Kitchen Cabinets

[Krfjkm]

Now that I am wrapping up my shop build I am planning to build some kitchen cabinets.

Does anyone know of a good cabinet design software that produces cut lists for the boxes? With the price of plywood these days I want something smarter than me to optimize the cut list.

Thanks!!!


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[dcg9381]

I'm too "awful" with wood to ever try this, but I just had custom cabinets done by a contractor - he used Chief Architect to do our cabinet design and I believe to do the plywood cuts on the boxes. Note, he had a CNC. Of all the contractors that worked on my home, he was the most precise.

His work was just fabulous. The boxes he built, they basically lock together and I could easily stand on them...

https://i.imgur.com/XQPMSXP.jpg

 

[Krfjkm]

I'm too "awful" with wood to ever try this, but I just had custom cabinets done by a contractor - he used Chief Architect to do our cabinet design and I believe to do the plywood cuts on the boxes. Note, he had a CNC.

His work was just fabulous. The boxes he built, they basically lock together and I could easily stand on them...

https://i.imgur.com/XQPMSXP.jpg

That’s great! Thanks!

 

[Sumboodie]

I'm too "awful" with wood to ever try this, but I just had custom cabinets done by a contractor - he used Chief Architect to do our cabinet design and I believe to do the plywood cuts on the boxes. Note, he had a CNC. Of all the contractors that worked on my home, he was the most precise.

His work was just fabulous. The boxes he built, they basically lock together and I could easily stand on them...

https://i.imgur.com/XQPMSXP.jpg

A CNC what? Mill, lathe, pipe bender? plasma cutter table??

 

[Renegade1LI]

A CNC what? Mill, lathe, pipe bender? plasma cutter table??

Wood router table https://www.zenbotcnc.com/4896-4x8-CNC-Router_p_34.html

 

[glentre]

Many cabinet shops these days have computer generated design programs which give you elevations, cross sections and even simulated 3-D pictures of what your kitchen will look like. This design is then downloaded from the computer to a shop CNC router which can cut out all your pieces from a 4x8 or larger sheet of ply or melamine panel. It drills the holes for the hinges and the shelf clips and does rabbets or dados needed depending on the cabinet style selected. The program also gives a list of all materials required including every screw, drawer slide, hinge and door pull. Each part is labeled as to what it is, what cabinet it goes to and the job name. The parts then go to the edge banding machine and then on to final assembly.

For a reasonable fee, I'm sure one of your local cabinet shops would run the computer designed printout of your kitchen which would give you the exact materials needed plus a cut list showing how to best utilize your sheet goods. Or, they may be willing to supply all the parts edge banded and ready to assemble by you. I did this with my 7 ft high garage cabinets. My son sells these programs and tells me most of the shops he supports are very busy now so you may have to do a little searching for one to help you.

Or, some of the smaller shops only have sheet goods optimization programs. They load the sizes of all the parts they determine are required and the computer generates a best use of material printed cut list.

Another option is to search on your computer for free cut list optimization programs. I did this a few years ago but don't recall what program I used.

You mention you are going to use plywood. Just be careful your panels are balanced construction to prevent warping.

Good luck with your project....... sounds like fun.


Glen

 

[Krfjkm]

Many cabinet shops these days have computer generated design programs which give you elevations, cross sections and even simulated 3-D pictures of what your kitchen will look like. This design is then downloaded from the computer to a shop CNC router which can cut out all your pieces from a 4x8 or larger sheet of ply or melamine panel. It drills the holes for the hinges and the shelf clips and does rabbets or dados needed depending on the cabinet style selected. The program also gives a list of all materials required including every screw, drawer slide, hinge and door pull. Each part is labeled as to what it is, what cabinet it goes to and the job name. The parts then go to the edge banding machine and then on to final assembly.

For a reasonable fee, I'm sure one of your local cabinet shops would run the computer designed printout of your kitchen which would give you the exact materials needed plus a cut list showing how to best utilize your sheet goods. Or, they may be willing to supply all the parts edge banded and ready to assemble by you. I did this with my 7 ft high garage cabinets. My son sells these programs and tells me most of the shops he supports are very busy now so you may have to do a little searching for one to help you.

Or, some of the smaller shops only have sheet goods optimization programs. They load the sizes of all the parts they determine are required and the computer generates a best use of material printed cut list.

