How To Build Frameless Base Cabinets

Sabtu, 30 Januari 2016

Free Frameless European style base cabinet plans that you can build for your kitchen, bathroom, office, home theater or other renovations. This is more than just how to build a base cabinet. Its practically everything you need to know about building frameless base cabinets before you begin. 
When I first tried to learn how to build cabinets I had a hard time finding all the information I needed. There was a little bit here, a little bit there, but nowhere did I find all the information all in one place. I did my best to combine most of what you need to know in one place to make things easier for you. Its a bit of a long read but if youre serious about building your own cabinets it to save money its well worth the time. One book I commonly saw mentioned was Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets (Popular Woodworking) by Danny Proulx
In this article were going to focus on how to build a frameless base cabinet carcass. The cabinet carcass is the main box of the cabinet which does not include doors, drawer fronts or drawer boxes. The cabinet carcass can be configured in a number of different ways to allow doors, drawers, open shelving or any combination which suits your needs.
The frameless cabinet design I find easiest to build, install and provides exceptional strength is the one pictured right. It is made of 3/4" plywood throughout, including a full back. The top consists of 2 4" stretchers. Up to a 30" wide standard base cabinet carcass can be constructed out of a single sheet of 4 x 8 plywood.
This is the design well focus on but Ill address some other options and aspects.

Cabinet Base Options

There are 4 different ways you can configure the base of your lower frameless cabinet. Each one has its pros and cons.

Standard Base

The standard base has the sides and back of the cabinet extend all the way down to the floor and is notched in the front to provide a toe kick. The notch is 3" deep and 4-1/2" tall. There is a "sub toe kick" that provides additional support for the bottom and makes it easy to apply your finished toe kick cover (such as a decorative baseboard) over a continual stretch of cabinets for a seamless look.
This type of base is marginally more difficult to build and uses a little more plywood but you get a single cabinet unit which has advantages. Each cabinet needs to be shimmed individually to make it level. This is what most semi-custom cabinets you buy look like.

Standard Base No Toe Kick

Sometimes you wont need a toe kick at all such as when youre building a built-in desk or library. This base has the same pros and cons as the standard base except it has no toe kick. Instead a decorative board, the same thickness of the doors, is applied over the base of all cabinets after installation for a seamless look.

Adjustable Cabinet Legs

You can even create toe kicks on the sides of cabinets where necessary such as the end of a cabinet run or a kitchen island.

Cabinet Back Options

You also have a few options on how you construct the back of the cabinet.

Full Back

You can choose to use a full back that is the same 3/4" plywood used for the rest of your cabinet. (Some people choose to use 1/2" but I find its easier to just use one thickness throughout.) This configuration will give you an enclosed cabinet with exceptional strength which is important when installing heavy stone countertops and supporting heavy countertop appliances. It can be a little more money but not much if you plan your cuts out well. Well be using the Full Back in the example in this article.

Nailer Back

Sometimes you dont care if a cabinet has a back or not, such as in garage storage cabinets. This option can save on material. Instead of having a full back you create 2 nailing strips out of 3/4" plywood for the top and bottom of the back so you have something to affix the cabinet to the wall with and to provide rigidity and strength to the cabinet.

1/4" Back With Nailers

In some cases youll want to have an enclosed back but you want to save some money. You can use nailers as in the previous option but also staple a 1/4" plywood back over the nailers to provide a finished look. This is cheaper than using a full back and provides a lighter cabinet. Many semi-custom cabinet manufacturers use this technique. It doesnt add as much strength as a full back but it does give you the look and feel of one. The 1/4" plywood is more prone to warping than the 3/4" plywood and may bow out over time.

What Youll Need

Tools

  • Table saw or circular saw and guide for making accurate and square cuts in plywood.
  • Combination square
  • Kreg Pocket Hole Jig
  • Kreg Shelf Pin Drilling Jig
Plywood comes in different apperance grades. A1 being the best. If you plan on painting your cabinets or dont care about the apperance (garage cabinets) you can use a lower appearance grade cabinet. If you must use MDF to save money make sure you glue your joints in addition to using the appropriate pocket screws . 

Step 1: Calculate Cabinet and Component Dimensions

Chances are you will want to build a different sized cabinet than what Im going to show in this example. In most cases youll want to build multiple cabinets of different sizes so lets go over how to calculate the dimensions of the different components that make up the carcass. 

Cabinet Height

The height of the cabinet will be determined by the application. For example the standard height for the top of a kitchen work surface is 36". If our countertop thickness will be 1-1/2" that means our cabinet needs to be 36" - 1-1/2" or 34-1/2" tall.
Cabinet Height = Desired Top Height - Top Thickness
Some common work type heights are:
  • Kitchen 36"
  • Bathroom Vanity 33" to 36"
  • Desk 30"

Cabinet Depth

The standard depth for kitchen cabinets is 24" which includes the door. This should work for most situations but you may want to check the specifications of your appliances (slide in range, dishwasher, etc) to see if they require a different size. 
For bathroom vanity cabinets the standard depth is 21". For desks and other custom cabinets you can choose whatever depth works best for you though most are 20-30" deep.

Cabinet Width

This one is easy. The cabinet width is determined by your design and your preferences.

