How do I create working cabinet drawings?

[MisterFixIt1952]

A good, down and dirty way to get perfect cabinet plans is to design your basic cabinet box, one for each room 36h x 24d for kitchens and 32h x 21d for baths (or what ever suits you). Then make a general cut away showing the construction details using any program you like (including Chief). Then use a spread sheet to calculate all of the parts and door/drawer sizes. Once you have laid out 1 cabinet the rest are easy. The old timers in the shop I used to work at used story sticks to lay out the boxes by hand. I used to own a furniture company back in the day, and built futon bed frames and assorted bedroom furniture using nothing more than hand drawn cut sheets. Using a spread sheet for the part dimensions is easy to do and completely accurate. Just check your design out thoroughly against your results. If one is good all of them are good. Also you can send your printout to a door maker and have the doors and drawer faces pre-made. The main thing to keep track of is the door swings, so they get mounted correctly. Using a spread sheet you can also print out labels for your parts, marking them with a cabinet and opening number.

This is what all of the fancy programs do, just in a more graphical way. If you are only doing a one of a kind or the occasional kitchen, the time spent on the spread sheet is well worth it as it can be used over and over with little or no modification. Also if you go to a kitchen showroom with a tape, pad and pencil, you can find out anything you need to know about how the boxes are built.

This advice isn't fancy but it's effective and cheaper than $3000 or more for a cabinet design program. Although I think you can get a stripper for about $1500 if you don't need the bells and whistles.