and the top and bottom rails. Take one of the pieces you just cut, placing a 24-inch side against the fence, and cut it so you have a 24-by-13-inch piece to serve as one of the cabinet sides. To allow built-in cabinets a margin for unsquare walls, design the case 12 " narrower than the opening between another cabinet and a wall or between two walls. Repeat the same process to secure the top and bottom of the cabinet to the side piece. Alright, with the carcasses fastened together I can make a face frame for each. This is a Castle pocket cutting machine and its changing the way I make pocket holes. For even spacing, make a template from a piece of perforated hardboard as a drilling guide. Im lining up the bottom panel flush with the sides and clamping it into place before I drive my pocket screws home. Choose clear, straight-grained wood, and assemble the frame soon after machining to reduce warping. The false drawer front aligns separately from the box. Create the two halves of the set with 1x4 lumber. Next I need to cut some ply to make the center panels. Cut the following pieces from the leftover 3/4-inch plywood: Cut the back panel to size at 23 1/4 by 11 1/4 inches, using 1/4-inch plywood. Once thats done I put the ripping blade back in the table saw so I can cut grooves in all my frame parts. For a base cabinet less than 4' wide, you can cut all the parts except the back and toekick from one 34 "4'8' sheet of plywood or MDF. Now subtract the thickness of the back from your fence setting, and cut the bottom panel to width. Which hand planes should a power-tool woodworker buy first? OK, next come the doors and Im going to be using the same pre-surfaced maple to make the frame parts. To start I cut up some pre-surfaced hard maple lumber at the chop saw. If I were painting these I would use brad nails instead of clamps and just fill in the holes before painting to avoid needing all these clamps. (European-style hinges require 35mm holes, but a 138 " bit is close enough. If you'll stain the doors, stain the panels before assembling the frame. Shim the bottom edges to level the cabinets and make the face frame edges parallel with each other. 5) Cut the panel width (A) and length (E)a hair smaller than the space between the stile and rail groove bottoms. Heres how. Flip the assembly over so that the long rabbeted sides are facing up. Clamp the frame in place, including the middle rail to the drawer stretcher [below]. Big? And just like that I have all the parts to make my cabinets. Drill pilot holes and screw the door to the frame. Apply glue to the case edges; then center the frame between the case sides with the lower frame rail inside edge 18 " above the inside face of the case bottom. After lining up the edges and clamping them together I add screws above and below the top and bottom panels so they wont be seen inside the cabinet. No sweat. I could then use this handy door hardware jig to drill the holes for the door pulls. You needn't adhere strictly to these, but vary them at your own risk of discomfort. *I use affiliate links, please see details on my disclaimer.. Set the remainder of the sheet aside. A toe kick allows you to stand closer to a cabinet without bumping the front with your feet. Then Im going to combine each 30 to an 18 cabinet to make two 48 units. You can see here the number of clamps I used to make sure this was securely fastened. Though weaker than some cut joints, pocket-hole joints gain strength after you mount the frame on a case. Assemble the cabinet with wood glue, finish nails, and screws. We shadowed two experienced makers and installers of custom cabinetry to bring you simple tips and tricks that will keep your built-in projects (and your sanity) on the bubble.. Then cut two stretchers that length to space the front drawer stretcher that distance from the front top stretcher and pocket-hole-screw the drawer stretcher in place [below]. Set the fence of your table saw 3 inches from the blade, and adjust the angle of the blade to 45 degrees. Use longer screws as needed for your hardware. I then use another undersized plywood bit to cut the top and bottom dados. I go ahead and do the same to the other side. Next, I trim the edges flush and trim the side waste using this double edge trimmer and then quickly sand the rough edges smooth. Here's why: Cut frame parts from straight-grain 34 "-thick stock 112 " or 2" wide, depending on the part. I typically like to use the same wood thickness for all sides, just because I like a sturdy back. First, Im going to use the back nailer to set the distance to the fence and cut a groove along the back of each side piece which is going to house the back panel. Plywood thicknesses vary, though, so make certain your material thickness measures a true 34 ", or adjust your part dimensions to achieve the final cabinet width. Now with this simple spacer block Im going to use my shelf pin jig to drill out all my shelf pin holes. Stand this side panelon its