Cabinet  Component Dimensions

In our example were going to be constructing a 30" W x 34-1/2" H x 24" D cabinet using 3/4" plywood. Well be making it with a standard base and a full back. In all the dimensions below the direction of the grain will follow the height.
*Note: if youre using thick edgebanding youll need to factor that in where appropriate. Most edgebanding is less than 1/32" thick which is pretty insignificant so I dont factor it in most of the time. As long as its used consistently and applied before assembly I consider it an acceptable margin of error. Wood expands and contracts. Not all human cuts are very accurate. Consistency is more important over precision and it makes calculating sizes and cutting components much easier.

Cabinet Side Dimensions

We will need two sides for the cabinet. The height of the side is simply the height of our cabinet minus an external base if using one. The width is the depth of the cabinet minus the thickness of the door.
Cabinet Side Height = Height of Cabinet - External Base (34-1/2" - 0 = 34-1/2")
Cabinet Side Width = Depth of Cabinet - Door Thickness (24" - 3/4" = 23-1/4")
Well need 2 34-1/2" x 23-1/4" sides for our cabinet.

Cabinet Bottom Dimensions

The height for the bottom of our cabinet will need to be the width of our cabinet minus twice the thickness of the sides. The width will be the depth of the cabinet mins the back depth minus the door thickness. (Be careful sometimes advertised size isnt true size. A digital caliper
Cabinet Bottom Height = Cabinet Width - 2 x Side Thickness (30" - 2 x 3/4" = 28-1/2")
Cabinet Bottom Width = Cabinet Depth - Back Thickness - Door Thickness (24" - 3/4" - 3/4" = 22-1/2")
Well need one back that is 28-1/2" x 22-1/2".

Cabinet Shelf Dimensions

If youre installing a shelf in your cabinet (as our example does) you want to size it appropriately. Its basically the same dimensions as the Bottom minus a little depth (1/2") so that it stays clear of the doors even if there is some expansion.
Cabinet Shelf Height = Cabinet Bottom Height (28-1/2")
Cabinet Shelf Width = Cabinet Bottom Width - 1/2" (22-1/2" - 1/2" = 22")

Cabinet Back Dimensions

We can use some of the previous dimensions we calculated to determine the dimensions of the back of the cabinet. The back of the cabinet will rarely be seen and even when it is it wont be lit very well. While its nice to have a consistent grain direction for the backs you might be able to save a sheet of plywood by mixing the grain direction up for the backs if you dont mind a little inconsistency in an inconspicuous location.
Cabinet Back Height = Cabinet Bottom Height (28-1/2")
Cabinet Back Width = Cabinet Side Height - Stretcher Thickness (34-1/2" - 3/4" = 33-3/4")
Our cabinet needs one back measuring 28-1/2" x 33-3/4".

Stretcher and Sub Toe Kick Dimensions

Grain direction should be along the long side but in most cases these components will hardly be seen so feel free to change the orientation if it helps you maximize the usage on your cut plan. 
Stretchers should be 3-4" wide, the sub toe kick should match the height of the notch cut into the base (4-1/2" in our example). The height of both should be the same as the Cabinet Back Height (28-1/2").
Well need 3 stretchers (4" x 28-1/2") and one sub toe kick (4-1/2" x 28-1/2")

Step 2: Attach Side To Back

Wow! Youve read all this way and were just starting to put the cabinet together! Careful planning makes the rest of the process easy.
Start by applying edgebanding to the front of both cabinet sides.
Drill pocket holes around the top and sides of the Cabinet Back and attach it to one of the sides as shown.
Notice that the bottom of the back is flush with the bottom of the side. There is a 3/4" space on the top of the back for the stretcher that will eventually be installed.

Step 3: Attach Bottom

Apply edgebanding to the front of the bottom, drill pocket screw holes as shown and attach the Bottom to the Side and Back previously assembled. Notice that the bottom of the Bottom is flush with the notch for the Toe Kick. Use your square to make sure everything is aligned properly.

Step 4: Attach Other Side

Attach the other side to the cabinet assembly using the previously drilled pocket holes in the Back and Bottom pieces.

Step 5: Attach Stretchers

Apply edgebanding to the front of the 2 stretchers that will be attached to the front. Drill pocket holes and attach to the cabinet making sure everything is square. The bottom stretcher on the front is for the first drawer. To minimize visibility of the pocket holes install them with the pocket holes facing up. (The drawer will hide the second front stretcher holes.)
In this example were assuming the cabinet will have a single full width drawer and 2 lower doors. The spacing for this bottom section will be determined by the desired drawer height. The standard top drawer height is 6". Were planning for overlay drawers and doors. A 1/4" gap should be on the top to avoid any binding against the counter top. That means the second front stretcher should be 6-1/4" down from the top of the cabinet.

Step 6: Install Sub Toe Kick

The Sub Toe Kick helps support the cabinet and add rigidity. It also makes it easy to nail in the finished kick board after installation. Drill pocket screw holes and attach it between the cabinet sides as shown.
Use the short side of the jig without the fence to get the holes 37mm from the front edge of the jig. When doing the back, flip the jig around.
When youre done, apply edgebanding to the front of the shelf, insert shelf pins in the appropriate locations and install your shelf.
To learn how to make drawers see my post on How To Make Drawer Boxes. 

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