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Thread: Shop Cabinet Ideas?

  1. #1
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    Shop Cabinet Ideas?

    I'm getting ready to build some upper cabinets for my shop. In order to clear my receptacles and a run of compressed air piping, it works out perfectly for them to be 36" tall and I'm planning to build them 15" deep. I've got 12' of continuous wall space that's been cleared out. I'll probably build 4 36" boxes to make them more manageable.

    I'm thinking pretty standard cabinets with adjustable shelves and doors for part. Part will have adjustable shelves sized for Festool/Tanos Systainers for less-frequently used tools (the rest will stay a few steps from my bench.) That area I'm thinking no doors to minimize wasted space lost to faceframes, hinges, etc since obviously the Systainers are a uniform width and already enclosed.

    I've got a decent amount of sappy cherry I'm thinking I'll use for faceframes and doors, at least the door frames. Not sure yet what I'll do for the door panels, whether to make solid doors if I have enough stock or use ply. Or maybe even use 1/4" melamine installed so its replaceable and make them dry-erase. Or maybe even polycarbonate panels.

    Any other great ideas to consider before I start them?


  2. #2
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    Why use face frames? They make the aperture into the cabinet narrower than the cabinet. If you make the cabinets without face frames, you get more usable space.

    You might want to think ahead to how you're going to hang the cabinets. That may reflect back into the cabinet design.

  3. #3
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    I like the idea of using your sappy cheery. 3/4" sided ply cabs ganged together can use a flush 1-1/2" face frame with no compromise to interior space. Ply doors could be real nice especially with solid sappy cherry edges but I'd be inclined to work with 1/2 tall doors if using ply wood. 36" tall is quite a stretch for ply panels even if you lose 4" or so to a toe kick. Each door could land on a fixed mid shelf. Dry erase doors sounds fun but do you really want to see writing on your walls? Speaking of toe kicks - I wouldn't. Just a place to hide lots and lots of dust and dropped screws etc.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
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  4. #4
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    Sam I don't think I'll do toe kicks on my upper cabinets. . These go over a combination of counter and some sanders.

    I was thinking I'd just do one big face frame so I won't lose much.

  5. #5
    Sounds like your about to do what I finished doing a few months ago. I used 3/4" marine plywood I got for $11 a sheet and used poplar for the face frames. The doors were made from oak that was destined to be used for pallets and 1/4" luan ply for the panels.

    I didn't make separate cabinets as I had a girt to sit them on while I fastened them in place. Mine are 16" clear depth with the doors shut with 1/4" holes for shelving spaced 1-1/2" between holes.

    003 (800 x 601) (4).jpg003 (800 x 601) (2).jpg

    This is the style of hinge I used so they didn't interfere with getting boxes and tools out of the cabinets. I don't understand why it isn't showing the picture.

    Attachment 247508
    Last edited by Alan Bienlein; 12-09-2012 at 7:12 PM.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    Sam I don't think I'll do toe kicks on my upper cabinets. .
    OOPS, I was thinking too hard (or not at all) Silly me.
    Last edited by Sam Murdoch; 12-09-2012 at 10:00 PM.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
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  7. #7
    With 36" wide cabinets, sagging of the shelves comes into play. I would probably do four 32's and a 16. I like melamine boxes with a modified face frame, (Danny Proulx style.) Allows for Euro hardware, but looks like face frame from outside.
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 12-09-2012 at 9:30 PM.

  8. #8
    I don't have doors on my shop cabinets. Like to be able to see the stuff so I'm not banging doors looking for something I put in there a year or 2 ago. And I just use face frames to make the box sturdier.

  9. #9
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    Now that I'm at a PC, responses to a few comments:

    Backs will be 3/4" material. My shop is a pole barn and I followed a local lumber yard's recommendation for insulation and therefore have horizaontal "studs" in the walls between the poles instead of vertical. There's only one I'll hit for these, a little above the middle. Originally I was considering not having backs, just a cleat near the top, until I realized this.

    Exact door/ff design will be somewhat driven by what hinges I have on hand. I have a number of different hinges in quanties ranging from 2's to dozens left over from various projects and will be designing to make whatever I have enough of work.

    Jim, how do you keep them clean? Just blow them out occasionally?

    Sam, I already have a dry erase board which I use all the time to figure stuff out, make notes, make lists, etc so I think it would work for me. If I did 36" cabinets each cabinet would have 2 doors so less than 18x36.

    Exact cabinet sizes would be adjusted somewhat to make the open areas for the Systainers fitted neatly.


  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post

    Sam, I already have a dry erase board which I use all the time to figure stuff out, make notes, make lists, etc so I think it would work for me. If I did 36" cabinets each cabinet would have 2 doors so less than 18x36.
    Having been proven correct that in this case toe kicks are not a good idea I maintain that a 36" tall plywood door might be too tall. Of course it depends on the condition of the ply you intend to use, how many hinges, and if you intend to use a strong door catch. You could be lucky.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Murdoch View Post
    ...3/4" sided ply cabs ganged together can use a flush 1-1/2" face frame with no compromise to interior space..
    Yes, that approach would give you no compromise on interior width. However, the installation procedure is that first you hang 12' worth of boxes on the wall, then you install the 12'-long face frame on them, while everything is up in the air. If instead you edgeband each box while you're building it, the installation is much easier. (You can edgeband with 1/8"-thick wood and real wood glue, or you can use veneer tape with hot melt. Me, I like the former.)

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    Now that I'm at a PC, responses to a few comments:

    Backs will be 3/4" material. My shop is a pole barn and I followed a local lumber yard's recommendation for insulation and therefore have horizaontal "studs" in the walls between the poles instead of vertical. There's only one I'll hit for these, a little above the middle. Originally I was considering not having backs, just a cleat near the top, until I realized this..
    A single horizontal "stud"? How far between poles? What size? And in which direction is the stud oriented?! A large bank of cabinet that you're talking about can easily overwhelm a 2x8 or 10 in the strong direction depending on span.

  13. #13
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    Ugh, hadn't really thought about that. Its a 2x4 oriented with the wide face down. Poles are 8' on center. Walls are sheeted in 7/16" OSB. And there's a pole right in the middle of where I'd be putting these


  14. #14
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    I have 36" tall ply cabinets out in my shop. Just over 6' wide, with 3 doors. Baltic Birch 3/4" ply with 1/2 ply back. I use a chinese cleat to hang the cabinet, so the 1/2" ply back is inset 3/4". Cabinet is 16" deep (measured at the sides). It's heavy, but I can hang it myself this way.

  15. #15
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    Just wanna chime in here, Im thinking I am going to start a run of cabinets, similar to the cabinets in the background of Woodsmith Shop. Standard plywwod cabinet with some shelves, but then peg board in the rear for hanging stuff. Dont know about door yet, I like seeing stuff. If there are doors, I'll probably forget where I put everything.

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