Any good links for building your own cabinets and drawers?

Does anyone have any good links for building your own cabinets? I plan on building my own wall hanging cabinets as well as having a workbench below with drawers. I'm looking for basics, like making your drawer width a certain amount less than the opening (the particular slide would affect this obviously) or where to use rabbet joints. If not I plan on winging it and learning as I go

It would be sweet to find plans for generic sized cabinets, say 36"x42" two door units, but my Google skills apparently aren't that good. All I've found is one for a workbench, but isn't the European framing style that I like. I envision what is shown in the picture below but without one of the end tall cabinets. Any good links on constructing something like this?

There are a ton of books available:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=building+cabinets&x=0&y=0

The Taunton books are usually pretty good.

'New Yankee Workshop' videos of shows about building cabinets might also be worthwhile.

I'd advise you invest in a good table saw.

Another possibility is Ikea - they have a lot of cheap, prefab cabinets.

Another suggestion - building doors and drawers is the most complicated part of cabinet making. You can instead build open shelves and enclose them with inexpensive hollow-core interior doors. Use face-nailed 2x4s for the door jambs. If you want to go really cheap, you can recycle used doors. Interior doors will enclose a lot of storage space for the money.

here are some that look interesting:
http://www.plansnow.com/dn3091.html
Steve

Thanks! I'll look into those books. I had went to the local Menards and Lowes to see what kind of books they had, and all of their cabinet books spent more time talking about random other things like built in wall shelving and not enough about cabinet making. I thought I would check here to see if there were any free websites with the basics, before dropping the $$ on books.

There isn't an Ikea store within 200 miles and I couldn't find much on their website. They do have a few on their kitchen cabinet section, but I'm still going through their website.

The drawers is what I'm most concerned about. As far as the doors for the cabinets go, I was going to go with plain MDF doors like the picture above. No fancy designs or anything like a kitchen uses (which involve gluing multiple pieces together).

I may end up just building open shelves and then determine the dimensions of the doors and drawers from there. Who knows, that may be how it's supposed to be done anyways LOL

By the way, I searched this website quite awhile and found everything from how to hang the cabinets (french cleat system) to best places to buy them. I couldn't find much about someone making them. Hopefully this thread may help others in the future.

I built my own for my garage and basement. The key is making multiple precision cuts. I used a CNC machine which made it easier. The cabinets were about $18 each except for some that are 42" high. The raised panel effect is simulated using a special router bit mounted in the CNC machine.

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rcleaver said:

http://s405.photobucket.com/albums/pp138/rcleaver_photo/?action=tageditmany

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Linky no workie.............

Try this link. These are just super. I'm about to get started on my own.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1773

buening said:

...The drawers is what I'm most concerned about. As far as the doors for the cabinets go, I was going to go with plain MDF doors like the picture above. No fancy designs or anything like a kitchen uses (which involve gluing multiple pieces together).

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MDF is good because it does not warp (dimensionally stable). If you make doors of plywood, they will warp with the weather. Doors in a kitchen usually feature built-up doors (rails and styles, and a center panel) but that's a lot of work for a garage. Drawers are not hard, but they require a specific technique to build, and a comparatively complicated setup. They are required in a kitchen, but I don't think you really need them in a garage.

proorange said:

Try this link. These are just super. I'm about to get started on my own.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1773

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Yeah I found that a few months ago. Unfortunately, I don't have the tools nor the material for ones that sweet. Those are really a work of art!

You might check out the magazine called The Family Handyman . I just picked up the november issue and they have several great ideas and plans for cabinets . I always find something usefull in them.

Rick

timgr said:

MDF is good because it does not warp (dimensionally stable). If you make doors of plywood, they will warp with the weather. Doors in a kitchen usually feature built-up doors (rails and styles, and a center panel) but that's a lot of work for a garage. Drawers are not hard, but they require a specific technique to build, and a comparatively complicated setup. They are required in a kitchen, but I don't think you really need them in a garage.

