Hi All,
I’m thinking about giving kitchen cabinet building a shot!! I received plans for two kitchens, and am in search for a cutting software which will enable me to optimize my 4″ x 8″ sheets. I did a search on Google, only to become more confused than when I set out. Any recommendations regarding a user friendly product that would meet my needs….keeping in mind I’m far from a software or computer genius.
Thanks in advance,
Itch
Replies
Greetings and Welcome to BT!
I went through some wars with panel software years ago, so I am thoroughly jaded & cynical.
Panel Systems, years ago seemed least complicated, before they started grafting entire factory/production line cut sheeting onto what had been simple panel saw software.
It's easy to get into the deep end with the software that's out there. Particularly when a bunch of it is free, but the hardware key (called, inexplicably, a dongle) costs $10,000.
Since you are looking at panel cutting, are you going with frameless only, or a mix of framed & frameless? Wow, that one question just triggered a whole avalanche in my head; outsorced versus in-house doors and/or moulding. Assembled or KD; hig or low end; stock sizes or custom . . . Ok, I'm stopping now--to late in the day for that many questions in my own head, let alone anybody else's.
Thanks for your input CapnMac.
I'm gona try not to bore you, while filling you in on my situation. I'm in Canada, about 1 1/2 hrs East of Montreal. I'd consider myself pretty handy....eventhough I have never worked with my hands for a living. In 1998 I built our home in the Townships pretty much A-Z and mostly alone....incl framing, roofing, wiring, plumbing and all the interior finishing. A buddy of mine wholesales wood doors for kitchens mostly in the U.S. He recently started selling some private local jobs in the Montreal area. He currently has a guy building his boxes out of a small shop and another guy to do the install. He's dissatisfied with his current box-builder and offered me the job.
The first job I have is 15 cabs incl. pantry with rollouts, upper and lower corner cabs, 2 x banks of drawers....the rest are straight forward uppers and lowers with doors. It's an all frameless kitchen, boxes with hard rock maple 11/16" part. board. Doors and mouldings will be supplied by my friend. Most cabs are stock...with the odd custom one, where dimentions are an issue. I guess I would call the "end" a little higher than average (no plywood boxes, but nice doors, decent hardware, undermount drawer slides etc...).
I was planning on sourcing my cutting to a local distributor that has one of those saws where the panel stands and the saw at the end of the arm can be adjusted. I think that by doing so....I would save quite a bit of time. They charge $1.00 per cut (retail)....but I'm sure I can get them to $0.60-$0.70 per cut on volume. This is why I thought about that software. If I could provide the guys with an optimized printed cutting sheet, this would make my life and theirs much easier!!
One of the other responses I got to my question was that I couldn't compete with the large manufacturers. I won't argue this point, but I don't have the overhead and fixed costs they do either. I'm not trying to compete with them, I just want to make a decent living doing this. My budget for this job is $4600 Cdn. This will have to get the materials (panels @ $42/ea, slides and hinges & misc.) and also feed my family. Can this be done profitably by means of a one-man-show (me) or am I wasting my time looking into the idea?
I appreciate your feedback!!
If I could provide the guys with an optimized printed cutting sheet, this would make my life and theirs much easier!!
Well, that's certainly true.
The dirty little secret with most panel software is that it reall only does 80% of the work. The human eye can spot things that the computer cannot. So, in your very-small shop format, you'd likely spend more time double checking the panel cut diagram than just drawing the cuts yourself.
Given the size of work you are currently thinking of, you might be better served by making yourself some 1/8 bass to-scale cut-outs of your "standard" parts (base end panels, vanity-height end panels, etc.) This would let you just layout your sheet with actual parts. (If you do that, don't cut the parts to allow for pencil lines--you need the extra to allow for the not-skinny saw kerfs that the panel shop's saw makes.)
I'd recommend to build your toe kicks separately, and not build them into the end panels. This makes the endpanels much simpler to cut, and slightly simplifies actuall installation (just takes a bit extra care designing the finished ends, is all). But, that's me (spent way too much time ciphering CAM stuff to make a 2 1/2" x 4 7/16" notch in too many endpanel sizes <tired sigh>).
Back when I worked for a cabinet company, our annual sales were around US$15-20 million; yet in Austin, we'd lose bids for custom work to 2 & 3 man custom shops. So, it's entirely possible for a person to make a living building casework. It can even be only a half day's work too (either the first 12 hours or the last 12 hours of the day--just like most other similar labours <g>).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
If all the cabs are the same or similiar, find a shop with CNC router who can do nested (panel optimization) parts in the plywood. You give them the dimensions, and they use their software to optimize the parts. Easy and quick and no errors.
I don't know how you assemble your cabs, but you could also ask if they might drill countersunk holes, etc. Not sure how cost effective this would in your area, but you might want to check into it. Lots quicker than a panel saw...
Unless you have a giant shop with automated machinery all paid for, and you buy 500 sheets of Melamine yourself, you'll never be cheaper than buying the boxes.
Check this place out: http://www.cabparts.com/main.html
I've never used them because I only do home offices and entertainment centers.
http://www.woodweb.com/index.html
they have a several cut sheet programs there for cabinets. I don't know how well they work or how much they cost.
Tks fredsmart....will check it out!
Just found this, seemed to fit your request:
http://cutlistplus.com/