The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker: Shop Drawings and Professional Methods for Designing and Constructing Every Kind of Kitchen and Built-In Cabinet [Paperback]

Robert W. Lang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2006

Demonstrating how woodworkers can approach the complex job of designing and making built-in cabinets for kitchens, family rooms, and home offices, this technical handbook provides meticulously detailed shop drawings, instructions, and hundreds of professional tips for saving time, materials, unnecessary aggravation, and money. Bob Lang covers building traditional face-frame cabinets as well as constructing contemporary frameless Euro-style cabinets. Woodworkers will learn how to measure rooms and design fitting cabinetry that considers both function and aesthetics, how to develop working shop drawings and cutting lists, and how to work with materials as varied as solid wood and plastic laminate. Technical instructions for cutting and joining the basic box, as well as for fitting it to drawer stacks, sinks, corners, appliances, and islands, are also included, as are detailed steps for sanding, finishing, and installing each piece.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert W. Lang is the author of Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture, Shop Drawings for Craftsman Interiors, and More Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture. He is a senior editor at Popular Woodworking magazine. He lives in Loveland, Ohio. John Kelsey is the author of Birdhouses, Field Guide to Tools, and Furniture Projects for the Deck and Lawn and is the former editor in chief of Fine Woodworking magazine. He lives in Newtown, Connecticut.

Product Details

• Paperback: 223 pages
• Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing (January 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189283622X
• ISBN-13: 978-1892836229
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

204 of 204 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding book, April 23, 2006

By 

Tim Colton "Tim" (Mebane, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker: Shop Drawings and Professional Methods for Designing and Constructing Every Kind of Kitchen and Built-In Cabinet (Paperback)

I have years of experience in residential carpentry and furnituremaking, and I've installed dozens of kitchens, but I had never actually made a set of kitchen cabinets. We are renovating our house, and replacing our cheap cabinets is one of the items on the list. I spent hours at my local Barnes and Noble and Borders stores looking for a comprehensive book that focuses exclusively on kitchen cabinetmaking, and couldn't find one out of the dozens of books on cabinemaking that thoroughly covered both the cabinet design and production processes. Then I took a chance and ordered The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker, and found exactly what I was looking for.
Lang writes well and, just as important, is a good teacher and explainer. The book is well organized, and the abundant illustrations, both photographs and drawings, are clear and detailed. Measured drawings abound. He describes both general types of cabinet, frameless and face-framed, and lays out efficient production processes for both, indicating where potential problems lurk and the consequences of inaccuracies at crucial points.
This is head and shoulders the best book I have seen on the subject. If you are even considering building your own kitchen cabinets, or starting a small cabinet shop, this book should be your first purchase. It will be the best money you spend on the project.

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, February 8, 2007

By 

Jeremy Bolesky "Jerm" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker: Shop Drawings and Professional Methods for Designing and Constructing Every Kind of Kitchen and Built-In Cabinet (Paperback)

I used this book along with _The Complete Cabinet Maker's Reference_ by Jeffrey Piontkowski to build a set of nice garage cabinets. The two books are very different, and, I think, compliment each other well. This book contained information that allowed me to refine the basic cabinets in the other book. I was very pleased with the results! The project would have been much more trouble for me if I hadn't read this book first.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource, April 27, 2008

By 

R. Serrano "RS" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker: Shop Drawings and Professional Methods for Designing and Constructing Every Kind of Kitchen and Built-In Cabinet (Paperback)

I purchased this book based on recommendations from Amazon reviews, and because I have the interest to learn more about furniture design and building techniques, basically focused in frameless type of cabinets, and this book covers both face-frame & frameless.
It provides a lot of pictures and drawings of how to layout, design, build, finish, and install face-frame or frameless cabinets.
Bob Lang made this book very easy to understand and I think is a great resource to beginners because of the structure of the book.
The book includes techniques and jigs that are great for cabinet construction. Several aspects of cabinet construction are covered with multiple options for joints, fasteners, materials, attaching doors (hinges), building drawers, etc.