I'm going to build some cabinets for my shop. They are approx. 84" tall by 22" wide by 24" deep. The top, bottom and center shelves will be fixed (butt joints). I'm thinking about using a Kreg jig for the center shelf.
3/4" is going to be very solid but very heavy. Would 5/8" work just as well? I'm thinking it would be but not sure if it would provide enough "bite" for pocket joinery (Kreg jig).Also, would a plywood door (84" X 22") remain flat or would it warp?
The plywood door should not warp...as long as it does not get wet.. are u paintng it? I would use 3/4 plywood, not that much difference in cost and you dont have any worries...
Randy
5/8ths sheet stock will certainly work, but you'd have a better chance of your joinery/mounted hardware 'standing the test of time' with 3/4 thick sheetgoods (remember, plywood is NOT the thickness advertised).
Also, without a face frame to stiffen your casework, you will want all the sturdiness you can get out a cabinet that tall.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, plywood will warp, so be sure it is flat to start off with, "finish" it equally on all surfaces, and you'll increase your chances of it staying flat.
That said, if you're really concerned about "heavy", consider a separate door for each section (1/4" plywood "panel" enclosed in a wood rail and stile frame would be lighter, easy and inexpensive).
Providing you use straight stock for your door frames, multiple doors will use less expensive hinges, easier to install, and most likely stand a better chance of some warping not occurring over that 84" distance in even the best of circumstances.
Swingman wrote: ...
I'd recommend rethinking the full length door scenario, anyway in favor of two or three sectional doors. They weight and potential for twisting as one factor, the sectional segregation the primary.
imo, $0.02, ymmv, etc., etc., ...
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The 3/4" is going to be a better choice IMHO. Typically you can get a good grade of 3/4" plywood almost anywhere. Typically 5/8" plywood is a construction grade plywood and is probably going to be warped to begin with considering the door. I would put solid wood around the perimeter of the door to be safe and protect the edges. Will weight really be a factor once you have the cabinets in place and full?
3/4" is only going to be 20% heavier than 5/8", all things being equal.
I don't like the idea of a centre shelf being held in place by just the screws of a Kreg jig. I would want to dado the shelf in, or use cleats for the shelf to attach to. You could run screws from the out-side into the shelf? Like # 8 x 2
1/2". Either way, for the minimal cost difference, I would go with 3/4".Personally, I would rather have 3/4" particle board than 5/8 plywood... unless the plywood is a superb grade. For shop-grade cabinets, 3/4" melamine over PB with taped edges is my idea of a sturdy and cheap way to build. And, as mentioned wisely by others, split the doors across the width. Either that, or frame (2" rail/stile) the door with a 1/4" plywood panel. Now THOSE corner joints you can Kreg jig.... if a Kreg jig is what you're after..
Butt joints even with pocket screws are the weakest joints, common in assembly line cheap cabinetry sold at home improvement centers. Shop cabinets often hold heavy objects, tools, paints, etc., so a dado makes more sense for a fixed shelf. Peg supports are usually used for movable shelves in shop cabinets or bookshelves. Often the bottom and middle shelf use a dado to help stabilize the alignment of the cabinet along with a rabbeted back. I have had many shelves in the shop or garage fail over the years with pocket screws or dowels vs. peg supports or a dado joint which have never failed.
Pocket holes are most commonly used for vertical joints although I have seen them before on the underside of shelves. I've always thought it was a bad design because it inherently weakens the shelf to half it's thickness as do dowels. Nothing wrong with it in a lightly loaded application as long as you provide side to side tweaking support to the entire cabinet as the butt and pocket joinery will provide very little support for maintaining 90deg squareness.
3/4" if going with dado and as stated in other replies 3/4" is usually superior quality product vs. 5/8".It would probably warp, especially 5/8", and make the unit unstable from the door's weight when open if the cabinet is lightly loaded, unless the cabinet is screwed to the wall. Again as stated in other replies a rail and stile panel door with 1/4" panel or multiple doors would be lighter, cheaper for materials and more stable over time.
Back to the drawing board.
Your design as outlined above, is going to come back and bite you in the rear end for many of the reasons already outlined by others.
Dados are your friend, butt joints are, ah well lets just say, not suggested.
Plywood left unsupported, warps.
Period, end or report.
Large doors are for passageways.
Lew
I thought about that but my concern is with (melamine) chipping.
My shop cabinets are made with 3/8" inch over a 1 x 2 frame (frame pieces added to the perimeter edge of each panel, then panels assembled) with 3/4 shelf on cleats.
Doors are simple frame and panel using number two spruce 1 x 2 for the frames and 1/4" panels.
Light, strong, 15 years old, haven't warped and didn't cost a lot, and admittedly a little crude because I started with what I had laying around and designed around it adding material as I ran out of something. But slightly longer to build than what you have proposed. Doors, because they are light, swing easily and don't sag.
Tops of the low cabinets are Delta dove gray HPL (fortunate to have a fence extension table supplier that had scrap) over particle board and each set of cabinets is either an infeed or outfeed to the RAS. My shop is so small there are no benches or tables or tools that don't have a cabinet underneath them.
Frank
The 3/4" is better.
Maybe, some doors warp, lots of factors to consider.
"dan" wrote on 20 Apr 2008 in group rec.woodworking:
I just made 21 feet of cabinets like these for a client's garage. She wanted 3/4" carcasses with flush-mounted 1/2" plywood doors and 3" face frames. The 5-foot-tall doors warped. I remade them with 1/2" MDF. Even the MDF is warped a little. I'll have to install some stop blocks and magnetic catches at the top to make them lie flat.
1/2" stock is too thin. My dad made 3/4" flush doors on his garage cabinets 50 years ago, and they're nice and flat. Of course, they're not five feet tall, and they're not modern plywood.I recommend overlaid doors. If they warp a little, the catches have something to pull against to flatten out the door. Someone else recommended panel doors. Those would be even better.
There is a reason most of the plant built cabinets use 3/4" as a base material.
Make two doors 22"x44".
I d> I'm going to build some cabinets for my shop. They are approx. 84" tall
The fellow that had this house before us used 4 x 8 sheets of 3/4" plywood to build what you are describing down to the doors of the same material.
However, I would suggest that 16" of depth would be better than 24" regardless the material used to construct the cabinet(s). Two foot is too deep - espeacially on the top shelve(s) and things get "lost."
A good 3/4" plywood slab should do for a 22" wide door without excessive warping - the 5/8th nch stuff is going to be more prone to warping - depending on the number of layers (of course).
Weight should not be an issue as this is not likely to be a portable storage cabinet - right?
Make it as narrow and as shallow as will suit your needs - don't make a 4' wide cabinet simply because the sheet comes 48" in width!
If you decide to go with 48" wide shelves, consider adding a 1 x 2 across the wide part (use a rabbit to put part under and part covering the edge if you're able) as this will reduce sag.
Consider cutting a dado along each side to receive the ends of the shelves - it will make the entire case stronger. Use finish nails and Titebond to secure them. Save your Kreg screws for something else.
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