Thread: Kitchen benches

Try and get a hold of Danny Proulx's book "Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets". I don't own it, but I had a flip through it in a bookstore recently. It appears to have a lot of useful tips on standard dimensions for cabinets, drawers, etc.

The author is a long-time builder or kitchens and has extensive experince with melamine MDF . The book contains recommendations on how to cut and work with the stuff. I'm not at the stage of building kitchen cabinets, but was looking at it from a general purpose perspective (eg built in robes, workshop cabinets, etc).

Try a book store for dannys book as i found it to be of great help. He uses the european
cabenit style/design as in faceless box
with no front. He shows you how to assemble
them .You might try you local libary as some times they may already have them. Also check out there video as ive come cross how to make
kitchen cabenit so i now have a copy my self.
contact me if need any more info.

Another easy way is to wander around new display homes and check out the kitchens and if you are discreet enough you can do a bit of measuring while you are there.It also gives you some ideas on different bench sizes and where to put the white goods.

Might not be totally ethical, but....

Try finding a kitchen outfit that offers a no obligation design & quote, their simple plans are turned out very quickly on the computer and should be enough to give you a good start. Or you could try one of the larger outfits that has a bunch of brochures, sample layouts etc.

Thanks for the responses, I'll work on the 4-6" plinth and take it from there.
I have the kitchen worked out and have a source of benchtops and cheap melamine MDF in Dandenong.
If anyone wants the source, including all the fittings for wardrobes etc let me know and I will get their name and number.

Iain,
Not long since I finished building a kitchen at our place, the kickboard is 140mm, the over head cupboards are 300 deep,the lower cupboards are 580, this allows for the doors not to protruce past the bench tops, this worked for me. the height of the floor cupboards including top is 920mm, the tops I used were 35mm thick timber so you will have to adjust the height of the carcass to suit the tops you plan to use.
Best of luck
Taffy
Almost forgot, the kickboard is set back 75mm including the doors
PS: the missus reckons it works a treat.

[This message has been edited by Taffy (edited 16 December 2002).]

[This message has been edited by Taffy (edited 16 December 2002).]

G'day
If you have corner cupboards in the design make the height of the carcasses less than a doorways width. ie around 750
cheers
Rod

Iain,

I looked at this some months ago and found a supplier in my area who makes flat packs of various sized kitchen benches. They had a good brouchure detailing the sizes of their standard range.

The company was Nover found at www.nover.com.au

Give them a try for a broucher maybe this will help.

growl

Check out laminex and others. They have books of carcas bits & doors ect.
Just order them & screw em together.

can take the booring work out of the job if thats what you want.

Would also give clues to design.

I saw a post elsewhere, where the author had built some shallow drawers into the kick panels of his kitchen.

I thought that was a cool idea - concealed storage, and/or for those infrequently used items.

Cheers,
Andrew

Progress, well sort of, just arguing over the choice of benchtops at the moment.
One nearly in with three more to go and appliance to fit in between.
Go to Miscellaneous on the link.

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Ian
where did you get the plans for your built in robes

Steve, thats only the cupboard, the facia is yet to go on and it will be polished tassy oak as will the doors and drawers. The plinth is 90x19 pine and the rest is 16mm melamine chipboard which costs $28 for a 2.4x1200 sheet.
I spent 3 days with a major wardrobe and kitchen installer and work exactly the same way as they do using a brad nailer, liquid nails and no more gaps.
The base is glued and nailed to the plinth and the backing is glued and nailed to the wall, the sides are nailed to the base and cleats are fitted to hold the shelf (which is going in today) which serves to hold the whole lot together.
Not rocket science or proper joinery (apart from the doors when they go on)but it is solid and will not move.
At present SWMBO and I are in dispute over a benchtop, I want solid timber and she wants a roll front laminex so for the time being I just sat a melamine MDF sheet across the top.
Next I am fitting the wall oven, cooktop, dishwasher and sink which we picked up at auction (brand new, cooktop was Harvey Norman rest was auction, discontinued lines), saved a fortune so far as kitchen installers want about $20K for the installation and I still have change out of $3K including the new Blanco stainless steel appliances, double sink, flickmixer tap and 18v circular saw, sabre saw and drill kit.
I estimate by the time I finish it will be about$4K.
No rush on the doors as long as the cupboards are functional.
Fortunately I have a friend who is a plumber and electrician and he is going to wire and hook up the rest, in return I will do some built in robes for him and his missus.
It works well.

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: http://community.webshots.com/user/iain49

Originally posted by Iain:

At present SWMBO and I are in dispute over a benchtop, I want solid timber and she wants a roll front laminex so for the time being I just sat a melamine MDF sheet across the top.

I redid my kitchen on the cheap last year and originally wanted jarrah benchtops as I had a heap of it lying around but no planer thicknesser to machine it.

I ended up getting some premade laminate stuff from ikea with one postformed edge as tthey were the only people who sell it in tthat fashion. I had got a price from a local postforming place and they wanted $1000 for a U shaped top about 2400 long with approx 1000 long returns on the ends and two masons mitre joints.

The biggest problem I had was doing the masons mitre joints so the postformed edges looked nice. Mik wanted about $300 for the basic Trend template guide which was a bit much for the two joints but I bodged together a template from MDF and they came out pretty well. Setting them up is the hardest part.

I hope all of yours goes well, after a year or so of use I am sort of glad I didn't go for solid timber theres too much moisture around in the kitchen I reckon especially as we don't have a dishasher so the sinks and drainers get used a fair bit

Darryn