Been there, done that too!
Charlie: I was in exactly the same boat you're in 8 years ago. Bought a 40 year old rambler needing a new kitchen in N. Virginia. Discovered the cabinets would run around $26K (minimum) for a basic set of cabinets, which was the budget for the whole kitchen (probably unrealistic at the time). After our sticker shock, the LOML asked me what it would take to build our own cabinets. Mind you, I had done little-to-no cabinetry at this point in my life. I owned a Ryobi BT3000 table saw, some power tools, and a few hand tools and that was it!!! Necessity being the mother of invention, I decided if I bought a good bandsaw I could build the cabinets - which we did. Saved a TON of money by buying A1 birch and cherry ply from a local supplier for the carcasses and had the doors/drawer fronts made by Evans Cabinet and Door (www.evanscabinetanddoor.com).
In the end, we were able to install a Viking 6 burner gas stove, cherry cabinets, granite counter tops for our budget. (BTW, I bought the JET 18" bandsaw for the job, which I still have).
The best part of the story is that we trippled the value of our house in 4 years and sold it. 2 houses, many tools and lots of other projects later I now do woodworking full time and live on a 20 acre horse farm in the country.
My suggestion - study and learn how to build the cabinets yourself and go for it!!
Best of luck, Rich
Why not just build the doors yourself?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Maurer
Saved a TON of money by buying A1 birch and cherry ply from a local supplier for the carcasses and had the doors/drawer fronts made by Evans Cabinet and Door
This seems to be pretty common - having the doors and drawer fronts made by pros - why not just mount the bits on the old router table and go for it? I'm sure there are good answers out there, but I'm just naive enough to believe that I could do a good job on the frames.???
I do have the 16-32 Performax and have flatened some table tops with it and some ROS touch ups. What's the issue with making the doors?
savings to be had, but ..
Charlie,
I am about 30% of the way through my cabinets for my kitchen. I concur with the other posts. It is a lot of work, but worth it. I am using 3/4" ply for the carcass and have sub-contracted for doors, drawer fronts and drawers. I do not have enough time to build all of that and the pro shop can do it better faster and cheaper. I have 22 cabinets that I am building. To Jim Beckers point, you can add a lot for little more money. We upgraded to inset drawers and doors with an integral bead around the opening. All the sizes are now custom instead of working with stock sizes so we get exactly what we want. Also, the box shop is fitting the doors to the openings for $7 ea and drilling the Blum hinge holes. I think my cabinet bill is a little higher than most do it yourselfers. By the time it is finished(paint with glaze and laminate on the insides) I am guessing $6K, Shame of it is that the countertops are more and so are the appliances. Our quote for stock cabinets was ~22K installed. Good luck,