side with the front edge of the board against the work table. Ive got to keep doing this until the dadoes are wide enough to fit the top and bottom panels. After you screw the cabinet in place, slide out the 12 " spacers to allow enough room for the temporary supports to tilt out from under the cabinet. Deeper cabinets hinder access to the countertop below. Yes. You can make doors using just your tablesaw and a general-purpose blade to cut the joints. Plywood-panel doors and drawer fronts require no routed profiles. Build the face frame from solid wood to match or contrast with the sides. A dead-square cabinet requires a dead-flat assembly surface to avoid twisting the glue-up. B038N355C.12 (2) for 34 " face frames, $2 each, Woodworker's Hardware. Then drill pilot holes and screw the frames together [second photo below] and the cabinets where you inserted the 14 " spacers. Frame parts narrower than 112 " don't mount easily to the case, while parts much wider than 2" interfere with access to the cabinet. If you'll paint the cabinet, save clamping time by gluing and nailing the frame to the case. "Umm, I have to go to the bathroom." 1/2 thickness is also typical, but I sometimes use 3/4 (especially for frameless cabinets). Now cut four 212 "-wide stretchers and a 312 "-wide base block. After removing the doors from the clamps I trimmed the top and bottom joints just so everything was flush and each door was the exact same length. Pinterest. I then slide the center panel into place making sure it sits in the groove all the way around before adding the other stile. It should just touch the teeth of the blade. Now, compared to base cabinets, the wall cabinet parts are pretty straight forward and much smaller. Set up your table saw with the fence positioned 26 1/2 inches from the blade. In these plans Ill show you two different versions of a standard upper cabinet, one 18 with a single door and one 30 with two doors. Alternatively, you can use a circular saw, but be sure to use a straightedge guide to ensure straight cuts. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. I can then break the edges with a sander to make them nice and smooth. Use as an alternative to doing dados on a table saw. Overlaps on the sides let you fine-tune the cabinet width during installation. I then repeat that same process with the top panel, making sure I assemble the cabinet face down so the rabbets I cut in the sides are exposed. The short narrow face of the cleat should be flush to the wall, with the beveled edge facing up. Did I just rhyme that? If you need to allow for uneven walls, make the stiles 214 " wide, and later trim the overhangs on the sides to fit the opening. OK with my dados cut I add glue to the top and bottom but not the groove on the back. The best material for building cabinets is plywood3/4-inch plywood for the box sides, top, bottom, and shelvesand 1/4-inch plywood for the back panel. If you want to know how to build base cabinets or how to hang cabinets onto concrete walls, I have full build videos, walkthroughs and plans available for download. First pre-drilling and then screwing the doors into place. Read our foolproof trick for perfect-fitting dadoes on the tablesaw. Over the years, cabinetmakers have standardized some cabinet dimensions based on practical considerations, such as the average height of people. You'll be glad you did. Outfit your table saw with a stacked dado blade set to the same thickness as your 3/4-inch plywood. Next I need to cut tongues in all the top and bottom rails. Set the blade height to 14 ", then double-face-tape an extension to your miter gauge and a spacer block to the fence about 4" back from the blade [below]. Repeat for the other hinge. Begin by drilling 138 " holes 12 " deep with a Forstner bit [below]. You can use the same setup to cut 38 "-deep rabbets along the inside back edge of the sides to accept the cabinet back. Normally I use my tenoning jig for this, but I decided to show you another way to do it. OK Next Ill show you the more traditional construction method and this begins with making some rough reference lines because we need to cut a bunch of dadoes and I need to keep them straight so my two sides mirror one another when Im done. On the bottom inside edge of each piece, cut a groove 14 " from the edge to accept the drawer bottom. Using the plywood thickness to set the stacked dado width, cut a 38 "-deep dado on the inside face of each side piece to accept the bottom. You can instead use hardwood-veneer plywood, solid MDF, plain or melamine-covered particleboard, and solid wood. Next, I repeat the process with the dados on the top and bottom, continuing to tap the fence outward after each pass. Adjust the saw fence so that it is 13 inches from the blade. But youll notice, Im not using my normal pocket hole Jig. Position the bottom nailer against the bottom edge of the cabinet (flat against the cabinet back), and nail it into place through the cabinet sides. Imagine all the potential pitfalls about making drawers. Using two pocket-hole screws at each joint, assemble the frame [below]. 