Another option is to search on your computer for free cut list optimization programs. I did this a few years ago but don't recall what program I used.

You mention you are going to use plywood. Just be careful your panels are balanced construction to prevent warping.

Good luck with your project....... sounds like fun.


Glen

Thanks Glen!

 

[Ram9303]

Ikea boxes are the way to go. Great quality, quicker and cheaper right now. Build your own doors if u do not want white.

 

[MushCreek]

I designed my cabinets in SketchUp, which is free. It does allow you to tweak things 'on paper' before committing to wood. That being said, it requires an understanding of how cabinets go together. I looked into using standard boxes and making my own fronts, but too many of them weren't the exact right size for what I wanted. I ended up with mostly drawers (32), frameless cabinets so stuff doesn't get caught so you can't open the drawer, and I incorporated the toe kicks into the bottom drawers to gain an extra 4" of depth that is usually wasted. I made the boxes out of 3/4" cabinet grade plywood, put together with glue and Kreg screws. They are hella stout.

It was a lot of work and time, but I have a truly custom kitchen for a tiny fraction of what it would have cost to hire out. I added it up once, and I spent $8K for my entire kitchen including appliances. I think I had about $500 in cabinets and hardware, but plywood prices have gone up considerably.

 

[Amnashaikh]

Chief Architect nd/or Sketchup

 

[jonshonda]

Problem with pro cabinet shops is they might utilize methods for construction that some consumers might not have at their disposal. I work at a custom shop and while some things might work, others wouldn't make sense for a home project.

 

[Angelfire]

I use Cutlist. Haven't used it in a while but it was free to use for x number of parts (don't recall the number it was free for but it always worked for my projects). On a full kitchen, you may need to pony up to the paid version. If nothing else, you can download the free version and see if it suits what you need.

https://cutlistplus.com/

 

[glentre]

There are two basic styles of cabinets, frameless boxes with doors attached with Euro hinges and drawer slides mounted to the inside face of the boxes, and frame type with stiles and rails. While the box style is now more popular for aesthetic and cost reasons, they are quite difficult to build for the DIY guy because the boxes must be perfectly square to work well. CNC routers and well calibrated beam saws are capable of producing really square (or rectangular) parts but the average DIY guy does not have the equipment to do this. Unless you have a high quality table saw with a quality fence and a sliding fixture set perfectly square with the fence, you cannot produce square parts.

With face frames mounted to an even out-of-square box and with overlay doors, you can hide imperfect cabinets and not worry about getting your boxes perfect. While I personally prefer the Euro boxes with full overlay doors and 1/8" gaps between all doors and drawers, I would go with face frames if I were building them myself because I no longer have the proper equipment. Before retiring, we had a CNC router, a beam saw
and a sliding table panel saw so we only built the box type which is cheaper and faster to produce.

Glen

 

[yeldogt]

Not to blow any bubbles .... do price out what it will cost.

Many Many shops don't make doors and drawer fronts .... they buy them from companies that only make drawers and door fronts. If a mid grade cabinet shop ... even higher end shops for many lines .. can't do it efficiently. What about a home owner ?

There is a whole industry growing around "custom" doors and drawer fronts for Ikea cabinets. I did a couple rentals w/ Ikea .... bit shocking how nice they came out ... the cases are not worth making unless you are doing something odd .. and even then you can mix them in.

 

[couch67]

I use Cutlist. Haven't used it in a while but it was free to use for x number of parts (don't recall the number it was free for but it always worked for my projects). On a full kitchen, you may need to pony up to the paid version. If nothing else, you can download the free version and see if it suits what you need.

https://cutlistplus.com/

Another user of Cutlist plus. I normally draw out my designs on graph paper, and make up the material list from that - then enter the rough cuts into Cutlist to make the most efficient use of material. I have the silver edition ($89) and have used it on many projects over the last 12 years, including my kitchen cabinets.

 

[yeldogt]

There are two basic styles of cabinets, frameless boxes with doors attached with Euro hinges and drawer slides mounted to the inside face of the boxes, and frame type with stiles and rails. While the box style is now more popular for aesthetic and cost reasons, they are quite difficult to build for the DIY guy because the boxes must be perfectly square to work well. CNC routers and well calibrated beam saws are capable of producing really square (or rectangular) parts but the average DIY guy does not have the equipment to do this. Unless you have a high quality table saw with a quality fence and a sliding fixture set perfectly square with the fence, you cannot produce square parts.

