Best Way To Build A Cabinet Box

How to build a cabinet drawer choose your drawer material.

Best way to build a cabinet box.

Cabinet grade birch is typical and can be found in all big box stores. 1 2 or 3 4 plywood. To build a cabinet start by cutting panels for the bottom and sides out of mdf plywood or another type of laminate. From walls to allow for wavy or out of plumb walls.

Shim the bottom edges to level the cabinets and make the face frame edges parallel with each other. Most traditional side mounted drawer slides require 1 2 clearance on each side of the drawer. That being said lets first go over the basic tools for building a cabinet box. With the cabinet boxes made install the cleats that support the drawers photo 7.

You can choose your wood the stain the finish and configure them to the exact size that would suit your storage needs. If you cap the end cabinet with 1 4 in. Then cut 4 pieces of 1 by 6 lumber to the same width as the bottom panel for the front back and top brace panels. No extended sides to form a base no toe kick cutouts.

If you were making several cabinets to be installed side by side you d make a single long base for all of them to sit on now move on to building the drawer box. You ll also need an end cap if you choose to build a separate base. Ken sets the box 1 4 in. 1 2 thickness is also typical but i sometimes use 3 4 especially for frameless cabinets.

Attach the drawer fronts photo 10 the pulls photo 11 and that s it. Adding the backs sounds pretty simple and it is. 1 8 plywood for the back of the cabinets note this is the common method for building cabinets. This sled makes it much easier to accurately cut large pieces.

With some woodworking skills a table saw and some basic tools you can make your own kitchen cabinets the simple way. Use glue on all the joints because the nails aren t enough on their own. Cut purebond plywood panels to fit over the back side of your cabinet boxes. Let s stick with those since it makes sizing your drawer super easy too.

A simple crosscut sled. Second installation is faster. Build the drawer boxes next. With the frame squared and clamped screw the cleats along the top edges.

But it s also a critical part of the process. Remove the doors drawers and all hardware and apply a finish. Making wood boxes and mounting them on the walls via braces can make the installation a one man job. We ll be using 1 2 cabinet grade plywood for all parts of these drawers including the bottoms.

Put your finished cabinets to work. That means you can use large sturdy screws without worrying about ugly putty filled holes. Leveling one platform is a lot easier than positioning each cabinet individually. The cabinets are just boxes.

The base is a simple edge frame assemble it with biscuits topped by two 4 wide cleats. Move the cases into position where they ll be installed. Plywood you don t have to hide the fasteners you used to build your boxes. Make sure when cutting your back panels that they are square and make sure when you attach them that your cabinet is also square to this back piece.