1) From 34 2" blanks, cut two stiles to the door height (A) [drawing above]. Start by ripping two side pieces to the cabinet depth (minus the frame thickness); then cut them to length. For example, to make a cabinet 3334 " wide using 34 " plywood, cut the case bottom 33" long. After chopping out the blanks, I head to the table saw to rip my parts to width. I then use a roller to ensure a nice firm bond and set the shelf aside to cool down while I do the next shelf. Chris Baylor is a woodworking expert and writer with over a decade of hands-on commercial carpentry experience. Place one of the side panels, with the rabbeted side facedown on the saw table and with a long edge against the fence. Check for square, as with the upper cabinet [below]. Adjust the saw fence to 12 1/2 inches from the near side of the blade and cut each piece again to create a 1-inch-wide rabbet along the back edge of the cabinet sides to accommodate the back panel and the cleat and nailer. Check for squareness by. Machined or hand-cut joints may display your skill, but they'll take longer to make than the case itself. Repeat the same process to rabbet both ends of the other cabinet side piece. While Im at it I double check the dimensions for making the face frame. This will make everything clean and crisp on all sides. To start I add glue to the tongues on each end of the top and bottom rails and slide them into the groove in the side, or stile. Place them on 12 " spacers, and rest the upper cabinet on the supports [below]. I very much recommend doing this step now, before assembly, because its much easier to drill accurate hole locations. Then cut the bottom to length. (Our drawer bottom sheets measured 14 " thick.). For the simpler pocket screw cabinets, I dont really have a way to hide these screws from sight so Im just going right into the inside of the cabinet. Again Im using just a single saw blade to make a pass, then flip the piece end for end to make another pass and perfectly center my groove. Then drill pilot holes from the inside front of the drawer box to the drawer front frame, and screw on the front. But I like using my track saw because theres much less dust created in the shop which is important to me. I give the ends a tap to make everything as flush as possible and then add the clamps. Then, I add the two nailers in place and fasten them with pocket screws. Pretty simple these arent real big and I set my dado stack back up to make a rabbet around all four edges of each panel. Youll see how that happens later in the walkthrough. Cut the remaining side piece to match. Consider one of these three other clear finishes for your next project. Nah. I even added some hidden features that I think you'll want to try. Then drill screw pilot holes and install the hinge. No fussy alignments. It is best to cut all of the cabinet parts with a table saw. Then glue and nail it in place. 4) A dado blade speeds cutting tenons on the rails, but multiple passes with a general-purpose blade will do just as well. But hey thats OK, these are shop cabinets anyway. Attach a 14 " spacer to the rip fence, as shown in Step 2 above. Just two clamps are needed, one spanning each joint. Label them left and right with pencil marks on the inside faces. Position the fence so that it is precisely 24 inches from the far side of the dado blade. Find plans for a dead-flat, torsion-box assembly table here. Want to add storage, organization, versatility and dust collection to your drill press? Test the saw settings in scrap; then cut dadoes at both ends of the two sides. Double-check the material thickness before calculating cabinet sizes and cutting dadoes and rabbets. Align the top and bottom edges of the plywood with the top and bottom of the cabinet, double-check diagonally for squareness, and nail the back panel into place. Since m y cabinets are not going to be painted, I an just going to glue it to the carcass and fasten it with clamps. Position the middle rail so its top edge is flush with the upper face of the middle stretcher. Im going to countersink and screw the back panel into place for added strength. After the glue dries, cut the back to fit. I installed my dado stack to make quicker work of these cuts and laying a test work piece flat I make some cuts until I sneak up on the fit I want. I keep nibbling away until the back panel fits nicely into the groove. After making some adjustments to the hinges, the doors sat perfect and even with one another. To compensate for the frame overlap, add a 14 " spacer between the cases toward their backs and between the clamps [first photo below]. With a dado stack, this process goes real quick and its on to assembly. Glue each tenon, assemble and clamp the drawer, and then check for square. table saw (you may be able to get by with having the store cut your pieces for you depending