Kitchen cabinet help??

[silentC]

i am sorry but if you want to produce a top quality kitchen then you must first have a top quality panel saw and edgebander to produce the desired result

Crap. How do you reckon they built kitchen and other cabinets before there were panel saws and edge banders? Maybe YOU need these machines to do a good job but there are plenty of others around here who don't. Read the pages of this forum.

Flat pack kitchens are a compromise for people who are either not interested or not capable enough to do it themselves. Or for the ones YOU convice that it is too hard.

[seriph1]

Hiya SilentC

gee - don't hold back there dude ...... Flat Pack is a valid concept for those of us who couldnt be bothered doing the "slog" work and just want to get to the finishing work...... mind you, I do have trouble reconciling the cost of a sheet of material with the price I was quoted for carcasses..... not by anyone here on the forum and not recently though. I struck gold when I got the cabinets for my previous kitchen..... at the time I collected antique radios and gramophones and a guy who wanted to buy one of my radios was a cabinet maker (sheets, not sticks) we struck a deal - I clearly explained what I wanted - ie a row of drawers along the top anf made to enable face framed doors. he promised the carcasses would be produced within a week. He really wanted that radio, so it was all good. By 2 PM THAT day, he called and said my cabinets were ready, when could he come and get his radio. By 4 he had his stuff and I had mine. Everyone was happy..... except he found that the cabinet of the radio he bought was twisted slightly - not sure how - and he on-sold it because of that ... cabinet-maker my AR5E.

[silentC]

If you go back over the posts Steve, you'll see that I have held back quite a lot I pass no judgement on flat packs, I'm sure they are the perfect solution for some. It's the insistence that you can't do a decent job without "a top quality panel saw and edgebander" that I'm objecting to.

[Lignum]

i am sorry but if you want to produce a top quality kitchen then you must first have a top quality panel saw and edgebander to produce the desired result ,i dont have a problem with the weekend warrior trying to save some money by doing the job themselves but there comes a time that someone should say to them that they will drown if they go ahead ,if you want to make your own kitchens then go ahead and make them ,they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder ,thats great but i can say that i have never had a call from the weekend warrior to finish a kitchen project it has always been xena the warriors princess that has called and said enough is enough get me back to normal life

I agree with Silent that its crap. To think that the above statement is true would only be a small percentage of "weekend warriors" but the majority of the forum members here id have no doubt could (and no doubt have) make a fantastic kitchen thats not a flat pack that is very attractive. The beauty in the eye statement isnt fair. It implies only you cabinetmakers can produce a good attractive kitchen, which is crap. Whats the extrodinary skill involved to cut a flat panell and stick it together. In the wonderfull world of wood those who cut up panells are no where near as talented as those who hand make furniture, and alot of those do it entirely by hand with minimal of machines. The kitchen below i made about 10 years back as a "weekend warrior" just using a Scheppack TKU portable saw and an iron for the edgebanding, and to my knowledge Xena hasnt called in for a refit

[Stuart]

i am sorry but if you want to produce a top quality kitchen then you must first have a top quality panel saw and edgebander to produce the desired result

What rubbish A Triton can do a perfectly good job, and that is only one of a hundred different solutions that people on the board use to cut panels. An iron will stick on edgebanding, and carbatec sell a good hand jig for shaving it down to a final neat finish, without resorting to $1000s of dollars of edgebanding machine (or whatever they are worth).

A pockethole jig makes it even easier, and spend the money saved on good quality vinyl-wrapped doors and bench tops

it seems to me that if you can use a gmc saw to produce a quality kitchen then expanding on the logic couldnt you then produce a vinyl wrapped door with a vacuum cleaner

1. the first paragraph is what I said - if you are going to quote me, have the decency of doing it properly.

2. It seems to me that you are so full of your own holier than thou stance, that you can't accept that there are plenty of people out there (and most of this forum I dare say) that COULD produce a quality kitchen with a GMC tablesaw, without forking out for a panelsaw (which would be nice if it was being used enough to justify its purchase).

3. I suggest you keep your logic in check - or I might start getting real off. At no stage have I suggested fabricating the average woodworker could produce vinyl wrapped doors - and I have (if you bothered reading either my first post, or the related article it refers to) suggested getting these sorts of details fabricated by a professional shop, with the money saved by not buying a flat-packed, Ikea like kitchen.

[Stuart]

Had this cabinet maker add a few under bench cupboards/cabinets etc to my kitchen . Just as a private joke to myself, I asked him how he puts the edgebanding on.

Oh mate i'll be honest with you , back at the factory we have a machine worth $50.000 that does all that nightmare kind of stuff.

Few months later I needed a few more doors edgebanded, so round the factory I went.

This kid was the only person there, yah mr i'll do it right now for yah. So out come the iron file and stanley knife, 20 minutes later job done.

Oh that kid was good alright, now i know why.

Does edgebanding machine worth 50 g's look kind of long and tricky looking? if so it wasn't anywhere to be seen lol

HJ0 Maybe he kept it at home just incase that kid learned how to use it better then he did.

Heh! Wonder if he was paid $50000?

[readnik]

After recieving a few quotes to have new cupboards built for my kitchen, I was Rather distraught to find it was going to cost over $6,000.
So, being rather handy in building speaker cabinets and so forth I have decided to build the cabinets myself....
I have drawn up plans and am now stuck as to what material to use.
I have had trouble finding information on what sort of board to use.
I know it has to be waterproof and heatproof due to a wall oven being installed.
But what board do I use??

