How do I create working cabinet drawings?

[WendyWelton]

And - Adam - the way to do what you want is to use the back clipping section camera to cut a section through the cabinet in question, then use the cad tools to add to the section as generated by Chief.

I agree with the others that 99% of cabinet folks will not only not need this, but will see you providing it as a sign of either inexperience or over-finickiness. What they actually need is a 1/2" scale floor plan, with the cabinets dimensioned and labeled, and 1/2" elevations with the same labels and dimensions.

If you really do want to do shop drawings, it's just adding more information at a larger scale.

Tools for you to learn - Back Clipping Section Camera - your cad tools (line, box, etc) - how to control the size of text and arrows in dimensions - text with line tool - regular text tool. If you get into actual shop drawings, look at how to apply fill to closed polylines. All of these are in your book and/or the videos. Pay no attention to us poking at each other and come back with more specific questions once you've gotten started.

[adamjedgar]

your answer Allen is right in front of us all.

firstly, this is an education forum isnt it.
perhaps this guy might want shop drawings because his teacher wants them as part of a project (i dont remember anyone asking him about why he wants them)!

second, perhaps you could create our friend's working drawings for him using chief. id be very interested to see how long it takes you to complete them!

as for me, i give to ceasar what is ceasars, and to god what is gods!(figuratively speaking of course, cause im a slackass)

by the way, i am a genuine fan of chief. i love the program and wish it had the sort of cad capabilities that autocad has. trouble is, i also realise that kind of product would be almost impossible for a little guy like me to afford to buy and i am so grateful that chief is a rich mans program at a poor mans price!

[dean3]

There are plenty of times when a cabinet deail drawing is needed. I am a kitchen designer / dealer. I design custom kitchens and need to relay some of that information to my cabinet maker or even the guys in my own shop. Yes you may not need to create a detail drawing of every cabinet on a job, but if you are doing custom cabinets you are going to need some if you want your cabinets built the way you designed them. This goes from a simple specing out an oven cabinet, which is what I came on here to look for. Lets say a tall cabinet with a single wall oven and a separate built in microwave above. Cheif already doesn't make it very easy to set this up, but I still need to let the cabinet maker know, how high is the bottom drawer, oven cutout, micro cut out, spacing in between.

[MisterFixIt1952]

Hi,

This is my first time at "ChiefTalk", having been recently introduced to the program by a friend. I am writing this because I ran across this discussion about cabinets and cabinet design software. I designed custom cabinets for almost 10 years. I did the design and and shop layouts for more than 4,000 kitchen and bath projects including 6 "Street of Dreams" homes. Most of the jobs were new construction but there were also a lot of remodels and McMansions. The CAD program I used was Cabinetware. Cabinetware is a "dedicated" cabinet design and layout program which at the time, was the premier, production cabinet program used by large manufacturers as well as smaller cabinet shops.

I have been out of the business for quite a while (1995) having gone into the computer/network support business, but I believe that Cabinetware is still #1 for custom and modular cabinet production. This type of program, along with another called 2020 (mainly used by modular designers), is used by cabinet shops and manufacturers to detail/design cabinets complete with a cut-sheet and assembly diagram for each cabinet and their sub assemblies, drawers, frames and doors. Cabinetware also optimizes and batches several jobs together to minimize material waste. all jobs were electronically sent to a semi automated CNC beam saw for cutting and a multi-tool CNC milling machine for boring, dado/rabbeting and finish cutting, notching etc.

As a mater of fact, I started out my career as a mechanical engineer building the plant, installing and setting up the equipment and systems and ended up staying on for the next 8 years as the "Chief" cabinet designer (little pun there). Most modern cabinet shops use cabinetware or similar programs to maximize efficiency, reduce waste and most of all, reduce costly errors (What do you mean the silverware drawer hits the dish washer handle?).

Most architects would conceptualize a kitchen or bath space, then hand that portion of the project over to the cabinet people. We would then meet with the customer and iron out the details and preferences (material, door styles, color and hardware, etc.). We would then produce preliminary designs and detail drawings (with 3D renderings if needed) for final approval by the customer. Our sales reps. would also measure the finished spaces, after construction, before sending the final measurements to the layout and design department for finalization and construction.

It was not unusual for us to not even meet with the architect on any but the most expensive or unusual homes. Although we frequently met with builders and contractors and the occasional interior designer.

Custom cabinet building is as much an art form as it is a craft and each shop has their own style of construction. The only exception to this is 32mm European style cabinets, often referred to as "boxes" (for obvious reasons). Most of the 32mm boxes are prefabbed or factory built in modular sizes. The only distinguishable difference between brands is the add-on hardware or door styles. This is why Big Box Stores sell European style cabinets, often using 2020 to do the modular layouts.

It takes a lot of experience and knowledge to consistently produce, mistake free, custom cabinets in a production environment. Even using programs such as Cabinetware. There are still smaller "Old School" shops around but they are generally relegated to the smaller remodeling market or the very high-end custom market. These shops tend to specialize in exotic woods and custom detail and trim projects.

It has been a lot of years since I discussed my old profession as a kitchen and bath designer having spent the last, almost 20 years, in network wiring closets or mucking around in the electronic guts of some malfunctioning piece of technology. I have enjoyed sharing my bit of knowledge with you about the custom cabinet business. I guess I still have some sawdust in my veins (as well as a "Honkin-Big, 2 blade table saw in my shop). The only designing I do these days is the design of my 1913 craftsman, whole-house remodel, complete with built-in AV system, home theater and 4 lovely new bathrooms complete with a urinal in my shop. I designed the kitchen in "92" during the first of 3 rounds of remodeling.

When I finally finish my project this summer I will start on my last big project, a New England style barn house, designed using Chief Architect. The house will be ell shaped with a huge shop on one leg with an apartment over it. I am using a 40' shipping container for the lower back foundation, under the shop. I plan on storing all of my accumulated treasures in the container, using a home designed and built elevator to access the upper floor and the storage container. This should give me enough room for my home built CNC mill, CNC plasma cutting table (4'x8') and CNC lathe along with a hydraulic auto lift, tool room and of course my "Honkin-Big" table saw and assorted other wood working and metal working equipment (I took up welding and metal fab in my old age). I will share my progress and drawings with the group as my project progresses, sometime later this summer.

I hope this information is helpful to people or students just getting into the residential design and building profession. Now if I can just get Chief to let me input my multi-level foundation, balloon framing and double basement walls correctly.....

Sincerely,
MisterFixIt1952