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Wall cabinet construction
The basic construction of the wall cabinets is similar to the base units. The ¾"-thick plywood carcase sides (L) are dadoed for the bottom (M), and rabbeted for the top (N) and back (O). The main difference (besides the shallower depth) is the addition of a second nailer (P). While the floor supports the load for base cabinets, wall cabinets must support their own weight plus the weight of what you put in them.With mounting screws driven through the nailers and into the wall framing, these cabinets are rock solid.
 As mentioned earlier, this kitchen didn’t have a soffit. So I opted for 42"-tall cabinets that extend to the ceiling. Seldom used items go on the harder-to-reach top shelves. But at least when this stuff is stored inside the cabinets — instead of on top of 30" or 36" cabinets — it doesn’t collect dust.
In a larger kitchen, I might have considered using a mix of short and tall cabinets to provide display areas for plants or collectibles and create a visual break.
 The shelves in the upper cabinets are ¾"-thick plywood with birch edgebanding (see photo at left). To keep things simple, I drilled a series of
evenly spaced (2" apart), ¼"-dia. holes in the carcase sides for adjustable shelf support pins.To position these holes consistently, I used a 2" × 30" strip of pegboard as a drilling guide.
The face frames go together just like those for the base cabinets — with pocket-hole joinery. The rails(Q) are drilled, then screwed to the end stiles (R).The intermediate stile (S) is screwed to the rails. To keep the compartments wide open, I let the doors butt together, eliminating the need for a divider stile. This was also possible because the plywood shelves are strong enough to resist sagging.Many stock cabinets have extra shelf pins in the divider stile to hold up the center of the shelves.
The exposed ends of the cabinets receive frame-and-panel covers, so I made the corresponding stiles wide enough to overlap both the carcase end and cover (Detail b). For added interest, I routed a 1/4" stopped cove along the length of the exposed stiles as shown above. Related Articles |
Building Kitchen Cabinets