With face frames mounted to an even out-of-square box and with overlay doors, you can hide imperfect cabinets and not worry about getting your boxes perfect. While I personally prefer the Euro boxes with full overlay doors and 1/8" gaps between all doors and drawers, I would go with face frames if I were building them myself because I no longer have the proper equipment. Before retiring, we had a CNC router, a beam saw
and a sliding table panel saw so we only built the box type which is cheaper and faster to produce.

Glen

The type is really driven by the house .....My personal properties are typically older homes where framed inset are the norm ... they are still the most expensive to make. Full overlay can be a great look and I like them in city properties .

Partial

 

[glentre]

Not to blow any bubbles .... do price out what it will cost.

Many Many shops don't make doors and drawer fronts .... they buy them from companies that only make drawers and door fronts. If a mid grade cabinet shop ... even higher end shops for many lines .. can't do it efficiently. What about a home owner ?

There is a whole industry growing around "custom" doors and drawer fronts for Ikea cabinets. I did a couple rentals w/ Ikea .... bit shocking how nice they came out ... the cases are not worth making unless you are doing something odd .. and even then you can mix them in.

We had a high end architectural woodworking business. Besides custom commercial business furniture, boardrooms, elevator lobbies, food courts, reception centers and bank interiors, a good deal of our work was designing and making custom cabinetry for offices, medical facilities, libraries etc. While we had the craftsmen who could make them, we always bought our raised and flat inset doors and drawer fronts from specialists because they cost us less than making them ourselves. Many of our jobs had foil wrapped paneled doors which were also bought outside. If I recall, most of them were from Conestoga.

For a knowledgeable DIY woodworker, making these doors and drawer fronts could be a very rewarding experience. For a beginner, the result could be a frustrating disaster.

Glen

 

[Pntyrmvr]

Did the city kitchen with IKEA carcasses and custom doors. IKEA gal wasn't surprised we didn't order their doors. Poor style and finish selection.

The door shop had all the dimensions in their computer and painted them CC-40 BM for us. Even offered custom dovetail drawers- no thanks.

Doors cost more than the carcasses.

 

[Krfjkm]

I built a kitchen with IKEA cabinets and was really impressed with the quality. It was in an ocean front condo used as a weekly rental. Fully expected them to fall apart but 6 years in and they still look great!

I need to spend some time on sketch up and cutlist.com. I checked out cultist and they aren’t Mac friendly but there is a way around that.

Appreciate all the advice and thoughts!


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[yeldogt]

Did the city kitchen with IKEA carcasses and custom doors. IKEA gal wasn't surprised we didn't order their doors. Poor style and finish selection.

The door shop had all the dimensions in their computer and painted them CC-40 BM for us. Even offered custom dovetail drawers- no thanks.

Doors cost more than the carcasses.

It's quite common .. and yes -- nice doors can exceed the cost of the box. Ikea sells all kinds of add on stuff and there are other companies making additional upgrades.

A real custom full face frame inset kitchen w/o any seams is a very nice look -- it's also a huge jump up in price. Look up a place like Plain English -- easy 100k for the cabinets for not to big of a space

 

[Voi]

Ikea boxes are the way to go. Great quality, quicker and cheaper right now. Build your own doors if u do not want white.

You can also add face frames to them. There are some interesting builds out there using a so called "hybrid" cabinet design. Basically frameless cabinets with face frames installed.

But two side by side cabinets share a single stile that is flush or almost flush with the inside of the cabinet, thereby allowing use of frameless hardware.

As I recall those using Ikea boxes or boxes from Cabparts.com would rip 3/4" off the front of the boxes before assembly and add pocket holes for face frame install.

I have seen one kitchen using this design in person. It was an interesting concept. I would consider it for DIY.

 

[PhantomEB]

I am NOT doing a kitchen reno anytime soon due to lumber prices. At best she will get the cabinets painted white and redoored with already made doors.

 

[brownbagg]

you need software, to build a box, that lazy, buy your doors pre made and build the box to fit, no software needed, just tape measure