c/cabinetmakers

1

jackson.sarah•18h ago

Found out plywood glue fails at 175 degrees

Was looking up fire ratings for a commercial job in Denver. Read some test results from the APA. Never realized standard plywood glue starts breaking down around 175 degrees. That's way lower than I thought. Most glue lines fail way before the wood even chars. Makes me wonder how many cabinet boxes I've installed near ovens or heaters are silently failing over time. Has anyone else seen actual failure from heat near cooking appliances?

7

taylor.jessica•2d ago

Soft-close hinges are nice but I still prefer standard ones for certain jobs

I finished a kitchen remodel in Cleveland last month where the homeowner insisted on Blum soft-close hinges for every door. They look great and shut silently, but I had to adjust three of them twice because the doors wouldn't stay aligned after a week. On my own cabinets at home I use basic European hinges with no dampers, and they've held up for 12 years without a single tweak. Anyone else find soft-close mechanisms add more hassle than they're worth on heavy doors?

10

henry_kelly54•3d ago

Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop over-tightening my drawer slides

I was at a little shop in Portland last month, this older cabinetmaker watched me struggle with a sticky drawer for like 10 minutes. He just said 'you're cranking those screws too tight, let the slide breathe.' I loosened them up a quarter turn and it worked perfect. Anyone else ever get stuck on something that simple?

9

sean_murray•4d ago

Spent 8 hours fixing a drawer that was binding, turned out the slides were 1/16th off level

I was building a set of kitchen drawers for a house in Portland and one drawer just would not slide smooth. After adjusting the slides, sanding the sides, and even swapping the runners, I finally checked the cabinet face with a long level and saw the whole thing was racked slightly. Has anyone else had a simple build turn into a half day fix because of an out of square cabinet box?

4

charlie_lane85•5d ago

Vent: Overheard a contractor say plywood "doesn't matter" for cabinet boxes

I was grabbing supplies at my local lumber yard in Denver and heard a young guy telling his partner that any old plywood works for case construction since it's "hidden anyway." He was talking about using standard sheathing instead of cabinet-grade plywood to save $15 a sheet. How do we get these newcomers to understand that a cabinet built with warped, void-filled plywood will fail in 3 or 4 years no matter how good the face frame looks?

14

verab28•7d ago

Took me 6 months to realize my hinge jig was the problem, not my drilling

I kept getting misaligned cabinet doors no matter how careful I was with measurements. Marked everything twice, used a center punch, slow feed rate. Still off by about 1/16 every time. Finally borrowed a buddy's jig and everything lined up perfect first try. My old jig had worn out pivot bushings that I never thought to check. Anyone else ever chase a problem forever only to find out it was a tool wearing down?

0

anthony_fox90•7d ago

Just hit 5000 custom drawer boxes and realized something about soft close slides

I keep a tally on my shop wall in Akron, and this week I passed 5000 drawer boxes built since I started keeping track back in 2020. What surprised me is that about 700 of those came back for adjustments or had issues, and almost all of them were because the customer bought their own slides off Amazon. The cheap ones just dont hold up as well over time, especially with heavy cookware. Has anyone else noticed a big difference in failure rates between budget and premium undermount slides?

6

wade558•7d ago

Debating myself: is a cnc router worth the money or just a fancy paperweight

I dropped $3,200 on a used ShopBot last year thinking it would speed up my cabinet builds something fierce. First few months were rough, I had to learn the software from scratch and wasted a lot of birch plywood on test cuts. But after about 6 months I got the hang of it and now I can crank out door panels and drawer fronts in a fraction of the time I used to. On the other hand my buddy Jim spent $2,800 on a similar setup and says he barely uses it, calls it a glorified drill press that collects dust. Maybe it depends on how much repeat work you do versus custom one-offs... I'm still on the fence about whether it was a smart buy or just a expensive hobby. Has anyone else gone back and forth on a big tool purchase like this?

19

tarab54•8d ago

Tried a cheap router bit from a hardware store and it burned up in 15 minutes flat

I was working on a set of oak cabinets for a buddy's kitchen remodel last weekend and needed a flush trim bit quick. Grabbed a $12 one from the local Ace Hardware instead of ordering my usual Whiteside. By the time I finished three drawer fronts the bit was smoking and left burn marks all over the wood. Learned the hard way that cheap bits don't have carbide tips that hold up to hardwoods at all. Cost me an extra hour sanding off the burns and ordering a proper bit overnight. Has anyone else had bad luck with big box store router bits for oak or maple?

11

dylan_patel•8d ago

Fought a French cleat system for 5 hours last weekend

Wanted to mount a full wall of cabinets in my shop near Portland. Ended up ripping 2 cleats because I measured wrong on the first cut - has anyone else had these things fight back this hard?

9

susan_wells•9d ago

Realized I was sanding plywood wrong for 5 years

Last month a customer pointed out swirl marks on a cabinet door I built. I always thought my random orbital sander was doing the job, but I found out I was pressing too hard and skipping grits. Now I let the tool do the work and go through 80, 120, then 150 grit every time. Anybody else learn the hard way that sanding takes patience?

20

wade558•11d ago

Went from hand planing doors to using a drum sander overnight

I used to spend 3 hours hand planing each shaker door just to get that perfect smooth face. Then 2 years ago I grabbed a used Super Max 26-1600 off Craigslist for $800 and now I can knock out a full kitchen in under an hour. Anyone else take forever to upgrade their sanding game?

17

uma_reed26•12d ago

Finally figured out why my drawer boxes kept splitting at the joints

Turns out I was using too much glue. A guy at the local shop in Nashville told me to only run a thin bead down the center of the dovetail, not fill the whole socket. Has anyone else had success switching to a lighter glue application?

