Workshop
Cabinet Jacks
I had a job that had me looking, ended up getting by without one.
E-Z Lift Cabinet Jack "The E-Z Lift Cabinet Jack installation tool is designed for the professional cabinet installer, handy person or do-it-yourselfer. With only one person needed on the job it cuts installation time in half." Various models, 500 - $700.
The Gillift by Telpro "Work the way you want to... The Gillift cabinet lift is the only cabinet lift that adapts to the way you want to install your cabinets. Not one, but three tools in one!" Various retailers and models, ~600 - $700.
...There's also Kerry Fullington's homemade lift which came to light during a lift discussion on Woodweb... As did the Marcon Kab-Jak. Marcon makes a number of cabinetmaking related tools including boring machines. I couldn't find a Marcon website or better than the Ex-Factory link provided ($600). I did find a, not so useful, wmv video done by All About Tools. The video mentions a 200LB capacity, the other two (commercial ones) are rated at 300LBS.
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Zipper Bags
I've been transitioning to using bags to store all small hardware. I've bought bags from PaperMart a couple of times. I do a reasonable amount of nesting smaller bag in bigger bags and I was looking for some bigger bags. While BagMart is a bit high on the small bags they are competitive on the larger sizes. That they will sell in quantities of 500 (instead of the usual 1K) is handy for little used sizes. That they ding the western states 4% on shipping is a bummer.
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T-Slotted Aluminum Extrusions
mk Automation's Series 50 extrusion (mk 2000) is what I'm looking for to replace my sliding table fence. Hopefully I can find something cheaper than $31.30 a meter (~$9.50 ft.) Minimum order $40.
Faztek has a 40mm profile (~$5.20 ft.) with chamfered edges. They also have 1 and 1-1/2" profiles.
MiniTec has a 45mm profile that's similar to 8020's. No online prices or ordering.
I've made a few fences using 8020 1-1/2" extrusions. Their 45mm profile (~$6.50 ft., LT ~$5) looks promising. I've no idea how the 8020 eBay store prices compare to dealer/direct prices.
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Links
- Specialty Forest Products, Inc.
- "...wholesaler of high quality hardwood and softwood lumber, plywood, millwork and associated industrial wood components."
Their service area includes the Pacific Northwest (me :-), Alaska, Hawaii and Canada. I haven't used them yet, nice product range.
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- Decore-ative Specialties
- My primary supplier of outsourced cabinet doors.
Shaker
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- ESI
- We supply the woodworking and laminate fabrication industries.
They were my primary source for edgebanding tape and glue. My sheetgoods supplier is noticeably cheaper if they have it in stock. Dorus glue, Woodtape/Dolken tape, etc.
Other possibilities:
Charter Industries... Better in stock selection. Stock can be checked from their site. Will use again.
Frama-Tech
Edgemate
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- Fence stops
- Jigfence, Glidestop, Posi-Stop (multiple stop styles including 32mm), Multi-Loc and Quick-Loc (both mount to a 1/16" toothed rail), Digi-kit (Wixey has a competing digital fence)
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- Festool Hole Guide
- "The Festool Hole Guide System can be used in basically two modes, free-form and as a 32mm system hole guide."
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- Grainger
- Industrial Supply, Material Handling Equipment, Tools, Safety Equipment, HVAC, Lighting and More
I don't know how I got so sidetracked by McMaster-Carr, these guys have quite a bit of stuff as well. For me its handier as I have a branch in town.
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- Guide to Kitchen Costs
- A Better Homes and Garden article that was first published in '02 on MSN. Link is now to an archived copy of the article. Prices are in linear feet.
Cabinet pricing guide
Laminate cabinet: middle-of-the-line stock, $70-$190; semicustom, $150-$225; top-of-the-line semicustom, $270-$360; carpenter-built custom, $260-$650.
Veneer cabinet: middle-of-the-line stock, $90-$190; semicustom, N/A; top-of-the-line semicustom, N/A; carpenter-built custom, $360-$690.
Solid wood cabinet: middle-of-the-line stock, $180-$270; semicustom, $200-$360; top-of-the-line semicustom, $360-$420; carpenter-built custom, $420-$775.
Painted wood cabinet: middle-of-the-line stock, $200-$360; semicustom, $225-$270; top-of-the-line semicustom, $300-$400; carpenter-built custom, $450-$950.
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- Harbor Freight Tools
- Cheap, mostly made in China. Some good deals on OK wood and metal working, hand tools and machines... Not as consistently as inexpensive as they used to be.
