Kitchen cabinets - joints with hand tools?

[SteveM]

My wife and I are looking at replacing our kitchen cabinets; quotes are about $6k-$7k for just the finished cabinets. Nothing fancy, just simple shaker style doors, white paint, and nothing we couldn't part with in 5-10 years when we sell. Like any handy man I can't help but think of the money I could save, the tools I could buy, and the skills gained if I did the job myself.

 

My construction would be pre-finished maple ply, maple face frames, and maple drawer boxes with pre-finished maple plywood bottoms. Initially my thought was to buy the additional power tool accessories that I would need for this such as a Leigh dovetail jig, pocket hole screw jig, router bits, etc. Part of me says that if I am going to dovetail 20-24 maple drawers in a reasonable time frame then I had best use a router and dovetail jig, but another part of me wishes I could spend that $300 on hand tools instead.

 

Is this a time when I need to just suck it up and use power tools or is it reasonable to try to do the solid wood joinery by hand? Should I need 6 months to build the drawers I would be sleeping with the dog regardless of her having full use of the kitchen while I do the building.

[..Kev]

Personal choice really.  When I did my kitchen, I was super happy to have the dovetail jig and the router but, that's me not you.

[RichardA]

So you already have a plan to sell in a few years.  Are you after the experience? Or, are you after the pride of the build.  If you plan to sell, why not just buy them, and get your experience in something you can take with you after you sell!  By the way, welcome!

[nod]

I'm doing some built ins for our closet. It justified a kreg K5, shelf pin jig, new circ saw blade, and some other odds and ends.. It's been a learning experience, but WAY more work and time than planned and expected (disregard the patching of plaster, painting, etc). IF your wife can handle it taking you 10 times (i'm exaggerating, but it will take longer ) as long as a pro shop, then have at it. Learn new things, pick up some new gear at the same time, and let 'er rip! Post some before and after pics too 

[wdwerker]

If you plan to sell in 5 years it's probably not worth doing anything by hand! If your home is in a fairly high end area then buying custom made dovetailed drawer boxes is worth the price . If your home is in the mid market range for your city go buy factory cabinets.

A full kitchen is not the place to practice and learn especially if you plan on selling in a few years !

[SteveM]

Thank you all for the advice, I'll try to add some additional information for clarification.

 

We're in a 1961 construction 1200 sq ft house that is typical value for the area and we are actually purposefully not doing any high end upgrades as they wouldn't look right in this house. We've been here 5 years and everything we've done since was been with the question of "Will we get our money back when we sell?" We don't always know for sure, but so far we've saved a lot and made the place nicer with DIY projects like a nice garden shed, new windows, new sub-panel and electrical in the garage, and site-finished hardwood floors (I had a pro do the sand and finish). We have no immediate plans to sell, but have no plans to stay here long term either so 5 years is probably the earliest we'd sell.

 

I don't mind doing the work in a house I don't plan to die in, especially if I can turn my labor into equity. The idea is not to make high end cabinets by using hand cut joinery, but to see if anyone thought it would be reasonable to do it so that my tool purchases for the project can be for hand tools. If I have sloppy dovetails in the back of a kitchen drawer I'd just apply shims/putty and move on with my learning. I suppose what I could do is buy the hand tools and if she complains about the pace or I begin to question my sanity then I could go buy the dovetail jig too.

[nod]

I could be way off base, but I'm not even sure you'd need to do dovetail drawers to get your money back and then some. Sure, they're much nicer (machined or hand), but I would think you could bang them out with |GASP| a pocket hole jig or the likes and still see great return. Couple those with some soft close hardware, and viola. Our house has mdf cabinets that I absolutely hate. But when we moved in, their was fresh paint on the doors, nice pulls, new tile, new countertop. It sure looked a lot more expensive than it was and we emptied our pocket books. Of course I know more now and have used them for 3 years, but on the surface, no body has a clue. We're not the 'high end' neighborhood, but it's changing fast (but then again, hi-end is relative to your area and what you're used to).  A friend builds high end custom cabinets for the super wealthy nearby and rarely do I see him doing dovetails. Nice wood, and nice hardware go a loong way...  

 

 

if it matters, we're in a 1938 built house. Craftsman details aren't featured, but full wood floors and crown everywhere. More transitional look of that era since they stucco'd the exterior. It sounds like your place is cleaning up nicely. But dovetailed drawers sure sound like a HIGH end upgrade to me. 

 

imho - if you want to justify some tool purchase, build some furniture - an island, dining table, etc.. like Richard said. Then you can take that stuff with you.  

[Mzdadoc]

I'm currently taking a cabinet making class at Woodcraft and am amazed at how simple. We are using Kreg pocket hole jigs for everything. It may sound bad for drawers but when the holes are in the back and covered by drawer fronts using contracting woods to make the drawers make them look awesome and you can make a bunch of drawers in a day. I agree about hardware as stated above. I bought some soft self closing hinges for our pantry and my wife LOVES them. I'm going to do just a door at a time.