I have asked at bunnings and was told to use 12mm M.D.F. which I believe is neither waterproof nor heatproof..
Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated..

I wonder :confused: if all you bickering answered any of Notsohandyman' question/s?
Although it has made for some wonderful "days of a lives" reading !

Notsohandyman can you post your plans so we can look and give some constructed information to you?

readnik

[arms]

I wonder :confused: if all you bickering answered any of Notsohandyman' question/s?
Although it has made for some wonderful "days of a lives" reading !

Notsohandyman can you post your plans so we can look and give some constructed information to you?

yes please do i for one will be awaiting the constructive comments that arise for this one

[Lignum]

yes please do i for one will be awaiting the constructive comments that arise for this one

This forum is for all to come and ask questions to learn and be guided through areas that are not so clear. Any mug with a jigsaw can make a flat pack kitchen if they are given the right material list. Notsohandyman just needs to know the best materials then he will be on his way to making a great kitchen. Good on him for having ago instead of being ripped of by over rated and over priced kitchen makers

[arms]

"being ripped of by over rated and over priced kitchen makers"

it would seem that i have pinched a nerve here ,but if this is the case then why has none of you answered notsohandys question regarding the correct material ,i have only put forward a method that may fix his problem the rest of you have only put forward a case that using machinery of differing reliabilitys will produce the desired effect ,

[Stuart]

yes please do i for one will be awaiting the constructive comments that arise for this one

Why would anyone now be tempted to, knowing you are ready to pounce on any opinion that isn't "purchasing a flatpack".

"being ripped of by over rated and over priced kitchen makers"

it would seem that i have pinched a nerve here ,but if this is the case then why has none of you answered notsohandys question regarding the correct material ,i have only put forward a method that may fix his problem the rest of you have only put forward a case that using machinery of differing reliabilitys will produce the desired effect ,

You are the one that started the entire argument by saying that only if you have a

good quality panel saw and edgebander

should you attempt this. I don't think you are in a position to suddenly try to take the moral high ground here. As the self-appointed expert, you have also had plenty of opportunity to answer Notsohandyman's question, but have chosen not to. At least some of us offered assistance before your insertion of inflammatory comments.

[adrian]

Boy oh boy! I haven't been on the board much lately but it's obvious that it hasn't changed. Still bitchy.
Notsohandyman, don't be afraid to get stuck in to the job. There's no difference between the speaker cabinets and kitchen cabinets except size. Melamine is the stuff to use unless you want to use solid timber. Drawfronts and doors can be made out of 16mm MDF. I'm halfway through a kitchen rebuild myself. My outlay so far is less than $300 for the cabinets in the picture below. I will be getting the bench tops next week which is another $200. I settled for Polytech granite look laminate. I was going to get granite but when I went to a local kitchen place and pointed to the bench and asked how much the granite was he told me it was laminex.
The most expensive item is the hardware such as handles, hinges and drawslides.

I wouldn't worry about the tools you have. Melamine is a cow to work with but it really doesn't matter if you chip it when cutting. I used a GMC table saw and my old US made Black and Decker power saw and they did chip the melamine a bit. The melamine comes with a finished edge and thats the edge you will see. All the cut edges will be against the floor, wall and benchtop. Some Selleys Flexifill acrylic sealer on all the seams on the inside of the cabinet will hide any chips and it will give the cabinet a seamless look.
I'm doing my kitchen in stages. I ripped out the part containing the wall oven and cooktop and built and installed the new cabinets. I left the section containing the sink and I'm now planning the 2200mm x 1200 island. The good thing about doing it in stages is the fact that I still have a usable kitchen while the work is going on. I can now build and install the island without needing to demolish the rest of the kitchen until the new kichen is finished.
You are sensible to get plans first. I'm afraid I don't have the disclipine to work like that. I knew what I wanted it to look like but basically I've been making it up as I go along. I think the island is going to be a more complicated build because of all the plumbing and electrical work I have to build into it.
You should also consider installing draws in lieu of cupboards below countertop height because cupboards are a waste of space. I'm building a full extension draw with dowelled compartments to hold dinner plates upright because the set of plates I use for parties weighs 17kgs when stacked and it doesn't make sense to have them in a head height cupboard.
A word of warning about the melamine though. Those chipped edges get really sharp and if you have the girly, soft hands of an ex systems analyst like I do you will get a few cuts.

[renomart]

then why has none of you answered notsohandys question regarding the correct material

I did. It was the second post.

[arms]

[quote=renomart]I did. It was the second post.

then why is everyone attacking me ,if the answer has been given ,its funny that the only constructive replies to notsohandys question has been from kitchen suppliers ,so heres what i will do ,if notsohandy sends me a fax (07)546909378 with his plan i will supply him a the kitchen of his choice for cost price delivered to his house ,or perhaps you weekend warriors can offer notsohandy the same deal,it sounds like the warriors out there would love to show notsohandy how to use the triton and assorted gmc tools but then again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[arms]

[quote=arms][quote=renomart]I did. It was the second post.

,if notsohandy sends me a fax (07)54609378 with his plan i will supply him a the kitchen of his choice for cost price delivered to his house ,


i apologise for the human indiscretion of getting my fax number wrong but i don,t send myself faxes often