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  • Basic cabinet making on the cheap – cutting and jointing
  • tron
    Free Member

    I want a couple of odd sized cabinets and I’m thinking of putting some together myself.

    I’m quite happy coming up with a cabinet design as I’ve spent quite a of time on that in the past. Unfortunately, I’m not planning to get a HOMAG setup in my garage, and I don’t fancy drilling for cam and dowel fixings with my cordless drill 😆

    At the moment I’m thinking of buying veneered MDF or Chipboard, finding a friendly supplier who will cut sheet material to size, and using iron on edge band.

    Am I likely to find a timber yard that will be able to cut panels accurately and cleanly enough for me to work with them straight away, or am I going to have to get them oversize and sort them myself? What’s the best way to make straight clean cuts without going full Norm Abrams and building a complete workshop with table saw?

    I think I’ll be going for butt joints for the sake of simplicity – side panel to base panel joints can be clamped, drilled and screwed from underneath quite easily without any fixings showing, but top panel fixings can’t be done that way. Am I best off getting a pocket screw jig, biscuit jointing or doing something else entirely?

    Back panels are going to either need to sit in a groove or in a rebate in the back edge of each panel – which is easier to do with the minimum of tools? The back side of the cabinet won’t need to look good.

    If anyone’s got any suggestions for what methods and tools to look at, it would be much appreciated. Or if it’s going to be cheaper to produce a set of drawings that will work and hand them over to a cabinet maker who already has all the tools, that would be good to know too 😀

    br
    Free Member

    I built some odd-sized wardrobes (sloping ceiling), used MDF and then painted.

    Used a circular saw, biscuit jointer and router – should be able to get those for £100.

    project
    Free Member

    Most B and Q s can cut sheet materials, pocket jigs leave a hole on the inside of the workpiece, biscuit jointers work well are easy enough to master, space and a flat surface are major needs though.

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    simon_g
    Full Member

    SL Hardwoods near me do various sheet stuff (melamine/veneered, etc) and will prepare the panels you want, even edging them for you if needed.

    More local general timber yards will still cut to custom sizes although accuracy can vary a bit.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    Most B and Q s can cut sheet materials

    But only the sheets they sell – which doesn’t typically include veneered boards.

    Not so good for veneered boards.. but good quality laminate-faced boards are supplied by – and can be cut and mitred to order by – Rearo if you have a branch near you.

    chickenman
    Full Member

    A rail/plunge saw is great if you have little space but I don’t think you’d recuperate the £400 investment. Pocket jig from ebay for £15.

    kayak23
    Full Member

    A biscuit jointer isn’t much good if you don’t have sash cramps really as you can’t cramp the joint together. It’ll glue, but it won’t be a tight, pulled together fit.
    Use this principle to apply some pressure to your glue-up, though you don’t need a circular block, just a square one with one screw attaching it will pivot and do the same.
    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBuq7dPHQcI[/video]

    Instead of a router and a biscuit jointer, you can get biscuit jointing cutters for routers, although having said that, if it’s a one-off, you can get very cheap jointers that’ll work fine.

    For the back panel, it doesn’t necessarily need to sit in a rebate. A kitchen panel can be just tacked right onto the back I’d have thought.

    tron
    Free Member

    Cheers all. I will want back panels to be rebated or fitted into a groove as I’m hoping to buy nice veneered panels, and I don’t want to spoil that by having a ropey bit of hardboard visibly tacked to the back.

    It sounds like the cheapest route is to go down the pocket screw method and buy a cheap router to cut back panel rebates or grooves? A router would open new possibilities – bevelled edges and mitred joints potentially?

    chickenman
    Full Member

    You’ll not manage mitred joints with a router and 18mm mdf. Plunge saw is good for that.

    TheBrick
    Free Member

    I use a homemade jig similar to this instead of a plunge saw

    http://wayneofthewoods.com/circular-saw-cutting-guide.html

    Together with gauge sticks for the width I want to cut I can get repeatable accurate cuts.

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