[cabwriter]

Hi Steve,

It sounds like you did the right thing; CabWriter doesn’t really know anything about the type of slide, only the info in terms of cabinet depth, hole spacing, etc. Could you email me your file at [email protected], or a link to it, so I can take a look? It might be something simple, or maybe you’ve stumbled on a bug.

Of course, you can draw holes at any time using SketchUp on the carcass sides and they will show up in the DXF. You don’t have to worry about the layers; simply draw the holes in the carcass part. If the hole is all the way through the part, CabWriter will automatically put it on the “Construction Holes” layer in the DXF, and if it only goes partway through, it’ll be put on the “System Holes” layer. I’ve done it manually at times where CabWriter can’t do it for one reason or another.

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Steve,

All great questions! I realize that it’s always difficult to make changes to your workflow, particularly when you’re running a business. However, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how efficient this method is. As the owner of a cabinetmaking school, I’ve been lucky to be able to visit quite a few high end cabinet shops, so I’ve gotten to take the best practices I find and incorporate them into our curriculum and over the years have settled on a system that works pretty well and also allows for customization to meet the needs of individual cabinetmakers.

As for your questions on carcass construction, I use M7.0 x 50mm Confirmat screws such as p/n 5361C from Quickscrews.com. I simply pin the box using a pneumatic nailer together with 18 ga. nails, then use the special Confirmat countersink bit, such as this one from Woodcraft (https://www.woodcraft.com/products/7-x-50-mm-two-piece-drill-bit-for-confirmat-screws) to pre-drill the holes. CabWriter can optionally draw the pilot holes in the carcass sides which can then be drilled on the CNC. I drill these as 5mm holes because that is the size of the drill on the Confirmat countersink bit. The upper part of the countersink is 7mm, which is what the holes in the carcass sides get enlarged to. Then, you drive the screws. I buy the barrel bolts from Hafele, the part number is 267.01.715 for the sleeve, and there is a matching screw, but I don’t have the part number handy; I can get it tomorrow when I get to work. There is a link on the website for that product to the screws, but there are several lengths and I don’t remember off hand which one is the correct length.

The Confirmat screws are really amazing for their holding power and the added bonus is that you can easily disassemble the cabinet if you need to and reuse the holes with basically the same holding power. It is very important that you fully drill out the holes with the pilot bit and don’t let any sawdust stay in there as you can split the piece you’re driving into. Here are links to a couple of videos I created for my students showing the process including the barrel bolts to connect the carcasses and another one for attaching the backs. Ignore the silly alignment blocks I used to hold the carcass parts in place; our new method is to pin the carcasses together as described above.

Carcass Construction: https://youtu.be/x0zQXpFJ71s
Carcass Backs: https://youtu.be/bblHx5bGGA8

Your last question was whether this method is hardware agnostic, and the answer is yes, assuming you’re talking about slides and hinges. Since the sides are flushed to the FF, you can use any hardware you like without build out blocks. Let me know if you were asking about something else.

I hope this answered your questions, please feel free to ask anything else that you’re wondering about as you get into it.

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Steve,

Sorry you ran into issues, but glad you got it figured out. Let us know if you have any other questions…

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

All fixed!

Thanks, Ty, for catching that and letting us know…

Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Rob,

The screws that I use are called Confirmat screws and the size I use for this application is M7 x 70mm. You can purchase them many places, but I get mine from Quickscrews and the part number is 5361C. You also need a special stepped drill bit to drill out for the screws beforehand; they’re so large and have a blunt point, that you have to use the pilot bit or they won’t work. They’re meant for holding plywood together and are very strong.

The connector bolts I get from Hafele, but I think there are other sources. The part number for the Connector Sleeve is 267.01.715 and the mating screw is 022.34.157

Hope this helps…

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Rob,

No problem. Just about every aspect of the construction corresponds to a CabWriter parameter, so you can modify them to match your construction method.

Glad we could help.

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Rob,

Good questions. Actually, the width and depth of the alignment slot is set by parameters in CabWriter. The default width is 5/32″ and 1/2″ depth, but they can be changed. The width of a biscuit is 5/32″, so you’re right, 3/16″ would be too wide. I normally use #10 biscuits and I use a 1/2″ deep groove in the carcass sides and slightly over 1/4″ deep into the face frame. If you go much deeper into the FF, you won’t get a good bite with the pocket screws because they’ll end up in the groove.

As for the Quirk, I typically use a 45º chamfer bit in a trim router, and yes, you have to set it for a very shallow cut.

I hope that answers your questions, let me know if you need any other information.

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Todd,

Sorry you’re having trouble; do you have a model that exhibits the problem that you could post to the forum or email to us? If so, we can take a look at what you’re trying to do and see if we can figure it out…

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Robert,

Sorry you’re having an issue. Is there a chance you could send us your model so we could take a look? You can try and post it to the forum if it’s not too big, or email it to [email protected].

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Michael,

Here’s a video showing one way to use CabWriter to draw a dishwasher end panel:

Let me know if you have any other questions after you watch it…

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Michael,

Yes, there is a way by the clever manipulation of parameters and just a tiny bit of manipulation in SketchUp. In fact, I just did it for a kitchen we just finished. It’s a little difficult to explain, but it’s a great topic for our blog, so I’m going to do a short video, hopefully tonight, and post it to the blog and I’ll let you know when it’s up so you can take a look.

Thanks for the question…

Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Tom,

I’ll suggest the obvious first, have you tried saving, quitting out of SketchUp, then restarting the program? If not, could you try that first and see if it helps? What makes me suspicious is the fact that you can’t even unlock a cabinet, which is a SketchUp, not a CabWriter function. Also, what version of SketchUp are you using?

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Django,

Can you tell me what version of CabWriter you’re using? If you don’t have the Divided Base Cabinet functionality, then you’re probably using an older version. The newest one has both a divided base and divided upper cabinet included. I think the divided upper is what you would want to use. For now, for both upper and lower, you draw the divided cabinet and use the door tool to add the doors. In the future, we hope to have it automatically draw the doors. Late tomorrow night, we’ll have the latest v1.0 software up on the website for a free 30 day trial download so you can play with it a bit more to see if it meets your needs.

Thanks,
Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Bruce,

The video is up there now.

Good luck!

Greg

[cabwriter]

Hi Bruce,

Sorry about that! I’m preparing it right now and it’ll be up in the next couple of hours.

Thanks,
Greg

[Author]

Posts