Customer Reviews

Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets: Layout-Materials-Construction-Installation (A Fine Woodworking Book)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found Mr. Cary's book to be a worthwhile investment in time and money! He is very detailed oriented, without being redundant or boring, when describing each phase of building your cabinet. He provides you with step-by-step prodecures that are clear and easy to follow! He also provides helpful hints on how to avoid mistakes and what can be done when mistakes are made. This book is a must have for those who have two left thumbs like me!

From layout of kitchen through installation, Jere Cary takes you thru each step of construction. Especially helpful are standard dimensions, options, and what to do if you goof. This book is helpful if you are building any casework, whether it has shelves, doors, or drawers. Don't let the title lead you to think it's only for kitchen cabinets.

Poorly illistrated an much too much text for a relatively simple project. Not worth it's price. If you are a novice interested in basic cabinet building, I highly recommend "Better Homes and Gardens Step-By-Step Cabinets & Shelves". It covers everything from tools to lumber to construction and installation, including countertops and drawer construction. It's a MUCH better book than this one! Don't waste you money on this book!

For a book written in 1983 I believe the information is a little outdated for todays woodworker. No mention of Euro cabinets, which is the majority of what is built now days. The book has some good information but all in all needs to be updated.

This solid text describes a plan of attack for building your own kitchen cabinets. Cary describes some types of wood, planning the space, constructing some basic pieces, and finishing. However, it is not a complete reference for the beginner. Wood selection, an important step in cabinet making, gets only cursory coverage and types and uses of woods are not covered in detail. In addition, while joinery is covered well, actual methods of attaching (nail, screw, glue) were not described in enough detail for the novice.

Definitely a good text if you are experienced in woodworking and want to tackle a larger project.

This book offers a single technique to cabinet construction with little background or reference. The illustrations throughout are like the one on the cover, isometric line drawings. It would be nice if they had some call-outs and some photos of actual construction. For a do-it-yourselfer who wants to learn, this was disappointing.

I met Jere at a book signing at a local wood store some 20-25 years ago. He was from the Seattle area. Jere spent his career as a shop teacher at high school and junior colleges. This book started as handouts for people wanting to build cabinets while taking the
open shop classes the schools sometime offer. It is sad that just as the book was taking off, Jere died of a massive heart attack while boating in the San Juans (Puget Sound). I imagine that if Jere had lived it would have been updated. I keep a copy in my reference library and one at work. I recommend to anyone remodeling a kitchen, even if they will have the cabinets made. I repeatedly buy copies because they disappear. I cannot think of a higher praise for a book than to say it is steal able.

I purchased this book as a gift to a fellow craftsman. He was kind in his review to me a few days later. I took and tried to read this book and it was terrible. Not only does it provide not real assistance on building a kitchen base cabinet, but there was not a single drawing or any attention to wall cabinets.

Very poor quality gift I gave!

As a proffessional that does the occasional kitchen, I offen go back to this book for review. This book is not filled with shiny pictures and style ideas but is loaded with excellent information on layout and construction. I highly reccommend this book for someone who has to get it right the first time.

I'm not sure what to say other than you will not build anything from this book. Poor illustrations and lacks in construction technique.