on the other tools available to you). Check that the top stile ends sit flush with the top ends of the case sides. Either is fine, and I will explain both ways below). Why those sizes? Adjust the saw fence so that it is 12 inches from the near side of the dado blade. Click here to watch a free video on how to drill shelf pin holes. Make cabinets as wide as you like, but remember that the wider the doors, the greater the tendency to rack and warp. Smooth out the glue with a small brush so that you have an even, thin layer on all faces of the rabbets and dadoes. Cut a dado groove along one long edge of the face. From 112 "-wide stock, cut the top and bottom rails. Then install the drawer pulls. The first thing I need to do is break this plywood down into manageable chunks. Im using iron on edge banding which I like because of its simplicity. Now if youre making shop cabinets, you can probably just use plywood panels for the doors, but I didnt want to waste time showing you how to cut a rectangle and fasten it to the cabinets so instead Ill show you how to make frame and panel doors which are simple to make on the table saw and will look much better if your making your cabinets for a kitchen or pantry. You can see here when I push back on the lever one router bit swings up cutting the pocket. Imagine making a simple box without a top, and you're picturing most of the skills needed to make these drawers using only a tablesaw. Besides making super clean pockets the other advantage to this pocket cutting machine is the angle of the screw is much shallower than the typical 15 degrees of a drill pocket jig. Refer to the hinge instructions for details on adjusting the door position. Position the remaining half of the French cleat at the desired height and attach it to the wall studs using 3-inch screws. He has studied under master carpenters and also designs wooden tools and furniture, sharing tutorials on websites including Woodworkers Workshop and Homemade Tools. I can then slide my top and bottom panels into the dados and I go ahead and do an initial check for square before adding the clamps. To size the stretchers, use that same number minus the 34 " dado allowance. Insert the shelf securely into the center dado, and drive four finish nails through the face of the cabinet side and into the shelf. Rout a 18 " round-over on the top inside edge of the bottom rail. We've updated our Privacy Policy, which will go in to effect on September 1, 2022. Place a hinge cup in a hole with the straight hinge edge parallel to the stile edge [below], and mark the center of the mounting screw slots. After that, I cut everything to final length using a crosscut sled and ganging my parts together. Now, if you happen to have a router table this process can go a bit quicker. If you'll add an adjustable shelf within the case, lay out and drill shelf pin holes on both sides. From 12 4" blanks, cut the sides to the drawer-box length18" for the cabinet shown in the drawing at the top of this article. Apply glue into the dado and top and bottom rabbets of the second side piece, then slide the cabinet shelf and top and bottom pieces into position on this cabinet side and secure them with nails. Then cut a groove the length of the scrap. In this post I'll walk you step-by-step through all the upgrades I just made to my benchtop drill press. Adjust the saw fence so it is 11 5/8 inches from the near side of the dado blade. B230M, $3.86 per pair. I then re-check for square to make sure nothing went out of whack and then clamp everything together. As I mentioned assembling this version of the cabinet is going to be pretty basic. Each cabinet side gets a 3/8-by-3/4-inch dado to receive the shelf and 3/8-by-34-inch rabbets to receive the top and bottom pieces. I still use my back nailer to set the distance to the fence and then use a special undersized plywood bit to cut the groove in the back. Well, I have a few more pulls to install, but you get the idea. Rip a. Soon enough I have this face frame together and I give the whole thing a sanding to 180 grit to make sure all the joints are nice and flush. And thats that for the doors! Im going to make two 30 cabinets and two 18 cabinets. I quickly double check everything for square before I add glue to the rabbets and slide in back panel. Built on the Genesis Framework. Calculate upper cabinet sizes the same way. And thats it! The drawer slides we recommend provide lots of mounting flexibility and the chance to undo minor mistakes. The hardware we recommend allows many ways to fine-tune the position. Then imagine they don't existbecause for this drawer, they don't: Watch a free video of this drawer-making technique. Drill two pocket holes on both ends of each part. "Butbut, they have drawers!" If you have put off learning to make cabinet doors, these easy-to-cut stub-tenon-and-groove joints will help you overcome your door horror. The first thing I like to do is cut off the ragged factory edges. I got