18

webb.val•13d ago

Watched a new guy glue a face frame on backwards last Tuesday

So we got this new kid in the shop last week, fresh out of that trade school over in Springfield. Everything was going fine until Tuesday when I walk over and see him clamping a face frame to the back of the cabinet. I mean he had it all glued up and ready to nail, looking proud of himself. I just stood there for a minute trying to figure out what I was looking at. He said 'I thought the pretty side goes in, like a closet.' We had to use a heat gun and a putty knife to get it off without wrecking the plywood. Took us an extra hour to fix his mess. Has anyone else dealt with a rookie making a mistake that obvious?

35

matthewperry•14d ago

Client said my drawer boxes were too heavy, she was right

A homeowner in Austin called me out last month. She said I should be using 1/2 inch ply instead of 3/4 for the sides and backs. I argued at first, but then I weighed one of my drawers - 18 pounds empty. Switched to 1/2 birch with dovetails on the front only. Shaved 6 pounds off each one. She was happy and installation got way easier. Has anyone else had a client call them out on something that actually made their work better?

11

riverp37•14d ago

Why does nobody debate pocket hole joinery vs dado joints for cabinet face frames

Last month I built three face frames for a kitchen remodel in Austin, using pocket holes on the first one and dado joints on the next two. The pocket hole frame went together in 20 minutes but the dado frames took 45 minutes each and felt way more solid. Am I the only one who thinks speed might beat strength for certain jobs, or is that just me being lazy?

22

richardfox•14d ago

Learned the hard way that over-tightening drawer slides ruins the alignment

I was installing soft-close undermount slides on a kitchen job last week and kept getting binding. Turns out I was cranking the screws too tight, which warps the bracket just enough to throw the track off by maybe 1/16 inch. A guy at the Woodcraft in Denver told me to hand-tighten them until snug and then back off 1/4 turn, no more binding. Has anyone else dealt with this on Blum slides specifically?

22

spencer_johnson22•16d ago

Nearly ruined an $800 slab of walnut last month from a bad moisture reading

I checked the wood with a pin meter three times before starting a custom dining table, but my cheap meter was reading 6% when the wood was actually 14% after moving into the shop from a humid garage, and the whole thing cupped on me in four days - has anyone else had a pin meter lie to them like that?

6

ninas70•17d ago

Chat with a kitchen designer made me rethink my drawer slides

I was swapping out a set of old drawers for a lady in Phoenix last Tuesday, and her designer showed up to check progress. He saw me installing soft close undermounts and said 'you know, ball bearing slides last twice as long in dry climates.' I never really thought about humidity affecting the grease in undermount slides before. He pointed out his crew uses Accuride 3832s on everything now because they have less plastic parts. Has anybody else switched based on your local weather conditions?

19

rowan666•19d ago

Warning: Been using my table saw fence wrong for 8 years

I was working on a set of oak cabinets for a kitchen remodel in Green Bay last month and kept getting gaps on my miter joints. A guy from the lumber yard stopped by, looked at my setup, and pointed out I had the fence clamped slightly off square because I was always checking the back instead of the front. Anybody else ever realize they've been making a basic mistake for way too long?

12

felix_thomas73•19d ago

Hit 1,000 dovetails this week and it got me thinking

I was counting up for a custom piece I'm doing and realized I've cut over a thousand dovetails by hand since I started 15 years back. My first ones looked like a beaver chewed them, now they're tight enough to make the old guys nod. How many joints do you reckon you've made in your career?

9

sage_perry•20d ago

Debate: Should you pre-drill or not for cabinet face frames? My old boss tore me a new one over it.

I used to just screw face frames together with pocket holes and no pre-drilling. Worked fine for years on my own jobs. Then I worked for this older guy in Cincinnati who insisted I had to pre-drill every single hole before driving a screw. Called my frames 'lazy man's work' in front of a customer. He said pre-drilling prevents the wood from splitting and keeps the joints tighter over time. I argued it takes too long and slows down production. But after a year doing it his way, I have to admit I get way fewer callbacks for loose joints. Now I'm stuck in the middle. Do you pre-drill your face frame joints or just send it with a good screw? What's your experience been?

25

sanchez.mia•23d ago

That time a French cleat system nearly took me out in my own shop

So I'm in my garage shop last Wednesday, trying to hang this massive slab of walnut I'd been saving for six months. I built this custom French cleat system for it, measured three times, leveled everything, the works. I get the cleat mounted to the studs, lift this 80 pound slab up by myself, and right as I'm sliding it into place I realize I forgot to account for the thickness of the cleat itself. The whole thing catches wrong and tips forward, sending me stumbling backward into my table saw fence. I'm pinned there, holding this slab like a giant shield, sweat pouring down my face, trying not to drop it on my foot. A neighbor heard me yell and came over to help me get it down. We had to cut the cleat off with a multitool just to get the thing free. Now I have to refinish that side of the slab and redo the whole mounting system from scratch. Has anyone else had a mounting project go totally sideways because you missed one simple measurement?

4

derek939•23d ago

Heard a supplier badmouthing solid wood at a trade show last week

I was at the Midwest Woodworking Expo in Chicago and overheard two supplier reps talking near the veneer booth. One said to the other that solid wood is dead for kitchen cabinets because MDF with thermal foil is faster and cheaper. He bragged about a shop doing 40 kitchens a month with zero callbacks on warped doors. That really bothered me because I've seen foil peel after 18 months in humid kitchens. Solid wood still has a place if you properly acclimate and seal it. Anyone else noticing this push away from hardwood and toward composites?

18

ellis.charles•23d ago

Appreciation post for the old guy who taught me drawer fitting at a shop in Cincinnati

He spent 45 minutes showing me how to tap the dovetails with a mallet just right and said 'son, patience is cheaper than sandpaper' and I still think about that every time I rush a fit.