Kitchen Base Cabinet: Multiple DrawersThis cabinet is designed to the following dimensions: 1....

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Kitchen Base Cabinet:

Multiple Drawers

by

Cabinets from Scratch


Disclaimer Our Home from Scratch LLC and its legal owners cannot be held responsible for

any loss, damage, disappointment, injury or death resulting from following the

procedures or techniques described in these plans. Our Home from Scratch LLC

and its legal owners assume no risk and cannot be held responsible for any misuse

of these plans either directly or indirectly. They make no statements as to the

weight or strength capacity of the item described in these plans.

These plans may contain errors and Our Home from Scratch LLC and its legal

owners cannot be held responsible for any error. No guarantee is made as to the

quality of any product that is described herein.

Always use appropriate Personal Protection Equipment when working with tools

and exercise caution if taking any action associated with these plans.

Attempt at your own risk. Some woodworking skills are required. Sorry if that’s a

bummer.

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contained herein are also not to be copied or shared.


Introduction

These plans for a base kitchen cabinet are nearly identical to the kitchen

cabinets I built from scratch in my first home in Philadelphia. They design has

been updated to include better joinery methods and the drawers are overlay

instead of inset, which makes the project easier for entry level woodworkers.

The cabinet box is made from 3/4” thick plywood and includes a 3/4" thick

back board. While this thicker back board makes the cabinet heavier and slightly

more expensive, it also adds strength, rigidity and reduces the different types of

plywood you’ll need to purchase and manage. It’s the same approach I took in

my kitchen cabinets.

Feel free to add additional fasteners to this project if the sides of the

cabinet will be between other cabinets or walls.

The drawer boxes are made from solid maple hardwood and birch plywood

and I recommend you stick with that material since it’s more attractive and it will

hold up much better over time compared to pine or other softwoods.

If you get stuck on any particular part of these woodworking plans, feel free

to email me at [email protected] with any questions. For full

cabinet building training, visit CabinetsfromScratch.com for more information on

our comprehensive video training course.

I hope you enjoy the challenge of building this project.

R,

John Gerard

mailto:[email protected]

cabinetsfromscratch.com


Getting Started These woodworking plans will take you step by step through the build of a

kitchen base cabinet with multiple drawers. The first thing you should do is read

through these procedures to familiarize yourself with the materials, tools and skill

requirements necessary to complete them.

Tools The tools and miscellaneous supplies I used for this project include the

following:

1. Table Saw with 60 tooth saw blade

2. Miter Saw (also with 60 tooth saw blade)

3. Pneumatic Brad Nail Gun with Pancake Compressor

4. Pocket Screws

5. Dado Blade Set

6. Cordless Drill

7. Wood Glue

8. 3/4" Long Brad Nails

9. K-Body Clamps

Dimensions This cabinet is designed to the following dimensions:

1. Width: 18”

2. Height: 34 ½”

3. Depth: 24”

This version of the cabinet has 3/4" overlay drawers. Feel free to modify

the plans to meet your needs. A customizable version of these plans in MS Excel

is available to Cabinets from Scratch subscribers.

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Material: Listed below in Table 1 is a list of all the lumber you’ll need to build one

cabinet. All of this lumber should be available at your local large hardware store

(Lowe’s, Home Depot, True Value, etc.), except for the maple. Half-inch thick

hardwood maple boards can be purchased from your local lumberyard or ordered

online. Many lumberyards will also plane down a ¾” thick maple board to ½”

thick upon request and possibly for a small fee. If you can’t find ½” thick maple,

feel free to substitute it with ½” thick oak, which is more readily stocked at large

home improvement stores. Avoid softwoods like pine for this project. You can

also use 1/2" thick birch or maple plywood, but you’ll need to edge band the

plywood before building the drawer.

TABLE 1: LUMBER PURCHASE LIST

Item Description Width Length (in) Qty

1 3/4" Thick Birch or Oak Plywood 48” 96” 1

2 3/4” Thick Poplar or Oak Hardwood 11 ¼” 96” 1

5 1/2” Thick Maple Hardwood 9 ¼” 96” 2

6 1/4" Thick Birch Plywood 24” 48” 1


Hardware:

You’ll also need to purchase the following material to complete your

cabinet build. The drawer parts were sized to accept a Blum drawer runner. If you

decide to purchase a different drawer runner, you might need to resize the

drawer parts. Blum components are not cheap, but they work really well. There

are less expensive options available, but again, you’ll probably have to resize the

drawer box to match different drawer runner hardware.

