Building a kitchen: where do I start?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Now maybe and maybe not.

Often it takes MORE time to adapt something that doesnt quite fit, than it does to start from scrathh.

I have severl 'units' in my kitchen that are in fact hand built, using h pre-made doors to match the flatpack ones of the erst of the kitchen., and whose carcase is non existent..either side of the Aga there was an alcove, brick faced. I screwed an oak wood frame to the alcove, built a base and a plinth out of oak faced MDF, and scrap wood where it didnt show., and attached the hinges to the frame. The tops are granite. Didn't even bother to attach it. Weight and accurate fit means they never shift.

In other arts of the house there are MDF carcassed cuboards using either pre bought doors, or oak T&G, and stock 'kitchen unit' hinges. I had to buy a recessing tool for those, that's all.

A Glued screwed and braced carcase is a very very quick thing to make - quicker than those fiddly quick-lok things. And MDF is tougher than cheap chip. The only problem is facing the edges that show with something decent.

[Mark Williams]

Andy Dingley suggested a panel saw for cutting large sheet material, which you'll inevitably want to do for either US or Euro style cabinets. He's right if you want to do it economically in production quantities. But with your goals, cutting them ~2mm oversize with a circular saw and sawboard and shaving ~1mm off each edge with a router and straight edge as suggested by Martin Bonner works well. You will need to be able to mark up the sheets with the required angles to a high degree of accuracy, though.

My next kitchen (also still in my head until the circular 'tuit fairy arrives) will be a hybrid of the US and Euro styles, with sheet material jointed to real wood (of the same thickness) on the front face, with real wood door stops all around covering the joint.

[stuart noble]

If you enjoy that sort of thing. Even though I have a table saw with outriggers, and a variety of sawboards for the circular saw, I get mine cut to size by the timber merchant.