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- Joe Woodworker
- "Woodworking, Vacuum Pressing and Veneering Information Website"
Includes do-it-yourself vacum press parts and plans. Part kits, veneer, etc. are on Joe's sister site VeneerSupplies.com.
For serious veneering equipment (e.g. nice looking flip-top table press) there's Vacuum Pressing Systems.
...Quality VAKuum Products also has FLIP-Top Frame Presses
That and lots of other cools stuff at Veneer Systems
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- McMaster-Carr
- Over 410,000 Products To Choose From
I was trying to figure out which of four two-sided tapes might be best for my application and which of two rubber edgings would fit best on .050 aluminum. On their Ordering Information page they say: "We can help you find the product you need. Fax or e-mail us", so I emailed them. The response I got was simply: "We are not able to recommend an item for your application." In a way I understand but I was hoping they were knowledgeable about their products and could at least provide some additional information. The nada response was a turn-off... but I decided to take a chance. I got my order quickly and shipping was reasonable.
Two sided tape (
)
...Their standard Polyester Film Tape is 3M 444. I don't know where they came up with their description but it doesn't match 3M's (High tack acrylic adhesive... Excellent adhesion to low surface energy plastics.). The datasheet (for all tapes with 300 adhesive) is here. (
)
...FindTape.com has a lot of double sided tapes, a 'Differences between double-coated adhesives' blurb and more informative tape descriptions.
Rubber edge trim
Lift trucks (similar to cabinet lifts)
Tube brushes
Rivit nuts (incl. well nuts)
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- Micro-Trim Inc.
...manufacturing of custom trim kits for the installations of microwave ovens, cooktops, and thermal ovens.
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- MODULUS 2000
Scoring Saw Attachment.
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- Northwest Bamboo
- Bamboo has become a somewhat popular material. While I have yet to use it for cabinets, Northwest Bamboo appears to be a good/reputable supplier (ref).
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- OnlineMetals
- Small Quantities Specialist - Online Metal Cutting and Online Metal Ordering...your one-stop source for all of your tool steel needs
My first order went smoothly and arrived in good shape.
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- Paint Cracks
- A discussion about painted cabinet doors developing hairline cracks came up on Woodweb. While this can be minimized by using the more dimensionally stable (and typically flatter/smoother) MDF, it is a common occurrence and the link to Norm Abram's (This Old House) comments on the topic (above) may be useful.
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- QuickScribe
Interesting router base attachments that provide a 1" offset for interior and exterior scribing of cabinet fillers, countertops, etc. It looks like the EuroScriber (scribe strip clamp) requires a 1/4" slot (1/4" from the edge) on the backside of the filler/scribe strip. While I love the idea (I've put a lot of thought into controlled scribing), a lot of my work gets installed where folks are living and the dust would be unacceptable (I power/hand plane my scribes outside).
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- SR44.com
- "At sr44.com we sell one thing and one thing only. High quality Energizer Silver Oxide 357/SR44 button cell replacement batteries."
The prices are great and I got my three batteries ($3.69 shipped) fast. These are what my Mitutoyo calipers use and they should be better than the G13 (Alkaline) that came with my Chinese calipers.
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- Valspar
- Valspar's wood finishing products including, lacquers and varnishes. Pretty basic information. The comparison chart is interesting. No information on things like DPM as a possible solvent for Enviro Plus (... found a PDF here, good solvency/water miscible but slow evaporation... also found a Valspar Solvent Recommendations pdf, DPM is a slow retarder solvent). I like the Enviro Plus clear (maybe better than their precat which I've used a lot), it dries fast (overspray doesn't and can be a problem when it gets thick) and sands well with a random orbital (not so w/ the precat).
I'm looking into using it as a color finish (why I was looking for "approved" thinners) but, as usual, viscosity is going to be a problem with my HVLP (clear is great out of the can, almost too thin)... Interestingly the higher viscosity is less of an issue (pretty good flow out of the can). The distributor said it would be fine on MDF. While it was less than expected, MDF does popcorn and I couldn't get rid of it with a second coat (both sanded). I haven't tried topcoating with it yet.
Valspar data sheets at Eastern Chem-Lac (if you get 404s when following links from that page, change the back slash to a forward slash)
(local copies: DPM, solvents)
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- Walzcraft
- "WalzCraft, a North American leader in the Cabinet Component Industry based in La Crosse, WI., custom manufactures cabinet doors, drawer boxes, moldings and many other varieties of cabinet accessories."*
These guys have an impressive array of products. I got interested after seeing their huge collection of molding profiles (2.9MB pdf, more pdf literature).
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- ZeroCases
- Products include Deep Drawn Aluminum boxes. More possibilities
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