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Built-up doors, that was the term I was looking for! Nope, not going that crazy.

Below is a picture of what I drafted up in AutoCAD. This is the elevation view of my back wall, with the steps and a door into the house on the left.



The workbench is 96" long and 36" tall (not including the top). It will have 24" wide drawers on each end of the bench. The top three drawers are 6" tall and the bottom drawer is 15" tall. I'm torn between leaving the middle open like I have it shown (to put a few bar stools/chairs in) or to put drawers the full length. I'm thinking the open space will be handy to sit at, I just need to figure out how wide a space I should need. The bottom 3" is the toe board inset. Sorry if my terms aren't up to snuff

For the workbench top, I'm either going with a laminate countertop or possibly making my own butcherblock top by gluing 1x3 boards face to face and then poly coating the **** out of it. I'm not sure of the depth for the workbench, it seems that 24" is the common depth and I may run with that. If I go with 24" depth, I will likely make the end cabinet the same depth.

The end cabinet is 96" tall and 48" wide.

The hanging cabinets above the workbench will be 2-48" wide cabinets with 4 doors each. They are 40" tall and will probably be 12" deep. I may end up breaking the cabinets into 24" wide units to make them easier to handle. I have roughly 18" clearance between the bench top and the cabinet. Will that be enough?

And yes that is my 80gal compressor to the right. It is too big around to put it against one of the sidewalls. I only have 1'-8" clearance from the wall to the garage door opening. It would stick out over 4" and as crazy as a driver as my wife, she'd likely hit it one day

Let me know if you have any concerns, tips, input, or things you'd change! I will start a new thread once I get all the details hammered out and begin the build. I'm planning on insulating the garage this weekend, so it may be a few weeks before I get to the build

buening said:

The hanging cabinets above the workbench will be 2-48" wide cabinets with 4 doors each. They are 40" tall and will probably be 12" deep.

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I would seriously consider making the upper cabinets 16" deep, you'll find that alot more standard items will fit in a 16" cabinet. Hell, think about it, most catalogs and books will barely fit in a 12" deep cabinet.
Thinking about a computer in the shop?? A PC will stay alot cleaner if it's in a cabinet, but 12" isn't enough. At my old place the computer and printer would fit inside the 16" cabinet and then I drilled holes in the back of the shelf for the keyboard and monitor cables.

This is the main reason I'll be building cabinets again for my new shop, I've looked at most of the available store bought stuff and almost all of it is only 12" deep. I actually hung some old kitchen cabinets that I had and started putting stuff in them. They'll be coming down, nothing fits right.

tdkkart said:

I would seriously consider making the upper cabinets 16" deep, you'll find that alot more standard items will fit in a 16" cabinet. Hell, think about it, most catalogs and books will barely fit in a 12" deep cabinet.
Thinking about a computer in the shop?? A PC will stay alot cleaner if it's in a cabinet, but 12" isn't enough. At my old place the computer and printer would fit inside the 16" cabinet and then I drilled holes in the back of the shelf for the keyboard and monitor cables.

This is the main reason I'll be building cabinets again for my new shop, I've looked at most of the available store bought stuff and almost all of it is only 12" deep. I actually hung some old kitchen cabinets that I had and started putting stuff in them. They'll be coming down, nothing fits right.

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I agree that 16" offers a lot more space than 12". I just wanted to point out, though, that desktop computers also typically require airflow and ventillation. It REALLY shouldn't be operated in a closed cabinet unless it's designed for such an isolated environment.

tdkkart said:

Linky no workie.............

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I tried another approach - inserting the image. It seems to be working now - at least for me.

That looks great rcleaver! CNC machine? I could only wish LOL Are those cabinets painted or melamine? My plans are for a medium gray color, but seems the only way to obtain something other than white is to use plain MDF and prime/paint it. They do make melamine paint, but why go through the trouble of using melamine if you are only going to paint over it? I could be missing something though....

