Customer Reviews

Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets (Popular Woodworking)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Modern materials and methods means particle board and particle board screws with solid wood face frames and solid frame and panel doors that overlap the cabinet opening, and modern hidden hinges and modern european plastic feet and modern drawer slide hardware. If you want to optimize the look of your kitchen with minimum cost, this is the book for you. Step by step, very good writing, solid construction teaching. If you're into more traditional frame and panel construction using solid wood and/or high grade veneered plywood, rabbet joinery, mortise and tenon joinery or dovetail joinery, butt or knife hinges with flush fit doors, then this book is NOT for you. This book will teach you how to build cost effective cabinets using modern techniques and modern materials and it will teach you very effectively.

but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater!

The late Danny Proulx was an EXTENSIVE contributor to cabinetry schools and magazines for many years before succumbing to a heart attack at a woodworking convention, but his passion lives on in this wonderfully simple and comprehensive book.

If you want to learn how to build high end custom cabinetry with all the nice details then look at udo schmidt's or jim tolpin's books. If you want to learn the basics to building a solid face frame cabinet with raised panel doors or frameless cabinets, this is an amazing introduction into the world of cabinetry as the author not only describes the steps but also gives you ACTUAL DIMENSIONS for both 5/8" and 3/4" materials for cabinets that are in the standard 3" widths. Not many people realize the merits of proulx's hybrid face frame/frameless cabinet which enable you to save yourself a lot of grief and pain in attaching european hinges and drawer slides to the cabinet sides directly without having to shim out to accomodate the inner lip of the face frame. This is the first book that I've encountered that describes this process. Finally, his section on frameless (or FULL ACCESS) cabinetry is invaluable for folks who don't want to buy a jointer and a planer (both are required) for machining solid wood for face frames. This is also one of the first books to explore this area of cabinetry. Lest you think that european frameless is junk, I recommend poggenpohl or omega cabinets as references.

Yes, the pictures of the cabinets are rather hideous because they utilize low grade plywood slab doors, but you can easily build cabinets that rival those that you see at home depot with SUPERIOR case construction methods but using raised panel doors. I would recommend using pocket screws to attach the face frame to the carcase instead of nails as well as using either confirmat screws, biscuits or assembly screws (NOT drywall screws) for assembling the carcases.

Realize that if you are serious about building your own kitchen cabinets and you want them to turn out good, you are going to need to INVEST some money in good tools including a table saw. You can forgo the slider by building a cheap miter sled but if you're going to be doing this in the future, I would strongly recommend the sliding table attachment by delta or jessem or dewalt or purchasing a guided circular saw rail like eurekazone or festool. Lastly, I would strongly recommend using prefinished material either plywood or melamine as the finishing process for my eleven kitchen cabinets easily consumed just as much time as building them.

If I could give more stars, I would. I've never built anything out of wood before, and I just finished building all my kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I did not use melamine (the author is a fan of this material), as it would not be good for resale value in my particular area. I used polyurethaned birch plywood for the kitchen cabinets, and painted MDF for the bathroom cabinets. Using the author's instructions, they turned out very well, with very little hassle. The author has a no-nonsense approach to building cabinets (e.g., using screws in a butt joint, rather than time-consuming dados/rabbets). This saved me a lot of time and hassle. Since I was a beginner when I started this project, it was especially appealing. Certain other books were overwhelming to me because of the amount of space dedicated just to joinery. I've nothing against these other methods, but it was refreshing to see that they weren't actually necessary. Given the limited amount of time I had to build quality cabinets, it was the obvious choice for me.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to build his/her own cabinets, regardless of experience level.

Also, I emailed the author to make sure the cabinets/cabinet legs would support my concrete countertops, and received a reply within 24 hours. A lot of authors will forget about the little people once they are published, but not this guy! (BTW, there was no support problems.)

This book is a great how to guide to get started building kitchen cabinets. With this book and a saw you can quickly be on your way to building your own cabinets. It's not a do all end all tomb of cabinet knowledge, but it will give you all you need to build cabinets that compete with any of the prefab cabinets on the market today. A great way to using your woodworking skills and create something you will be proud of. Danny has done a great job of taking a complicated task with a lot of variables and chunked it down to simple, easy to follow steps.

I am a beginning cabinet making student taking Kitchen Design this semester. Because there is no text for the class and I have little experience with the subject, I decided to use Mr. Proulx's book Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets as my starting point.

One of the first things I learned was the value of a good table saw. Having tried to make cases for a project at home with a basic carpenter's table saw and having used better equipment in class, I can attest to the value of his advice with respect to the matter. With respect to design I also found his information helpful in steering me clear of some of the ideas that I had originally thought would work well in my kitchen. Some of the photos of completed work in place made me realize how crowded my own plans would look in my more limited space. I had also planned on altering the measurements from standard ones, to achieve a more spacious feel for the area, but decided that I should consider those who might work in the kitchen after me and the effect on the value of my house.

One of the more useful design ideas was the author's suggestion of purchased, individually adjustable feet for lower cabinets. Having made cases with toe kicks cut from the fabric of which the case was composed, I know the increased measurement, cutting and materials-not to mention frustration-it required. The adjustable feet are ideal, and I plan on using them in my kitchen project and will probably use them for a bathroom cabinet as well.

Although I'm not sure I really care for the idea of using Melamine for my own projects, I can certainly see the worth of using it. The material is less costly and someone on a tight budget with lots of cabinets to replace could certainly get more done for less using it. The interiors of completed cabinets and drawers also had a very clean look to them that I liked.

I went through a bunch of books before I found Danny Prolux's books. They show detailed drawings of all cabinets including demensions. I have build 9 so far and everyone came out right and fits right. I had to make slight changes in dimensions because of different wood thickness, but outherwise page for page I followed his writings to the letter. For the home owner who wants to build his or her own kitchen cabinets, this book is a very good guide to do it with. And a big plus you can contact the author with questions by e-mail and he seems happy to help.

The author clearly knows how to build cabinets, but describes only his "system" and never deviates far from it. He has one piece of information he feels is very important (and I agree), use a 5/8" melamine backer board. However, he harps on this idea in several chapters. Once would have been enough. He also prefers to purchase cabinet doors rather than make them. This makes perfect sense for a production shop, but as a hobbyist woodworker I was looking for information on how to build the beautiful cabinets pictured on the front of the book.

The author shows how to build your own kitchen cabinets with what he calls his "system". Which is basically building the cabinets using standard industry dimensions in a modular fashion using melanamine coated particle board for the cabinet carcass and installing pre-made cabinet doors (or you can make your own).

The system is very effective since the materials can be obtained at very reasonable cost and the cabinets themselves are built very strong. The approach is simple and straight-forward with good explanations and excellent results.

Reading this book showed me that it really is that simple.

This book is a must for anyone who is getting into cabinet making. And I expect that even experienced cabinet makers can benefit from it. Danny Proulx presents a system of designing and building kitchen cabinets that anyone with some experience with woodworking can follow. The book itself is very well written and organized.

This book should be called "Build European Style particle board cabinets" or "Build My style kitchen cabinets.." I'm sure this is a great book if that's what you want to do. If not, it's pretty much useless. Doesn't make it a bad book, it just doesn't have any range for a broadly titled book.