Cabinet box side dimension?

Mike, I see nothing wrong with your measurements. Standard base cabinets are 24" deep including the 3/4" face frame and the height is usually 34 1/2". I believe what you saw online was wrong, and your 22" drawer slides will also be fine.  George

George Koch wrote:

Mike, I see nothing wrong with your measurements. Standard base cabinets are 24" deep including the 3/4" face frame and the height is usually 34 1/2". I believe what you saw online was wrong, and your 22" drawer slides will also be fine.  George

Thanks I thought I was missing something.

My friend and I worked our way through college building cabinets and he stayed in the business after.  He has built hundreds or maybe a thousand drawers, all of them with 1/2 drawer sides and most with 1/4" bottoms.   No fancy joints, just butt joints with a few 1/4" crown staples. Neither of know of any failures.  I would use 1/2 Baltic (Russian) Birch.  The plies are fine enough that they look decent.

OTOH I recently looked into using some undermount drawer runners (Blum)  and they seemed to prefer 5/8" plywood.  

( undermount runners and Euro hinges came along since I got out of the cabinet business, feeling old)

Barry Irby wrote:

My friend and I worked our way through college building cabinets and he stayed in the business after.  He has built hundreds or maybe a thousand drawers, all of them with 1/2 drawer sides and most with 1/4" bottoms.   No fancy joints, just butt joints with a few 1/4" crown staples. Neither of know of any failures.  I would use 1/2 Baltic (Russian) Birch.  The plies are fine enough that they look decent.

OTOH I recently looked into using some undermount drawer runners (Blum)  and they seemed to prefer 5/8" plywood.  

( undermount runners and Euro hinges came along since I got out of the cabinet business, feeling old)

Thanks.  I'm trying the white 4 by 8 sheets of hardwood ply from Lowes.  They are pretty much the only place in town.  I am going to make a few test bases and see how they look.  I figure If I don't like them I can use them in the shop.

I  am using under mount soft close slides and euro hinges.  The drawer sides  will be made from solid Birch/ Maple, I have to figure out the bottoms, I can't seem to find the Birch ply here I might have to run over to the Oak Ridge HD.  

 We are heading out of town for the next few days, when we get back I will be headlong into this project, along with ripping out two sliding doors and replacing them with windows. 

 I guess I retired to work more.

Check around for commercial suppliers.  There are several in Richmond, VA and if you are not in the business you probably never heard of them.  If there are any cabinet companies near you ask them where they get their stuff.  Many of such places will sell "over the counter" to walk in trade.

I have used 1/4" underlayment plywood from Lowe's or HD for back panels and drawer bottoms.  Some of it was thinner that 1/4" but generally it does not have interior voids like some plywood.  What ever you use, get it first and carefully check the thickness. there seems to be no standard today so cut those rebates carefully for the actual plywood.  If the stuff you get seems to thin for bottoms you can glue another piece (hardwood) down the center front to back and It won't interfere with the slides.

PS. if you use the underlayment grad stuff, look at the face before you buy, some of it has X's printed all over it to guide in the nailing to the floor.  They won't sand off.  The veneers can be extremely thin.

When using Blum undermount slides you might want 1/2" ply for the drawer bottoms. The slides can be attached more securely to the drawer box by using screws that need more than 1/4" ply to grip into.

Steve Elliott wrote:

When using Blum undermount slides you might want 1/2" ply for the drawer bottoms. The slides can be attached more securely to the drawer box by using screws that need more than 1/4" ply to grip into.

I am using the under mount slides.  They are not Blum they are an off brand I got for a little less money.  I figure I will play with them and see how I like em.  

The first two cabinets I make will end up in the shop.  I figure I will make two and practice how I want to do things along with make any jigs I may need so I can make the real sets faster.  

It is a learning curve and I am going at it slow until I understand what I am doing.  

Thanks
Mike

That's a great plan, Mike. Any time I use new hardware I like to either make a mock-up or use it on a not-very-important project because I always want to change a few things before I use it again.

Steve Elliott wrote:

That's a great plan, Mike. Any time I use new hardware I like to either make a mock-up or use it on a not-very-important project because I always want to change a few things before I use it again.

This is all pretty much new to me.  I finished the first box today, I have to figure out how to glue them up a lot easier than the way I did.  I work pretty much alone.  I am proud of myself I got the back and bottom dados just about perfect.  I was going to use my router to cut them, but I set my dado set in the TS and dialed it in.  Much easier after it is set up.  

The next trick will making the face frame.

Then on to the drawers.  

Thanks

If they go into a kitchen I start with the top and make sure the base frame fits under; custom or stock top. Then, I consider the back options: none, applied over, inlet? Face frame? Obviously, glides and other hardware factor into construction style; European, Western, [Eastern]? Finally, I count saw blade width and grain alignment to determine full use of stock. 

Custom shops I encounter waste seemingly more wood than is used in a product.

Due to my artichoke' days, units are always factors of 3-inch, and a standard sheet--48x96. We always designed a scribe allowance of at least one-inch (that's the wall clearance). I always see prefab units include a toe-kick; even in mega-buck kitchens, because cabinets are never built on-site. And, they can always cut off the toe section because that is easier than adding a toe.