I use a laptop with my wireless home network, so no computer out there. I plan on putting a shelf above the air compressor for a TV. Good call on the upper cabinet depth. I had looked around the internet to see what was offered and it seemed like everything for the most part was 12" deep. I may bump it up to 16" for more storage

What about the depth of the workbench. Are people finding that 24" is not deep enough? Would a deeper workbench complicate the drawer making? A deeper bench would eliminate using a kitchen laminate countertop, unless I glue my own laminate on MDF board. I'm leaning towards the butcherblock-like top, but am having problems finding hard maple. Red oak is the only hardwood that the local box stores seem to have. I may have to check out REAL lumber stores!

My only comment would be two use 24" doors on the 48" cabinets...12" will be quite narrow for access. Good luck with the build. Kirby

Use caution when using MDF....while dimensionally stable, it will swell up quickly when exposed to moisture....fine as long as you can keep the inside of the garage dry.

Having done all of it, I no longer make drawers. It's cheaper to call up one of a couple of drawer shops and have them make me what I want. When you consider the cost of the material and labor involved...it's just cheaper.....at least for the small to medium ones. The labor for a small drawer is about the same as a large one...so I only make the large ones. For a garge, Dovetail is not necessary. You can buy from Rockler a router bit that makes joining the corners a lot easier. If you are making your own, make sure the bottoms are at least 1/4". If you go to the right place, you can get plywood specifically made for that....the layers are a lot thinner and overall it's stronger and more stable than standard plywood....for some reason the name is eluding me right now....not enough coffee yet...

For the rest....I would suggest Mellimine. Easy to use, does not need painting. If you make the doors out of it, make sure you seal the edges with the iron on edging...that will keep out the moisture. You can also get a few stock colors, white, gray, brown and black. Also, make sure you get the good stuff...the one with the plastic covering...not the paper....

For hanging the doors, you want to use something like a Blum hinge....which will require a special tool to drill the pocket in the door. Rockler sells them for about $20. Once you have it...you will love it.

Don't get hung up on how to hang the cabinets (pun intended). On the inside at the top, have a 2"H x xxW strip that runs across the back. This strip is attached to the top and sides...just screw through it into the studs on the wall using #10 screws. You will have a similar strip on the bottom of the cabinet. The bottom one carries a majority of the weight and the top one keeps the top against the wall. 4 #10 screws and you can expect it to hold 200-300 lbs.

On the bottom you want to make what is called a face frame cabinet. Basically it's a frame made up of 1.5" wide strips of wood. The below pic is an example of one I did for our bathroom. I would 'highly' recommend another purchase from Rockler....Pocket Hole cutter... Trust me on this one. It's the easist and strongest way to join the parts of the face frame together. You can build up your face frame screwing it together but no glue. Once you are happy with the final result, take it apart then use glue along with the screws. For the face frame wood I would suggest Poplar....NOT pine. Much harder and stronger...and only about 25% more in cost than pine...

For the drawer slides....spend the money and get full extension slids. If it were a kitchen...I would use the hidden softclose type...but for the garage, use some heavy duty types....you don't care if anyone sees them....

A couple of #'s for you.

24" is the standard depth of a counter top.
36" is the standard height of a counter top and works well for a garage. If you are taller, go 38-40".
16" is the standard distance between the counter top and the bottom of cabinets. If you make the upper cabinets deeper than 12" then you need to increase this distance as well...say 1" for each 1".
12" is the standard depth...but as noted above, is sometimes not deep enough. Personally, I would not go deeper than 12"...at least for the bottom part of the upper cabinet. Any deeper and you will feel like the cabinet is 'in your face' when you are standing in front of it...plus it reduces your view to the back if you are standing up.

Since you are planning on going all the way to the ceiling, may I suggest making the upper 16" deeper...say 16"...the bottom of the door will be above your head....or at least should be.

Hope this helps/confuses you.

