An amateur builds a kitchen...

LB75

Moderator
George
Been a while since I posted around these parts. I've been spending my time working on the cabinets for our kitchen remodel and figured I'd post some pics of the work in progress. There's a total of 34 cabinets going in and I have all the components made for them except for the wall oven cabinet and fridge enclosure. Due to storage space constraints I'll be assembling them as I need them for installation. I have a delivery of maple scheduled on Wednesday from The Hardwood Store so I can start milling the face frames. I'll try to keep this thread up to date as I progress.

This first pic is the mock-up of the wall cabinets for the hutch area. The bridge cabinet in the middle is going to house some electronics (modem, wifi router, Apple TV) so I added some vents to help dissipate the heat, the doors on that cabinet will be covered in speaker cloth and the TV is going underneath it. There is another 18" cabinet going on the right side, just ran out of room on the work table. This is a 9' run that is going on a currently blank wall so it means lots of new storage.
 

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Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
There's a total of 34 cabinets going in
Wow, just getting all the plywood cut down for that many cabinets is a major project! Impressive. Good thing you used top of the line material, that way it'll be the last kitchen you ever have to build :)
 

LB75

Moderator
George
Wow, just getting all the plywood cut down for that many cabinets is a major project! Impressive. Good thing you used top of the line material, that way it'll be the last kitchen you ever have to build :)

Yep, and it will be the last kitchen I ever build. No way am I going to tackle a project this size again :p
 

JohnnyR

John
Corporate Member
Looking good George. Two things on the TV cabinet, I would also put a vent on the underside of the electronics shelf and if you're planning on the TV hiding the pocket holes I would plug them or put veneer over them. I found out after building one of these a long time ago that when I had to replace a dead TV that they no longer made the same size screen and it exposed all my "not to worry, no one will see it" blunders.
 

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
It is a big project, and the number of parts to keep up with is sometimes daunting. I did the same thing a couple of years ago making the cabinet parts in my driveway during the winter while rolling tools in and out of the garage. I would not do it again either! However, it all turned out fine and my wife is pleased. Since I saved us 10 grand, I'm pretty pleased too. Good luck!
 

LB75

Moderator
George
Looking good George. Two things on the TV cabinet, I would also put a vent on the underside of the electronics shelf and if you're planning on the TV hiding the pocket holes I would plug them or put veneer over them. I found out after building one of these a long time ago that when I had to replace a dead TV that they no longer made the same size screen and it exposed all my "not to worry, no one will see it" blunders.

Thanks for the tips John. For now I'm hoping that the speaker cloth in the doors in place of solid panels will provide enough ventilation along with the vents in the top. I'm not putting any high-heat electronics like a stereo receiver or BluRay up there so I think I'll be good. Just in case I have another set of vents I can install if I find I need more airflow.

For those side panels, they will be exposed so I'm planning on plugging and veneering them. Going with a matte black to give that "theater screen" look around the TV.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
Yep, and it will be the last kitchen I ever build. No way am I going to tackle a project this size again :p
It really can burn you out. Mostly because I was learning as I went.

I don't think I even opened the door to my shop for 3 months afterwards I looked for any opportunity to get on the tractor LOL
 

LB75

Moderator
George
Lumber delivery makes me happy. The Hardwood Store dropped off 125 bf of maple for the face frames, doors and drawer fronts along with a few more sheets of pre-finished ply. Seeing the stack of maple now I am really glad I ordered it S3S, running that much rough lumber through the planer would have gotten old real quick.
 

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LB75

Moderator
George
Milestone reached in the journey to the new kitchen. With this stack of panels I am now at the point that I could assemble all 37 of the kitchen cabinet boxes, but won't until I need them for install. Really happy to be done with this phase of production. Moving on now to start ripping all of the maple down to 1 1/2” wide to make the face frames. I need to figure out the most efficient and safe way to get the job done, seriously considering buying a power feeder. Anyone have any tips on ripping a large quantity of face frame material on a table saw?

Also just sharing a pic of my upper corner cabinet. Really like the look that the extra height gives with the standard height cabinets next to it.
 

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McRabbet

Rob
Corporate Member
George,

A power feeder wouldn't increase your throughput -- in my experience, it is best to just stack your stock to the outside of your fence and process them at the same fence setting one at a time. I've done that with projects that had several hundred rip cuts and while it is tedious, it can be done pretty quickly. Just don't let the repetition lull you into unsafe operation. Use a good push stick.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
George as Rob mentioned, a powerfeed wont help throughput, it would only help with quality and safety though. I realize its too late now but alot of lumber suppliers will supply pre ripped material , for a premium of course but it would remove the tedium of doing it yourself. What sort of doors are you making?. I see youre in concord and Ive since relocated to High rock lake. If I can be of any help, let me know. I have tons of shaper cutters and a powerfeed on the shaper for doing doors. You come and run it and empty the DC, and its all yours!. A tip for you as well.... are these painted cabinets? if they are, prepaint the face frames and doors of course, before attaching to the boxes.
 

Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
Those cabinets are coming along great!
Anyone have any tips on ripping a large quantity of face frame material on a table saw?
I don't know if you have one, but this could actually be a really good job for a track saw. Set up the track on top of a piece of stock, overhanging by 1 1/2", and clamp it down. Slide another piece of stock underneath the track, cut it, rinse, repeat. Still tedious, but you're moving the blade through the wood, not the wood through the blade. You're also more likely to have better dust collection and less hand fatigue.

If you don't have a track saw, I just gave you an excellent reason to buy one :)

If you are going to use the table saw, you may want to buy a thin kerf rip blade to make the ripping a little easier. With 3/4" stock you're unlikely to have blade deflection issues. But it's still tedious work. Featherboards will help too.
 

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