Replies

1. 
   esch5995 | Sep 09, 2022 11:17pm | #1

   Your points have merit, but I personally prefer to build my cabinets because it let's me customize them for my storage needs and working styles. Commercial cabinets always will force you to adapt to them in some form. Another huge benefit is building shop cabinets let's you hone your skills, try different techniques and just become an all-around better woodworker on something that hey if it's not perfect it won't be the end of the world.

1. 
   sf1988 | Sep 09, 2022 11:27pm | #2

   Thanks for you input. You have a good point about customization possibilities. I recently purchased a set of woodworker shop cabinet plans off of a popular YouTuber and his plans have many custom features. I have made several shop cabinets in the past out of 3/4 BB ply but I can't even find it out here in NE Washington. I like your logo, I just moved out here from Williamsburg, VA after retiring from the gov service. I just saw some cabinets from Home Depot brand, Husky and New age that look like they might work for the larger cabinets and then I could still build my miter station and large assembly table. It will be nice if this whole supply shortage gets better. I would much rather build but it will cost me double just to build shop furniture these days. Thanks again

2. 
   ral3wood | Sep 10, 2022 01:52am | #3

   I would echo what Esch5995 says and would add that shop cabinetry is perfect for working on your own designs. It is fine to use someone else's designs for ideas but why not design them yourself - you will learn a LOT in that process. Will you screw things up, sure! But those are just learning opportunities and nothing better than shop cabinets for practice in design and construction!

   Other suggestion - I wouldn't bother with Baltic Birch - really over\kill for shop cabinetry. I find one of the better, cheaper, and even lighter options to be 3/4" "Shop Maple" plywood, or better yet our local hardwood dealer always has a stack of 3/4" plywood "seconds" usually with one face having some issues - but at $60/sheet an excellent value! Recently got three sheets of Walnut faced plywood at $60/sheet that was just a little imperfect on one of the two faces...! Gonna make an awesome Shaper Origin cart!

3. 
   ral3wood | Sep 10, 2022 01:55am | #4

   Forgot the other thing - My shop is in a constant state of being redesigned and I not infrequently revise and rework shop cabinetry to fit new tool needs. Easy when it is shop made and wood - not so easy with metal cabinetry!

4. 
   john_c2 | Sep 10, 2022 03:18am | #5

   It depends on if you want to and will enjoy building them, or if you just want the cabinets and get to work building other things.

   If you build, they will be custom and suited to your needs. But it's a bunch of time and work, and end up costing you a bunch more than what you can buy them for. If you can find it, Baltic birch is really pricey.

5. 
   _mj_ | Sep 10, 2022 06:13am | #6

   I used a school shop once to assemble a large project, free access and huge tables in a space off to the side. The shop was lined with metal cabinets. It was the absolute loudest workspace I have ever been in. When the kids were working I had to put in plugs. Unpleasant.

   My boxes are of any old "whitewood" or "sandeply" from a box store with nicer doors & faces with no finish. I have one rescued curbside cabinet that only needed hanging.

6. 
   DRBWWing | Sep 10, 2022 07:26am | #7

   It all depends on what your priorities are time vs cost.

   I’ve built all mine from cheap ply called Radiata. I made the doors and drawer fronts from the same, used Radiata boards.

   Cost wise you can still build them much cheaper.

   Good practice for building cabinets, if that’s in your future.

7. 
   eddo234 | Sep 10, 2022 09:28am | #8

   Our shop cabinets evolved over time, based on what old cabinets came out of a client’s home when we built them a new kitchen. Another option for you might be to look on Craigslist or other local source for used cabinets. Not 100% customizable, of course, but generally a huge savings, and you can add drawers, dividers, and shelves to get them closer to your exact needs. And I agree that BB is way overkill for shop cabinets.

8. 
   jharveyb | Sep 10, 2022 10:10am | #9

   Another option is to find a place that accepts donations of used building components and resells them. Here in Nashville it is Habitat for Humanity. You can often find used kitchen and bathroom cabinets there, and could modify them to your needs. That would get you past the need for large pieces of plywood.

