Babble Community

c/cabinetmakers

3

phoenixb34•1d ago

The high school shop class that fixed my drawer slide installs

Stopped by a local vocational school last month to donate some leftover hinges, and the instructor showed me their jig setup for mounting slides. It's basically a simple spacer block with a clamp, but it took all the guessing out of the height. I built three kitchen drawer sets using it this week and everything lined up on the first try. Has anyone else picked up a trick from a school or training program that beat their old method?

9

josephmartin•1d ago

Shop tour in Portland showed me a better way to store plywood

I visited a shop over on SE Foster last month and they had this vertical plywood rack made from old pallet forks and unistrut. Cost them maybe $200 total and they fit 60 sheets in a 4x8 footprint. I've been wrestling sheets off a flat cart for years, so I'm thinking about building one this weekend. Anyone else switch to vertical storage and regret it or is it as good as it looks?

13

eva_thompson•1d ago

Maple plywood vs solid cherry for face frames, I finally made the call

Did a job last week for a client in Portland who wanted custom TV units, and I used maple ply cabs with solid cherry face frames. The plywood stayed perfectly flat through the whole build, zero warping after glue-up, while my usual solid stock moves no matter how much I acclimate it. Has anyone else switched to ply frame stock for big panels, or am I overthinking this?

36

faithcampbell•2d ago

The switch to soft-close hinges changed my installs, but not how you'd think

I redid a kitchen in Portland last fall and swapped my usual 35mm cup hinges for the soft-close ones with the little hydraulic piston. The before was just standard slam shut, but after about 4 cabinets I noticed the clients started chatting about the doors differently, almost bragging to their neighbor. What I'm really debating is whether it's the hinge itself or just the feel of quality that sells the job... because on paper they're the same tolerance and adjustment range. Has anyone else seen a project where the hardware upgrade shifted the whole client vibe, even though the build time barely moved?

6

ray_miller84•3d ago

Chip-out on walnut faced plywood ruined a full panel today

Cutting a 4x8 sheet of walnut ply for a built-in in Phoenix and the bottom edge tore out about 3 inches near the end of the cut, even with a brand new 80 tooth blade. I was using my track saw with a zero-clearance plate, but the last bit still grabbed and blew out the veneer. Any tricks for preventing that final-edge chip-out, or do I just need to leave a sacrificial strip on every sheet now?

1

nora110•3d ago

Old timer showed me a trick with a pencil and a pack of gum

Back in 2009 I was doing trim in a house outside Austin. Old cabinet guy, must've been 70, watched me struggle fitting a scribe for like 10 minutes. He didn't say anything, just walked over, grabbed a #2 pencil, and marked the back of the piece by dragging it along the wall. Then he popped a piece of gum in his mouth and said, "The wall ain't straight, so your cut shouldn't be either." That one line stuck with me more than any class I took. Still scribe that way today. Anyone else have a moment like that where a stranger just dropped some knowledge on you mid-job?

9

taylor.hayden•4d ago

That one comment about my drawer slides changed how I install them now

Had a client in Des Moines tell me last month that the soft close on her new drawers felt 'mushy' compared to the old ones I put in 5 years ago. I thought I was doing it right by centering the slide screws, but she pointed out the drawer face had a tiny wobble when open halfway. Turns out I was over tightening the rear bracket, which put tension on the track and killed the dampening. Now I leave a 1/16 inch gap on the back screws and test the close action before adding the face. Has anyone else had a customer catch something like that, or is it just me?

2

dianaanderson•5d ago

Overheard a guy at the lumber yard yesterday that made me rethink my whole drawer box setup

I was grabbing some baltic birch at the yard by my shop in Denver and this older cabinetmaker was complaining about his domino slots being off on some drawer boxes. He said something like "I stopped using tape for alignment and switched to a simple pencil line and a stop block, way faster." It got me thinking about all the extra steps I do that slow me down. I tried his method on a set of kitchen drawers this morning and honestly saved like 20 minutes per box. Anyone else ditch the fancy jigs for simple stuff like that?

11

rubyshah•5d ago

My mentor told me to stop using pocket screws on face frames

Old timer named Harold in our shop said I was ruining my face frames by relying on pocket screws instead of dominoes. I argued with him for a month straight until I tried a $300 Festool Domino on a maple bookcase job. The joints came out SO much tighter and faster. Has anyone else switched and seen a real difference?

25

young.nora•5d ago

I switched from veneer tape to hot melt glue a year ago and wish I did it sooner

For 6 years I used veneer tape on every cabinet door. You know the drill, wet the tape, wait for it to dry, sand it off. I was spending 20 extra minutes per door just on tape removal. Last year a guy at a supplier in Boston told me to try hot melt glue instead. Now I just shoot it on with a cheap glue gun, trim with a chisel, and sand once. The glue peels off clean in one piece. No more gummed up sandpaper or fuzzy edges. Has anyone else made this switch and found a glue brand that holds better in humid shops?

28

the_richard•11d ago

Hit 30 cabinet doors in one week. That broke me.

I thought I was hot stuff. Been building cabinets for 8 years now. Then this kitchen remodel came in. 30 shaker style doors. All maple. All needed to be done in 5 days. First day I was feeling good. Second day my back started complaining. By day four I couldn't feel my fingers. The repetition of cutting those rails and stiles got to me. I messed up three door panels on day four. Had to order more maple stock. That set me back half a day. Ended up working 14 hour shifts to finish on time. Never again. Has anyone else hit a wall with a big door order like that? How do you pace yourself?