1. Blum Drawer Runner without Blumotion. PN: 562H5330C

2. Blum Locking Device Right Side: PN: T51.1801R

3. Blum Locking Device Left Side: PN: T51.1801L

Preparation:

To begin this project, you’ll need to take your purchased lumber and cut

out all of the parts listed in Table 2. Plywood parts should be cut to their final size

using a combination of a table saw and a circular saw. Refer to the plywood cut

sheets at the end of these plans

Hardwood components however, should be cut to their final lengths, but

not their final widths. All hardwood boards should be cut slightly wider than their

final width on the table saw then brought down to their final width using a jointer

or thickness planer. If you skip this process and simply cut your hardwood boards

down to their final widths using the table saw you’ll end up with boards that have

a very rough-cut and uneven edge. It won’t look as clean or professional.

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TABLE 2: CABINET PARTS LIST

Hardwood Cabinet Parts

Item Name Length (in.) Width (in.) Thk (in.) Qty. Material

1 Stiles 31 2 3/4 2 Oak or Poplar

2 Top Rail 14 2 3/4 1 Oak or Poplar

3 Mid-Rail 14 2 3/4 2 Oak or Poplar

4 Bottom Rail 14 2 3/4 1 Oak or Poplar

5 Top Drawer Front 15-1/2 6-1/2 3/4 1 Oak or Poplar

6 Mid Drawer Front 15-1/2 10 1/2 3/4 1 Oak or Poplar

7 Bot Drawer Front 15-1/2 10-1/2 3/4 1 Oak or Poplar

Cabinet Plywood Parts


8 Sides 34-1/2 23-1/2 3/4 2 Matching Ply

9 Bottom 16-3/4 22-5/8 3/4 1 Matching Ply

10 Back 34-1/2 16-3/4 3/4 1 Matching Ply

11 Top Strap 16 4 3/4 1 Matching Ply

Hardwood Drawer Parts


12 Top Drawer Sides 21 4-1/4 1/2 2 Maple

13 Top Drawer Front 12-9/16 4-1/4 1/2 1 Maple

14 Top Drawer Back 12-9/16 4-1/4 1/2 1 Maple

15 Mid Drawer Sides 21 8-1/4 1/2 2 Maple

16 Mid Drawer Front 12-9/16 8-1/4 1/2 1 Maple

17 Mid Drawer Back 12-9/16 8-1/4 1/2 1 Maple

18 Bot Drawer Sides 21 8-1/4 1/2 2 Maple

19 Bot Drawer Front 12-9/16 8-1/4 1/2 1 Maple

20 Bot Drawer Back 12-9/16 8-1/4 1/2 1 Maple

Plywood Drawer Parts


21 Bottom 12-9/16 20-1/4 1/4 3 Birch Ply


Machining:

With all of your lumber cut to their final dimensions, we can begin

machining the lumber to add grooves and pocket screw holes, which will allow us

to assemble the cabinet.

Face Frame

Let’s start with the face frame. Lay out all of your face frame boards down

on a workbench. Evaluate each board to determine which side looks best. Using

a pencil, lightly mark the better side so you know what side is which. Flip all of

the boards over. Drill two pocket screw holes on both ends of the backsides of

the Top Rail, the Middle Rails and the Bottom Rail.

The stiles then get a ¼” deep by ¾” wide groove down the length of the

back. These grooves will allow the cabinet box to recess and attach to the face

frame during assembly. This groove needs to be located ¼” in from the outside

edge of the stiles.

Figure 1 illustrates what the back of the face frame will look like once

assembled. You don’t need to assemble it at this point.


Figure 1: Face Frame Back with Pocket Screw Holes and Stile Grooves

Drawers

The drawer fronts are easy. Once they’re cut to their final dimensions,

they’re complete. For the drawer boxes, you’ll need to do a little machining. Add

¼” deep by ¼” wide groove down the length of all hardwood drawer parts. The

bottom edge of the groove should allow a ½” of remaining material. See Figure 2

for guidance. This groove will support the drawer bottom once assembled.


Figure 2: Groove in the Drawer Box Sides, Front and Back

Next we’ll need to add notches to both ends of all of the front and back

drawer box parts. These notches are for the side drawer box boards to sit in. See

Figure 3 for guidance. The notches can be made on the table saw. You should dry

fit the drawer parts together to make sure they fit well. Make adjustments as

necessary.

Figure 3: Notches for Drawer Box Front and Back Boards


Plywood Boxes

Machining the plywood boxes will require adding 3/4” grooves in a few

places but first we’ll start with the toe kicks. Using a pencil, mark 3-1/2” in from

the bottom and 3-1/2” from the front corner of one of the sides. This box will be

for the toe kick and can be removed using a circular saw and a handsaw. Repeat

this on the other side board.