9. 
   jdstreet | Sep 10, 2022 10:43am | #10

   If cost is the only criteria you should easily be able to choose. For me, I find it a source of pride to bring guests into my shop and be able to say that, yes I did build all the cabinets.

10. 
    stevieray | Sep 10, 2022 11:28am | #11

    I use a hybrid approach. Where I want tools to be stored and/or displayed in a certain way, I make my own cabinets. In my case, these are relatively small cabinets to contain hand tools and measuring and marking tools. And I made a sharpening station stand and an outfeed table for my table saw. But most storage is in store-bought cabinets. I bought five Home Depot kitchen base cabinets and a counter 15 feet long to top them, which fits on one wall and holds my chop saw and several bench top tools, with storage below in the base cabinets, which have a drawer on top and a shelf in the cabinet below--lots of room for storage. And then I bought four six-foot-high standard storage cabinets made of plastic. These nonspecific cabinets store the huge amount of "stuff"--clean rags, plastic gloves, felt pads for the bottom of table legs, glues, stray pieces of metal that might be useful, my tenoning jig, my dado set, spare cartridges for my Sawstop, etc. Stuff arrives all the time and it doesn't need custom cabinetry. I should mention that these store-bought storage items were cheap. And I'd rather be building furniture for my house.

11. 
    jfsksa | Sep 10, 2022 07:15pm | #12

    The first shop cabinet I built was about 60"T by 48"W and 24"D. Made from plywood with T&G doors. It holds a bunch of stuff. I have hand saws hanging from the inside of the doors. I could not imagine trying to pack my stuff into a metal pre-fab unit that's about 12" deep. Next to it is a shallow cabinet with finishing goods, glue, spray finishes, etc. One recommendation - measure what you want to store in the cabinet before you position the shelves. I have a shelf that's about 1/2" shorter than it should be to double stack quart cans of stain.

12. 
    pantalones868 | Sep 11, 2022 12:05am | #13

    Unless your talking about those heavy duty rolling tool cabinets that Snap On or Mac makes I'd give metal a miss. Things get banged up in a shop and even the metal on my cars wouldn't put up with it. The wear and tear on wooden shop cabinets gives them character, metal just looks like crap eventually. Someone brought up the noise factor and that can be a big deal. Anything you can do to take the bounce out of the noise ..... Cabinets are just boxes and commercially they are pretty cheap --sometimes. I would doubt you could make them for the price you would pay at the ikea store. You could always buy cabinets and by and by replace the doors and drawer fronts with something you made. If you want to spend money put it into a nice bench and maybe a DIY hanging cabinet for your more spiffy tools.
    I did build all the cabinets / shelves and benches in my shop but they are completely utilitarian and nothing to brag about. That isnt a problem because I don't invite anyone into my shop anyway. Most of the materials involved were scrap but 3/4" plywood scrap- any grade would do. So birch ,AC fir, CD all mixed up together. Base cabinets are also benches and absolutely anything that comes in contact with the floor has wheels. I found that doors on my lower cabinets just caused problems, Id have some set up and then found that I couldnt swing open a door and there was something I needed in there! So the doors disappeared. I tried sliding doors but they were a pain and limited what I could put inside so the base cabinets are just open shelves now . I keep most of my tools in their designated boxes so dust isn't an overwhelming problem. All this stuff has been modified countless times!

13. 
    geedubbee | Sep 11, 2022 09:10am | #14

    If generic uppers and lowers will meet your requirements I say go for it. As I get older I have to choose the things I want to spend time on. That being said, space is generally limited in home shops so customized cabinets go a lot farther than generic.

    Things like swing out panels or pull out trays that may suit the height and depth of what you plan to store can maximize your useful space. I say useful space because just open space crammed with stuff is not super useful.

    You can also customize commercial offerings if the structure is up to it.

    
14. 
    jc_clark | Sep 11, 2022 09:48am | #15

    I know Home Depot sells unfinished cabinets with oak frames
    cheaper than I can make them.

    I have upper wall cabinets in my garage that I made the sides out of particle board with no backs, ultimate in cheap, been using them for over 20 yrs.