A few decent books depending on what you are seeking to build:

Good basic cabinets of all styles

More traditional / fine style cabinets

Excellent resource on cabinet / furniture building

A couple of points --

+1 on Taunton books -- woodworkers get as finicky about their areas as garage guys do -- lots of good info from that precint.

While planning, I would make certain to leave a cutout under the bench -- that is, a cabinet-free area, so you have a place to sit at the bench, should you be so inclined -- evebt if you always stand at the bench, have the cabinets psaced back a few inches to leave room for your knees.

Benchtop height -- lots of information, again, from woodworking guys -- one of the best pieces of advice I got wrt bench height was this -- stand straight, measure from your elbow to the ground -- this measurement, minus a couple of inches, should be the height at which the top of your vise sits -- this will allow you to saw, file, and otherwise punish whatever's clamped in there.

Lastly, if, like me, your eyesight isn't what it was, make certain the benchtop is in focus with your specs on (I'll not discuss bifocals -- too depressing!) ;-}

have fun!

buening said:

That looks great rcleaver! CNC machine? I could only wish LOL Are those cabinets painted or melamine? My plans are for a medium gray color, but seems the only way to obtain something other than white is to use plain MDF and prime/paint it. They do make melamine paint, but why go through the trouble of using melamine if you are only going to paint over it? I could be missing something though....

I use a laptop with my wireless home network, so no computer out there. I plan on putting a shelf above the air compressor for a TV. Good call on the upper cabinet depth. I had looked around the internet to see what was offered and it seemed like everything for the most part was 12" deep. I may bump it up to 16" for more storage

What about the depth of the workbench. Are people finding that 24" is not deep enough? Would a deeper workbench complicate the drawer making? A deeper bench would eliminate using a kitchen laminate countertop, unless I glue my own laminate on MDF board. I'm leaning towards the butcherblock-like top, but am having problems finding hard maple. Red oak is the only hardwood that the local box stores seem to have. I may have to check out REAL lumber stores!

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CNC doesn't cost as much as you might think. Check out the link below and tell them I sent you from Garage Journal.

http://www.shopbottools.com/

The cabinets are all painted - one coat of primer, one coat of gloss white - which helps keep them clean.

If you use MDF or melamine you will be forced to use expensive hinges for the tall cabinets - they will probably cost more than the rest of the cabinet. On the other hand they are adjustable.

I'm really happy with the counter top - it's just one layer of MDF covered with paint and clearcoat. Steel wool cleans it up in no time. I don't see any need for a laminate. You might want to use two glued-up layers for a stronger counter top.

BTW, I disagree with the guy who said to avoid drawers. I think they are invaluable especially located next to the seating area. I wish I had made another set for the other side of the seating area. I also have drawers in the garage and they are very useful too. I keep stuff in there that would otherwise get lost in the garage and basement.

Note that the upper cabinets are supported by a 2x4 screwed to the studs. Plus I included a support strip along the top of all cabinets. I used 3" screws to attach the cabinets to the wall, 3 on top and 3 on the bottom. They can hold a lot of weight.

The lower cabinets are 24" deep. It works great although sometimes I wish the bottom cabinets were wider, not deeper, but then I would have had to make the uppers wider.

I was going for a sturdy cabinet at a low price since I'm not staying in the house- it's on the market for anyone interested in northern Virginia - send me a PM and I'll reply with the web site url for it.

It's got 5 BR with two master suites, 3 full baths and two half baths, gourmet eat-in kitchen with top of the line appliances, finished basement (you can see part of it above), three car garage, corner lot, one block to school and pool.

ddawg16,
I'm having problems finding material other than white, and I prefer not to have white cabinets in the garage. Keep in mind that I'm not near a large city, so I'm stuck with what Lowes and Menards has. I had planned on priming and painting all pieces prior to assembly, but that may not be the best way?

Once I get further into the design of the cabinets, I'll decide if I want to tackle the drawers or not. If there were 30 drawers or so, I'd probably farm the work out. For such a small number of drawers, the markup on having them made may not be cost effective. Do you have a link to that Rockler bit?