a little glue squeeze-out along the back corner which Im just going to clean out with a straw. Assemble a frame-and-panel drawer front as you would a small version of a cabinet door. Then fill the holes. Next I need to cut a rabbet along the back edge of each side which is going to house the back panel of the cabinet. Clamp the cabinet face frames together while you screw them to the wall and each other, ensuring the faces are flush. The plastic mounting bracket lets you adjust these slides up and down and side-to-side for smooth-opening drawers. To do this Im just using a regular table saw blade and taking multiple passes until I can fit my back panel into place nice and flush. Attach the cleat to the cabinet sides with finish nails. With the doors installed and aligned with each other, lay a spacer the width of the space between the doors and drawer fronts atop the door [below]. Off camera I went ahead and built the 18 cabinets the exact same way and now I want to combine the 30 and 18 together to make one 48 cabinet unit. Rout the recesses right to hold a lid upright. Apply glue to the dado and insert the bottom. If youve watched my previous videos you know I love doing this with one of these centipede work holders with a piece of foam insulation on top. Next you'll need a countertop sized to overlap the front or both the front and sides about 112 2". 2) From the overall width of your door, subtract 4" for the two 2"-wide stiles (B), add 34 " for the tenons, and cut the rails to that length (C). 2-by-4-foot piece of 3/4-inch finish-grade plywood, 1-by-2-foot piece of 1/4-inch finish-grade plywood. At 24" deep, standard base cabinets allow you to bend over and reach in to retrieve anything at the back. Cut both halves of the joint on your tablesaw. Also, the wider the door, the more clearance you'll need in front of the cabinet. Hinges: Compact 38N Screw-On no. To hold the upper cabinet in place while you screw it to the wall, make two 18"-tall temporary supports from scrap. This machine uses a set of routers to cut the pocket as well as the pilot hole for the screw all in one easy motion. Thanks to their adjustability, European-style hinges make mounting doors as easy as assembling them. Your email address will not be published. I have more cabinet building resources listed below. Place the 1/4-inch plywood back into the deep rabbets. Then notch the bottom front corner of both side pieces for the toe kick [below]. I laid a scrap of plywood down to create the reveal I wanted at the bottom and attached the hinges to the face frame. Here's the Right Way to Hang Cabinets with French Cleat Wedge Brackets, Learn How to Build Slab-Style Cabinet Doors, Determining the Table Saw Features You Need and Don't Need, Learn How to Cut a Dado Like a Master Woodworker, Building a Jointer Jig for Your Table Saw, Methods to Make a Zero Clearance Insert for Your Table Saw, Joining Boards with Tongue and Groove Joinery, Build Your Own Portable Miter Saw Stand With These Free Plans, Build Cabinets and Doors for Your Kitchen, Bath, or Utility Room, Learn to Make Beautiful Louvered Doors and Window Shutters. No tricky drawer-glide installations. Adjust the height of the stacked dado blade to 3/8 inch. Then glue the dado on the other side panel dado and mount it on the bottom. instructions for making shelves adjustable. Lots and Lots of clamps. For a 12-by-13-by-24-inch cabinet box with a single center shelf, you need a 2-by-4-foot piece of 3/4-inch birch or other finish-grade plywood and a 12-by-24-inch piece of 1/4-inch plywood. Okay, let's hear 'emyour excuses for not making those cabinets you could use everywhere from your kitchen to your workshop: "Oooh, they have doors." Along the rear edges, the sides get a 3/8-by-1-inch rabbet to receive the 1/4-inch back panel and the 3/4-inch cleat and nailer. That matters because these screws are going in almost parallel to the work which virtually eliminates the dreaded pocket hole creep that happens where your work piece moves slightly as you fasten them together. router (optional) good for making fast and precise grooves. Rip a 45-degree bevel along the long edge of each of the two 1x4 boards. The result is a very clean pocket with no debris left inside and the ease of use makes this machine very quick at cutting lots of pockets in my cabinet parts. You'll mount those boxes with simple glides that nearly install themselves and adjust to clean up minor installation errors. 3) Set your tablesaw blade height to 38 " and position the fence to center a test piece on edge over the blade. Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. To calculate the front drawer stretcher position, add 1" to the height of the drawer boxes you'll make. The crosscut sled is my preferred way to make super accurate cuts and I think its safer too, especially for the smaller rail parts versus using the miter saw.

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how to build a simple wall cabinet box