Next, you’ll need to add a 3/4” wide by 3/8” deep groove 4-1/4” up from

the bottom of one of the sides. A second groove will go down the length of the

side board 1/4” in from the back. These grooves should be located on the inside

facing surface. Repeat these grooves on the other side board, but make them

mirror image to the first. By that I mean you need to have a left and a right box

side and not two lefts or two rights. See Figure 4 for guidance on where to locate

the grooves.


Figure 4: Box Side Board – Left Side

The back board will need one 3/4" wide by 3/8” deep groove 4-1/4” up

from the bottom edge. See Figure 5 for that image. The bottom board won’t

need any modifications.


Figure 5: Back Board

Assembly:

Using wood glue and 1-1/4” long pocket screws, assemble the face frame as

per Figure 1.

For the box assembly, dry fit the box components together first before

gluing the assembly together. The sides can be stood upright, while the back is

inserted into the grooves in each side. You can then insert the bottom board into

the grooves in the sides. The bottom board should fully seat into the groove in

the back board and will be 1/4" recessed from the front edges of the sides. Use

clamps to help you keep the assembly together during dry fit. If everything fits

together well without glue, you can disassemble it and glue it together.

Liberally apply a bead of wood glue into each groove before you re-

assemble. You can shoot in a 3/4" long brad nail at an angle into the joints to


keep the assembly together while you are clamping it up. Make sure to clamp the

assembly in multiple spots as you go.

At this point, you can also glue the face frame to the box assembly and

clamp both units together by applying a liberal bead of glue in the face fame

groove. Check to ensure the top of the face frame and the top of the box

assembly are flush. It might help to position the cabinet upside down on a

workbench to ensure they remain flush. Measure the cabinet from diagonal to

diagonal at the top of the cabinet to verify the cabinet is square. If it’s out of

square, use a long clamp over the longer corners and tighten it down until it

comes into square. Keep the cabinet clamped together overnight to make sure

the glue cures properly.

Dry fit and assemble the drawer boxes in a similar manner. When gluing

together, you don’t need to put glue in the 1/4” groove for the drawer bottom.

The glue should only be applied to where the sides meet the front and back

boards. You’ll also need to use a couple brad nails at each joint to keep it

together. A dovetail joint would be best here, but that’s a more advanced

technique that requires more equipment and training. Instead, these brad nails

and glue should hold up fine under average use.

Once the cabinet has been completely glued up, you can install the drawer

runners to the cabinet and the runner hardware to the drawer boxes. If you’re

using Blum Tandem runners, follow the instructions posted here:

https://www.blum.com/us/en/01/30/10/ - ASSEMBLY0. You’ll need to add

blocking to the inside of the cabinet box near the drawer space to bring the

surface flush with the edges of the face frame. The drawer runners can then be

screwed into that blocking. More detailed instructions can be found at the Blum

link above.

The drawer fronts should be attached to the drawer box temporarily using

a clamp to hold it in place. Once it’s positioned correctly, two screws from inside

the cabinet box can be driven into the drawer front. After installation, remove

the drawer front for finishing.

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Finishing:

Before painting or staining, sand every surface lightly using 120-grit

sandpaper. Sand every surface again using 220-grit sandpaper and then wipe

clean with a clean rag. You can use a tack cloth and a rag with denatured alcohol

as well.

If you want to paint your cabinet, you should apply two coats of a primer

followed by two coats of your finish paint. It’s best to spray both applications

using an HVLP gun. You can use a shellac-based primer like BIN and a satin

lacquer for the final coat. If spraying your paint is not an option, you can use a

brush to apply your paint. Read more here about best practices and products for

painting cabinets:

http://www.ourhomefromscratch.com/2014/09/cabinet-painting-101/

If you plan to stain your cabinet, apply a pre-stain conditioner first to avoid

blotches. Follow that with your stain and then either a clear coat lacquer as a

topcoat or satin polyurethane. You should generally avoid anything glossier than

satin or eggshell.

For your drawer boxes, don’t paint or stain them. You can apply a few thin

coats of polyurethane to make sure they don’t stain from use.

After the finishing process is complete, you can re-assemble your cabinet

permanently by re-installing the drawer fronts.

http://www.ourhomefromscratch.com/2014/09/cabinet-painting-101/


Resources

That’s it. If you find any errors, have any suggestions for improvement or

any questions, drop me a line at [email protected]

Thanks and good luck!!

mailto:[email protected]


4x8 Plywood Panel Cutsheet

Kitchen Base Cabinet: Multiple DrawersThis cabinet is designed to the following dimensions: 1....

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