Building Cabinets

Pretty far for good cabinets. A good table saw is a must. You will also need a router with bits, and some sort of dovetail jig. You might also consider a few types of clamps (90 degree ones help make sure a cabinet is straight in the beginning), some sort of sanding device, probably a drill, and a hammer. That is about the bare minimum for making a decent cabinet.

 

I use the porter Cable dovetail jig and it makes life easy.I do half blind dovetails as easy as pie.You absolutely must have perfectly square boards to make successful joints,but if you do,it's a breeze.You need a router with a 1/2" chuck for the special porter cable router bit.
A cabinet can be dovetailed in twenty minutes and ready to be glued together..Strong as hell and looks great.

 

Finger joints can be done on a table saw with a jig that you can make....on the table saw!

Google it.

 

Hey Paul,
Oak-Park has some finger/box joint jigs here:
http://us.oak-park.com/catalogue.html?list=boxj--&product=F025

I bought one of them, and an upward spiral router bit, and once you get it setup, it works like a charm...not a dovetail jig though.

-SF

 

I use a Ryobi saw for my stuff too (a old BT3100, can't beat it for the $200 I paid for it!) Not dead-on accurate, but plenty good enough for cabs. I built my first cabs using a box joint jig on this saw and they came out great, a dovetail jig is not absolutely necessary. But, if you do want to do dovetails or plan on making more than a couple cabs then grab a jig (I use the PC 4212). It's a good deal faster than cutting box joints. http://www.chassi-swing.com/amps/cabs/

Great cab Lowell!

 

Once you learn to use a dovetail jig, you'll quickly discover that cutting dovetails is a snap. But accurately setting up the router? That's hard! A lot of set up and trial / error......mostly error.

Just a suggestion......get 2 routers. Set one up for the dovetails, tweak it to perfection, lock it...and don't ever touch the settings again! That's what I did.

 

If you are going to do a few cabs a table saw would be a great purchase. I'm a little short on change right now, so I'm going to build one with a skill saw and router. It'll be a good deal of work, but I think it is doable. Just take your time setting up a good fence.

 

Since we're talking power tools and all. I would also like to highly recommend the StopSaw. http://www.sawstop.com/ It will save your hand if there is ever an accident. I'm buying one this week. The price is high, but if you cut a lot of wood it is worth it.

 

Holy crap! That hotdog video is AMAZING!