I had previously found a link to Blum hinges and was planning on the overlay type. They had a special jig for drilling the holes, but had mentioned a forstner bit could be used. Their jig was $90, and was from Rockler. Maybe there is a different one? This is the one I speak of: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10940

It seems that plywood is the common material for cabinets based on my research, and they are using screws or lag bolts into the studs to hang the cabinets. I may have to put in extras due to the extra weight of 3/4" MDF and the height of the cabinets.

So you suggest using face frame cabinets for the base cabinet? Wouldn't that look odd with frameless upper cabinets and side cabinet? You pic didn't show, btw.

Thanks for the tips on the slides. How deep are your drawers, assuming your base is 24" deep?

Thanks for the #'s. It seems I'm in the ballpark with my figures. I'm not sure about the two different upper cabinet depths, but I'll keep it in mind. I may have to mock up a partial cabinet before making them all to see how the depths look/work. Thanks again for all the advice and tips. It is a HUGE help

rcleaver,
With only having a 19'x21' garage, I don't think theres room for a CNC machine. I had read people having their material cut by a local CNC shop but the costs to cut it were more than what the sheet itself costs. That would essentially double or triple my costs, and at that point I'd be buying pre-manufactured cabinets!

What expensive hinges do you speak of when using MDF? I'm assuming you are talking about Blum hinges? I was planning on using 4 hinges per door on the large cabinet and possibly 3 per door on the upper cabinets, so the price of hinges will definitely add up! If I increase the upper door widths like someone suggested, I'll definitely have to use at least 3 hinges. Another thought I'm having it to break up the large cabinet doors into an upper and lower section, essentially having four doors but the cabinet is still one piece. This would eliminate the large weight of the single door, but I'm still not positive on if I should change it or not.

What material did you use for your cabinets, assuming you didn't go with melamine or MDF due to the expensive hinges?

I may get lucky and find some reasonable Blum hinges on Ebay, if I could find the correct overlay size. Mini Blum Hinges or Full Size Blum Hinges

For the alternate to CNC routing of the door, could you not make a template for the router?
I am currently working on a set of hanging wall cabinets per the home handyman site. I'll be using the sliding door option.
Steve

yhprum said:

I am currently working on a set of hanging wall cabinets per the home handyman site. I'll be using the sliding door option.
Steve

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Got a link?

Here ya go. I am running 20 feet of these down the whole side of the garage. They are just over six feet from the floor, at the bottom, so I don't bang my head on them and I keep the floor space.
http://www.rd.com/familyhandyman/content/17772/

I think it's a good idea to leave some space open underneath the workbench. That will provide a good space to store large things that won't fit in the cabinets but you still want out of the way. For instance, where would you put a shop vac and, even if it would fit in the cabinet, would you want something potentially messy like that to be in your cabinet? It would also be nice to be able to pull up a chair there to draw out things or work on small parts.

... Why dont you look for some used kitchen stuff? then reface them to suit?

buening said:

rcleaver,
With only having a 19'x21' garage, I don't think theres room for a CNC machine. I had read people having their material cut by a local CNC shop but the costs to cut it were more than what the sheet itself costs. That would essentially double or triple my costs, and at that point I'd be buying pre-manufactured cabinets!

What expensive hinges do you speak of when using MDF? I'm assuming you are talking about Blum hinges? I was planning on using 4 hinges per door on the large cabinet and possibly 3 per door on the upper cabinets, so the price of hinges will definitely add up! If I increase the upper door widths like someone suggested, I'll definitely have to use at least 3 hinges. Another thought I'm having it to break up the large cabinet doors into an upper and lower section, essentially having four doors but the cabinet is still one piece. This would eliminate the large weight of the single door, but I'm still not positive on if I should change it or not.

What material did you use for your cabinets, assuming you didn't go with melamine or MDF due to the expensive hinges?

