In the past, one of the best compliments that I have received from my clients is that my cabinets emit a sense of strength.

There are an almost endless number of ways in which to assemble a cabinet but, since you are designing and possibly building and installing these cabinets, and since your client is paying you to design custom cabinets then the distinguishing factors will be wood selection, aesthetics, and construction techniques.

While the typical off-the-shelf stock cabinets are most likely designed and manufactured using the minimum amount of materials and labor to produce them, custom cabinets require advanced joinery methods.

DOOR FRAMES - STYLES, RAILS, & PANELS

To separate my door frames from stock or semi-stock cabinets, I usually specify a style and rail width of 2 and 1/2 inches. I know that 2 1/2 is almost 3/4" wider than the typical stock style or rail, but since my designs focus partially on aesthetics then, I want my cabinets to appear beefier than stock or semi-stock cabs. The doors and drawers are the focal point of any cabinet so I want mine, rather my clients cabinets to stand out. Joinery for the door styles and rails is always biscuits because of their immense strength and their nature to be hidden from view. If my design incorporates the use of a center panel then, the panel is always fitted to the styles and rails (no glue ever). If the door design incorporates the use of glass fronts, then I typically use one piece of glass per door and install the glass from behind the mutton rails. True divided panes are only used at a client's request. This is not a matter of cost or labor but rather a matter of logic. Glass gets broken from time to time and the labor and cost to replace a divided light can be extreme. I use a single glass pane which I simply lock in place using framers pins which are easy to install and replace (even by the homeowner).

CABINET BOXES

My boxes (cabinet carcasses) are assembled with joinery that "locks" all of the pieces together creating an extremely strong cabinet. I use rabbits, pretty exclusively to create a "locked" cabinet. Very few nails are required. To attach the face frame to my boxes, I use biscuits exclusively. Most of the stock and semi-stock manufacturers are still using pocket joints (screws) to assemble their frames. While this method has been around for some time, its extremely expensive, not to mention that pocket joints are extremely ugly and certainly not what any consumer wants to see in a custom cabinet. Pocket joints are very expensive to manufacture. For every pocket screw that a manufacturer uses (2 to a joint), I can buy 14 FF Biscuits. It also takes me about half the time to cut a biscuit joint and assemble as compared to a pocket screw.

DRAWERS

I cringe every time that I see a frameless cabinet design that uses drawer fronts. What a waste of time and money! I use half-blind dovetails on frameless cabinets and either full dovetails in combination with a drawer front or T Slot Joints on framed cabinets without a drawer front. It really all depends on what the client wants.

Stay tuned for Part III