When taking on a cabinet building project, there’s a few tips that will help you from getting yourself into a tricky corner. Thinking ahead regarding a few of the aspects of cabinet building will help you keep the process efficient.

Before you assemble

It can be a good idea to finish the inside face of the cabinet boards before you put the cabinets together. This will make it easier to finish the wood in general, as you will be avoiding having to apply wood finish in corners and tricky to reach spots inside the cabinet.

You might also want to avoid putting any slick surfaced finish on the inside, that will make it tougher to glue surfaces together, if you’re using glue. Check out some other gluing tips for woodworking if you plan on using glue to build your cabinets.

Think about anything else that you might need to attach to the inside of the cabinet, and if it makes sense to put it on before assembling the main walls, do it.

Keep it in shape

Of course, the easiest way to line up the shelving and walls in your cabinets will be to cut a dado for each shelf end or inner wall end. Use glue to set the shelving in place in the dadoes, and clamp it all down while it dries and sets.

Framing can be a big help to get everything straightened out when you are lining up the shelves and other large panels in your cabinetry. Use framing squares along with clamps to accurately place all your panels, shelves and walls.

The back panels

Don’t forget about the back panel on your cabinets. You will want to prepare the back panel wall by making dadoes for the shelves and walls of the cabinet. If you do this, you can be completely confident that everything will line up on the cabinet and when you put it together, it will practically snap into place and everything will be aligned as needed.

It can also be forward thinking to drill holes for the screws on the back panel. You can basically just drill right in the middle of the dadoes to get the holes done quickly.

Then when you are staring at the blank wall of the back side it will be easy to place the screws that you will need to hold the back panel in place.

These tips should help you get going in the right direction. Remember to frame everything accurately and think ahead in terms of what you will need to do inside the cabinet. You can save yourself a lot of trouble.

image: Velo Steve