Thread: What is a cabinetmaker?

Having money doesn't always mean you have good taste

Originally Posted by jimbur

Having money doesn't always mean you have good taste

Conversely having "good taste" doesn't always mean you have money either.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Conversely having "good taste" doesn't always mean you have money either.

No - have always been cursed with champagne taste-buds, but a ginger-beer income meself.....

I mean

you can afford ginger beer?!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by jimbur

you can afford ginger beer?!!!!!!!!

I'm allowed one glass on my birthday........

I recently went for a cabinetmaking apprenticeship but didn't go through with it because the work would be involving chipboard and no solid wood.

The other guys who went through with the work experience gave this description of the work; "You stick the sheet of chipboard into the machine, press a few buttons and it cuts it."

Glad I gave it a miss..


According to the Job Guide 08 a Wood Worker is a Wood Tradesperson and a Wood Turner is a Craftsperson..

Everything changes over time. Poor old Tom Chippendale called himself a cabinet maker whereas all he was doing was waiting for some genius to invent mdf.
Jim

Having just finished my kitchen(its in the woodworking pics thread)I can understand why 99% of cabinetmakers dont want to make doors and solid wood tops, it can take 100's of hours to do a kitchen like that... would you pay for that?
99% of Australians would'nt, you'd be broke in 6mths.

Originally Posted by seafurymike

I have a thread running in the Kitchen section and someone posted why would you use anything other than melamine for the carcases. Sure i have to coat my veneered American maple, but at east when I open my drawers I see wood, not Melamine. Plus as Ian indicated, why not rise to the challenge.

I'm not a pro, but unlike others i suppose, i believe that once i give it a go I can work through the issues and resolve them into "hopefully" a nice end product, which meets my demands.

It is such a shame to see trades just supplying the common lines. I just read about a guy who has purchased 90 near identical imitation antiques to fill his house. (The american woodworking magazine) It was great to see that people have this passion to deliver quality items and even if it takes 9 years to make them all.

/M

That person was me and it is good to see that you did not feel the need to reply directly there but rather misrepresent the post in this thread. The use of a veneered particleboard was questioned on the basis of durability, not appearance. Here is what I said:

Mate, it looks good so far but I have to question why you would use a veneered board in lieu of the standard melamine. You could face either type of board.

The reason I would not use a veneer unless it was exposed or behind a glass door are pretty obvious. Firstly, it is not as durable as the melamine and secondly, it needs to be finished.

That said, it will look better in the veneered board when you open the door. Just get the finish right on the areas where it will wear most, that is, the shelves. Another more expensive option is glass sitting on top of the shelves. I would use the poly if you want some wear resistance in the finish.

By using a veneered chipboard, I can't really see what challenge you are rising to, but I'll leave that to you to explain. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing your work, just the nature of your post (or at least the way I read it).

As to the 90 identical replicas, I think you will find that the client spent over 2 million dollars. Try and get Joe average to pay for a decent piece of furniture and I think you will find many willing craftsmen to fill the demand.

So easy to talk about these craftsmen doing wonderful work, much harder to part with the hard earned cash, which ultimately is what it all comes down to.

Melamine's normally used as the white colour allows you to see easier what's in the drawer, with light reflection as well as the silouhette making the difference, SeaMike.

And it's harder wearing than timber.

Cheers,

eddie

I have read all your replies with great interest.

I loved this one from funkychicken:

"I recently went for a cabinetmaking apprenticeship but didn't go through with it because the work would be involving chipboard and no solid wood.

The other guys who went through with the work experience gave this description of the work; "You stick the sheet of chipboard into the machine, press a few buttons and it cuts it. "

This is the definitions I got from Wikipedia:
A carpenter (builder) is a skilled craftsman who performs carpentry - a wide range of woodworking that includes constructing buildings, furniture, and other objects out of wood. The work generally involves significant manual labor and work outdoors, particularly in rough carpentry.

A joiner is a woodworker who makes and installs architectural woodwork, including things that are called "finish carpentry" and "millwork" in the USA and UK. Joiners fabricate and install building components such as doors, windows, stairs, wooden panelling, mouldings, shop cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and other wooden fittings. The skills of a joiner are somewhat intermediate between a carpenter and a cabinet maker.


Cabinet making is the practice of utilizing various woodworking skills to create cabinets, shelving and furniture.
Cabinet making involves techniques such as creating appropriate joints, shelving systems, the use of finishing tools such as routers to create decorative edgings, and so on.


As I said earlier, the book I bought described how to whack a few sheet together to make cabinets and flat sheet doors and the title "The Complete Cabinetmaker's Reference Guuide" seemed misleading to me and that was what caused me to ask the question here.

I have come to the conclusion that a actually have no objection to using Melamine board for the cabinet construction of kitchen cabinets, it is so much easier to keep clean than real timber and, as Eddie said, so much easier to see what is inside with the light reflecting.

But I still think that cabinet making is more than just whacking a few sheets of plywood/chipboard together with screws.

Cheers
Wolffie

I spent 3 months once working with a cabinetmaker. He was in his 70's and had been in the trade for over 50 years. He was definitely what you would call a fine woodworker. He had made a throne for an african kingdom. He restored antiques and built reproduction furniture. He even made a profit doing it. He turned out some truly beautiful work. It would be the ideal work for a woodworker if you could, like him, make a profit. That was 20 years ago though, and times have changed even since then. Even back then it was a definite niche that he filled - not many were doing that sort of work - there wasn't the market for it.

Peter