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Yes, the Blum hinges. I think they are about $12-15. The ones I used were less than $1. I don't have any tall doors so I just used two of the cheapo hinges on the MDF and they work OK, but you need to clamp the doors to the box and then attach them with screws from the inside - no drilling.

Here's a link to the hinges:

http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/insprinhinfo1.html

Just a few comments -

If you don't want to buy expensive Blum hinges so you can use the full-overlay style doors, you can instead build face frames and doors from pine or MDF and use inexpensive surface-mount hinges. Making doors isn't so hard once you have the setup ... but you need a good table saw. You really need a table saw. You can make the panels (center part) out of MDF, plywood, or masonite.

The carcass (box part) of the cabinets will most likely be 1/2" or 3/4" plywood. That will give you the most strength, and it's easy to work with.

I'd put the compressor outside if I could. It will be fine in the weather, though a little roof will keep the finish nice.

Re the Taunton books, they are usually collections of reprinted articles from their magazines. You can subscribe to their "Fine Woodworking" or "Fine Homebuilding" site for about $5/month, and have access to all these articles as PDFs. Just one of their books will pay for about 3 mo of access, and you have access to a broader selection of articles than the one book. The books are nice though...

Another comment about table saws: They take a lot of room to use, especially when you need to cut sheets (as in cabinet making). You'll also need room for the feed rollers and extensions needed to cut full sheets. Have you thought about where you are going to put this saw after you build your cabinets? Just storing the darn thing takes a lot of room.

If cabinet building is something you want to do regularly, then by all means go to it. However, buying an appropriate table saw just for this job seems a little counter-productive.

I've pretty much got my heart set on the frameless type cabinets. I just need to research more about how they are constructed and what gives them their strength. I have face frame cabinets in my kitchen that I could mimic, but for some reason I like the European style better.

I had planned on using 3/4" thickness, whatever material I end up using. I'm not sure if I should use thinner material for the doors and the backs of the cabinets, still researching that part. I know to use the 3/4" for the backs on the hanging cabinets, as that is needed for mounting them.



I've been looking on Craigslist and local ebay auctions for over a year for used kitchen cabinets. I've only found a few and they wanted $1500 for the entire kitchen setup, which I don't have room for nor need. While it would be nice to get a kitchen setup, it won't exactly be tailored to my dimensions or needs.

I've made up my mind to leave the open space under the countertop. It will come in handy

yhprum said:

Here ya go. I am running 20 feet of these down the whole side of the garage. They are just over six feet from the floor, at the bottom, so I don't bang my head on them and I keep the floor space.
http://www.rd.com/familyhandyman/content/17772/

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Wow thats a sweet article! If I could only find one like that for frameless cabinets, I'd be building them tomorrow

Getting closer http://daveosborne.com/dave/articles/eurocabinets.php

http://www.cabinetcruncher.com/V6_Links/PDF_Files/CabinetCRUNCHER_Frameless.pdf

You might consider stock cabinets for your garage. Check out the Merrilat site - http://www.merillat.com/ With a kitchen, it's only economical to build custom cabinets if you aren't happy with what's available from a catalog. I'd think you could put together something like your drawing pretty easily from stock cabinets. You still have to fit and hang them yourself, so there's something of a DIY element involved. When you consider the cost of materials, and the number of tools you'll need to buy, you'll likely not be saving very much by building the cabinets yourself.

I built those "family handyman" cabinets in my garage a few months ago. They work well but the sliding doors have bowed to the point that they are unusable. I may have made a mistake using Oak veneer plywood and may have made a mistake with the direction I used them. My cabinets are 48" tall so I cut the doors accross the width of the plywood. I thought with the multiple layers to the ply that it wouldn't have mattered the how it was cut. I'm going to replace the sliding doors with hinged doors using pegboard as the infill on the doors. Hopefully it wiill work out better...

I just built some frameless wall cabinets and will be following up with some base cabinets with drawers eventually. I found a similar problem looking for those little details, just couldn't find them. I found the kitchen was a great place to start...standard wall cab is 12" deep x 30" tall. Base cabinets are 24" deep x 36" - counter thickness tall. 18" between the counter and bottom of base cabinets.