15. 
    elmaduro | Sep 11, 2022 01:24pm | #16

    My take would be a woodshop should have wood. As others have mentioned, I'd look at the re-use places where there is usually a good selection of old & new cabinets. The big box stores also have unfinished cabinets that work well.

16. 
    rob_ss | Sep 12, 2022 04:26am | #17

    Probably of no value at all, but a friend of mine spotted a cabinet in a sale- cost $2. He bought it because he thought I might use it.
    Sadly it had some water damage so I made a new MDF carcass for it, and duly hung the nice glass doors in place.
    Glass. Doors.
    It took a few weeks but now I have MDF doors.
    The cabinet is the size it was on the side of the road but entirely organically not one bit what it was before.
    I also have a bunch of shop-made cabinets of various quality. With the practice I can knock out a square cabinet in ply or MDF in less time than it takes me to drive to the home centre and buy the material. Practice I got building cabinets for the shop.
    Like many hobby woodworkers, I am always changing things round to accommodate the latest project or whim so having cabinets that are not in the least precious is awesome.
    I'd avoid metal though - like those glass doors, all it takes is one tap with a 4 x 12, and if you break or lose one of the nice plastic drawers for an organiser, they just never look the same.

17. 
    jeff | Sep 12, 2022 10:39am | #18

    Nothing wrong with buying them. I now prefer wood over metal because dust shows more on the sides of metal cabinets—metal preferrred for flammable materials. I just built uppers and lowers for about 20 linear feet of cabinets for my basement. Assembling and finishing the cabinets overwhelmed my over sized three car garage.

18. 
    joeleonetti | Sep 12, 2022 02:13pm | #19

    If I were to redo a garage for woodworking, I'd keep an eye out for used cabinets and such and visit thrift stores for things like hutches. I've seen a few YouTube videos where folks have used inexpensive used furniture for shop storage. I like the way it looks. Just a thought.

19. 
    jareed | Sep 13, 2022 11:36am | #20

    I have a combination of used upper kitchen cabinets from our house, some great metal cabinets from the local hospital when they remodeled (very expensive when new) and a set of cabinets for hand tools that I built 25 years ago that I am in the process of redesigning and building. I do think it makes senses to build and design cabinets for your most used and important tools. My shop is very nice and complete for what I do as a hobbyist (some gallery work) but always in a state of flux. Everyone has a different ideal for what their shop needs to look like, mine needs to be workable, I'm not concerned about it being a showplace. It just needs to be what I like and it is, it's my favorite place to be during our long cold winters.

20. 
    sf1988 | Sep 14, 2022 03:47pm | #21

    Thanks everyone for your feedback. I appreciate your comments and will take the time to build my own. It will take longer, but in the long run it will pay off more. I will purchase a few Rockler stand kits to build two medium size assembly tables and put them on wheels. I like two smaller tables that can be connected together for one large table or split apart to hold longer pieces. I have researched many shops online and came up with a hybrid layout that once completed will fit my shop well. Thanks again to all.

1. 
   jharveyb | Sep 14, 2022 09:56pm | #22

   Thanks a bunch for coming back and letting us know what you plan to do in general. Sometimes if feels like we never hear from the original poster (OP) even to thank us, much less to fill us in on what the results are. Thanks for your consideration!

2. 
   DRBWWing | Sep 15, 2022 10:29am | #23

   I'd be interested in learning about those tables.

   Can you provide a link?

21. 
    sf1988 | Sep 16, 2022 01:47am | #24

    Rockler Woodworking supply is having a upgrade your shop sale 15% off until the end of this month. You can custom make cabinet frames and their “T” track table tops are on a really good sale. Here is their link

    https://www.rockler.com/workshop-accessories/benches-and-work-stations/workshop-stands-legs-and-parts?sid=V20854&utm_medium=email&utm_source=batch&utm_campaign=20220902_B_D_Upgrade-Your-Shop-Sale-Starts-Now_V20854&mcID=922%3A630cdb56264f7c21e204cdf4%3Aot%3A5dca0cf217295b2bb9b3fa5e%3A1&linkID=#/filter:ss_morewaystoshop:Sale/sort:created_at:desc/