9

annaw73•12d ago

Appreciation post: The guy who showed me how to set drawer slides right

Honestly, I keep seeing people install drawer slides with the screws all loose or not level. I had a job last month for a kitchen remodel in Spokane where the client's old cabinets had slides that sagged after 3 years. A older cabinetmaker told me to always use a spacer block and check the gap at the back before tightening. I do it on every job now and my drawers glide smooth. Why do so many folks skip the level check at the back end? Anyone else notice this?

0

taylor.sean•13d ago

My domino cutter jammed mid-job and I almost lost it

Was working on a set of kitchen cabinets Tuesday and the Domino cutter locked up halfway into a mortise. Turns out I hadn't blown out the dust from the previous job and a chip got wedged in there. Anyone else run into this or is it just me being sloppy?

9

casey_wood2•13d ago

PSA: That showroom maple plywood is lying to you

I visited a high-end kitchen showroom in Portland last week and every single cabinet was wrapped in veneer. They had the nerve to call it 'solid maple' while I could see the plywood edges right there. In my experience, real customers get burned when they order something based on that showroom shine. Has anyone else dealt with clients expecting showroom quality on a production budget?

14

tylerpark•15d ago

Had a drawer slide fail on me mid-install yesterday

Was finishing up a kitchen job over in Burlington and one of those Blum Tandem slides just locked up halfway closed. The plastic release tab snapped clean off, which meant I had to pry the whole drawer out with a trim pry bar and replace the slide. Cost me an extra 45 minutes on site and a trip to the hardware store. Has anyone else had issues with those plastic tabs giving out?

5

hannahsingh•16d ago

Overheard a guy at the lumber yard talking about face frames...

I was picking up some maple last Tuesday and this older cabinetmaker said he never bothers with pocket holes on face frames anymore, just uses dowels and glue. Said it saves him about 20 minutes per cabinet and he hasn't had a call back in 8 years. Has anyone else switched from pocket screws to dowels for face frames and seen a big time difference?

15

seanjackson•17d ago

I'm seeing more cabinet guys skip pre-drilling for pocket screws, and I think it's a mistake, but maybe I'm wrong?

I noticed a guy on a job site in Charlotte last week just driving them straight into oak without a pilot hole and claiming it's faster, but I've always been told that skipping pre-drilling causes blowouts and misalignment over time, so who else has actually tested both ways and seen a real difference?

11

robinf51•18d ago

Learned a sanding trick from a guy in a hardware store parking lot in Tulsa

I was loading plywood at the Tulsa Home Depot last month and this old timer walked up and said try using a soft rubber block under your sandpaper for curved edges, and it cut my scribe time in half on that crown molding job, has anyone else found a weird hack from a random stranger that actually worked?

3

elliot_patel•20d ago

Had to pick between a hand plane and a router plane for a flush trimming job

I was trimming some walnut drawer fronts flush to the frames and couldn't decide. Went with the router plane because I figured I'd get less tearout. Worked great on the straight grain but that one figured piece still chipped a little. Anyone used a low angle block plane for this and had better luck?

14

the_joseph•21d ago

Took me 5 years to realize I was sanding end grain wrong

I was building a cherry desk for a client in Denver and kept getting these fuzzy results on the end grain no matter how fine I went. Finally an old timer at the lumber yard pointed out I was using the same grit progression as the face grain. He said jump from 120 straight to 220 on end grain and skip the middle grits, and bam no more fuzzies. Has anyone else got a trick they learned way later than they should have?

9

hannah_perry•22d ago

I finally got my dado stack dialed in after way too much swearing

Spent a whole Saturday trying to get a clean cut on some cherry plywood for a built-in bookcase. Turns out my saw blade was just a hair off from the arbor flange. Three hours of adjustments, test cuts, and cleaning before I figured it out. Anyone else ever chase a simple setup problem way longer than you expected?

13

taylorc40•23d ago

Swapped to a zero-clearance insert on my table saw last week

I used to just run dado stacks with the stock throat plate, which left a huge gap around the blade. Last Wednesday I finally cut a zero-clearance insert from some 1/4 inch birch ply I had lying around. The difference in tear-out on plywood edges is night and day, especially on crosscuts. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed less chipping on melamine?

24

emma_dixon70•23d ago

I finally fixed a drawer that's been sticky for 2 years

Had a kitchen vanity drawer that would bind halfway out no matter what I tried. Turned out the bottom was slightly warped from humidity and I just shaved 1/8 inch off the back edge with a block plane now it glides smooth as butter. Anyone else find random fixes that take way longer than they should?

26

the_joseph•26d ago

Had to double check my tape measure after a 32nd of an inch cost me a whole day

I was fitting a custom drawer front last Tuesday and kept having a gap on one side. Measured three times, cut twice, still didn't fit right. Finally pulled out my old tape measure and a new one side by side. The old one was stretched a 32nd long over 6 feet. That tiny difference meant I had to remake the whole panel. Never thought a tape measure could wear out like that. Anyone else ever had a tool go bad on them like that?

16

the_kim•27d ago

Passed 500 custom drawer boxes in my shop this week

Didnt even realize I'd hit that mark until I counted back through my invoices for last 3 years, and honestly its weird how something that felt so tedious at first just became muscle memory now anyone else track their numbers like this?