I ended up finding the European style hinges (Full overlay for frameless cabinets) for about $4 per pair at HD and they are worth every penny. I was going to use regular old flat hinges but they were about $3 per pair without the easy adjustability which is nice...you'll have to but a 35mm fostner, which was about $11 with a jig for installing those particular hinges and it works pretty well.

One thing I learned, the cup of these hinges is 7/16" deep and installs on the door, so your door at least at the edges needs to be at least 5/8". I was planning on using 1/2" doors and now have the extra weight of full 3/4" slabs for doors.

I used MDF which when using screwed joints necessitates 3/4", which = heavy, though still cheap. Mine are painted with oil based paint and look great. Don't use water based the edges will swell. I spread premixed joint compound on the edges first per an internet recommendation and that seals the edges and they look great as well. Best method for paint MDF is spraying or rolling with a very thin nap foam roller.

I agree on the table saw. I have a full hybrid saw but 3/4" mdf is like 95lbs per sheet. I made a simple jig out of some 1/4" or 3/8" ply that I bought for drawer bottoms. Rip 4" off the 8' edge (circular saw is fine) and then ripp off another 10-12". Flip the 4" piece over and place on top of the 10-12" piece so the factory edge is in the middle. Make sure you have enough room so your circular saw can rest against your 4" piece as a guide and take a cut out of the 10-12" "base". Glue and screw the 4" piece onto the base and make a pass with the saw. You now have a straightedge guide that you can lay down precisely on your marks, no offseting for you circular saw base. Once made this cuts sheetgoods on a set of sawhorses much better than a table saw.

For wall cabinets I used simple screwed **** joints with a 3/4" back set inside and screwed from the sides as well. I built two cabinets and on the first one countersunk drywall screws, which MDF just doesn't deal that well with. I found some cabinet installation screws that are basically a thin shank, course thread, pan head, torx drive screw. Predrill both pieces and these screws pull a very tight clamp joint, much better than drywall screws and quicker, but the head isn't flush, but they are very cool looking and I think totally acceptable for garage cabinets.

I haven't built the bases but I've found that most slides require 1/2" per side spacing between drawer and cabinet wall. Drawers will probably be built out of 1/2" mdf rabbited and glued and finish nailed. I just don't think screws will work and don't want to take up all that space using 3/4"...more on bases once I figure them out.

Sorry about forgetting the pic....see below.

Here is the link to the hinge jig.

And here is the one for the Pocket Hole Jig.

I agree with the comment about drawers....you want a couple of shallow drawers....but also some real deep ones....like the kind that you can stand a jig saw up in and close it. Once again, make sure you use full extension slides....

As for the Mellimine.....try a lumber yard.....or call a cabinet maker and ask him where he gets his stuff.

Kitchen cabinets are also a good option. The bottom works well when you put a 'garage' type counter top on it. Paint it some color to cover up the stained finish and no one will know the difference. Check out Craigs list and you might come across someone who is taking out a kitchen and will give them to you if you remove it.

Buckled said:

I built those "family handyman" cabinets in my garage a few months ago. They work well but the sliding doors have bowed to the point that they are unusable. I may have made a mistake using Oak veneer plywood and may have made a mistake with the direction I used them. My cabinets are 48" tall so I cut the doors accross the width of the plywood. I thought with the multiple layers to the ply that it wouldn't have mattered the how it was cut. I'm going to replace the sliding doors with hinged doors using pegboard as the infill on the doors. Hopefully it wiill work out better...

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IMO 1/4" is too thin for those doors. My Dad built some similar cabinets for their laundry room, but his doors were made of 1/2" ply. Unfortunately, then the doors are too heavy to slide easily on the friction tracks. He drilled holes through the tracks and inserted 4d nails to work as rollers. Worked, but a little bumpy when you move the door. Stayed like that for maybe 25 years, till we sold the house.