SketchUp: Making Cabinets - 168

I was recently asked by a relative to make a couple vanities and this is what I came up with in SketchUp and I've actually already built the cabinets and installed them but I'm going to walk you through the process of making this larger vanity here in SketchUp and maybe that'll give you a little bit better understanding of how I constructed these if you want to make some cabinets of your own now keep in mind that there are several several several different methods to make cabinets and I primarily used pocket holes for my joinery on this cabinet and if you would like to use a different joinery method then by all means do so but I'm going to show you how I made this particular cabinet so let's open up a new document and let's draw on the blue green plane a rectangle R4 rectangle from the origin and let's just draw this up my Dimensions say the first number is the height so let's go with 30 for the height and a front to back measurement of 20 61 in enter now standard pretty much standard bathroom vanities are 30 in tall 21 in front to back kitchen cabinets are typically 36 in tall and 24 in front to back but anyway now that I have my profile it's P4 Push Pull and let's pull this out uh 75 in enter that's the length of this cabinet that I need to make and just like the bar stools I'm going to select all my faces and delete them one by one click and delete click and delete and that leaves me with a wireframe that I can triple click G4 component enter this is the boundary box of my vanity so that'll save me a lot of measuring and figuring I can just drag and drop as needed let's draw the outside panels first R for rectangle and I'm going to draw this side I also have a little toe kick down here so R for rectangle and I'm going to go 3 comma 3 I don't know if there's a standard dimension for this toe kick but I I've always just used 3 in that seems to be seems to do the job just fine so let's click and delete that and I've actually got a vertical line I need to delete and a horizontal line I need to delete P4 Push Pull let's pull this out 75 in enter typically on manufactured cabinets that I encounter that I see that this piece of plywood is normally about half of an inch thick I'm just going to use 3/4 inch thick plywood or I did on this project because I simply just didn't want to buy another piece of/ inch when I could fit it all in 3/4 space bar triple click G4 component enter let's drop some color on here I like to distinguish my parts with colors M4 move control brings up copy from here all the way over to this corner and I'm going to add some joinery to this and I want it to update on the appropriate side so I drug it along the red Direction Let's flip it along the red Direction and that just gives me a left and a right piece and and not two lefts or two rights so actually I just messed up I did not incorporate or I did not take into consideration the thickness of the face frame when I made this so let's double click to edit the part and I could either push this in 3/4 push this in 3/4 or just use a window to select it all and that selected every bit of this facing on on this side M for move and let's move it along the green Direction 75 in enter basically push p both of them at the same time and what I did over here of course updated right there let's draw the face frame and when you're working with cabinets you want the outside of your face frame to be completely vertical with no interruptions so that way you don't have any end grain being exposed and I'll show you what I'm talking about in just a minute R for rectangle from this corner and I'm going to drop a rectangle like so the First Dimension is the longer of the two and I want that to I want that to be 2 in comma and by leaving the second dimension blank it will only update the first one 2 in comma and it's not doing it so let me back up don't know why RP for rectangle there we go 2 in comma enter there we go P4 Push Pull and let's pull this to the bottom of this face right here space bar triple click G4 component enter now let's grab the next color so we can distinguish Parts M4 move control brings up copy and I'm going to grab this corner holding shift to constrain to the red axis and I'm going to drop it off into this corner now I'm not going to make any joint around these so I'm not going to bother with flipping this left and right now my horizontal pieces horizontal Pieces come next so R for rectangle from this top corner and I'm just going to drop a rectangle the first one is my height so I'll go with two comma enter P4 Push Pull and let's just pull this all the way over to there space bar triple click G for component enter let's drop another color on there and M for move control brings up copy let's copy one right next to it and then add another 4.5 enter I don't know if there's a standard depth of the opening for drawers but I just measured some that I had here 4 and a half Ines was fine so that's what I went with M4 move control brings up copy I'm going to add another one here to the bottom now when you're making cabinet face frames or laying them out or just trying to figure out what you need start with the outside pieces and make them vertical and that way none of your end grain for these horizontal pieces will be shown from the side so you go vertical horizontal and then vertical you just flip flop flip flop back and forth now I don't really know how much space I I need for the sink because I didn't know what kind of sink she wanted so I'm going to make two fake drawers and then two two regular drawers t for tape measure and let's just drop a guideline that is 17 in away from this side right here and I will draw a style R for rectangle and let's drop it off like so First Dimension is my width and instead of going 2 in I need to go 2.5 enter and the reason being is let's P for Push Pull and let's pull this up really quick the reason being is this drawer front will overhang the the entire perimeter of this opening by 1/ half of an inch so this board only has a half of an inch opening that has to taken into consideration this one is going to get the half of an inch from this side and then the half of an inch from this side so you need to add a little bit more space so that the whatever is left over right here looks appropriate right here and right here if not things will start to look crowded in the middle space bar triple click G4 component enter and let's just drop another color like we've been doing M4 move control brings up copy and I'm going to copy this one right down here because it's in the correct orientation in the correct shape but I'm going to right click and say you are unique you are no longer a copy that way I can change the color real quick space bar double click to edit the part P4 Push Pull and let's just pull this down to that reference point let's delete my guideline and now I'm going to do the same thing on this side T4 tape measure let's go 17 in Enter space bar use a window to only select what's inside this rectangle M4 move control brings up copy holding shift to constrain to Red I will copy it over to this dotted line and I can delete that now this opening is way too big for just a single dwar so like I said I'm going to make two out of it copy this again M4 move control brings up copy I'm grabbing the midpoint of this this green piece and I'm going to drop it off at the midpoint of this horizontal green piece and that gives me a perfectly centered two pieces right here now these are different sizes this is like 17 in and I think this is 14 and a half something like that 14 and 3/4 which is fine I like to have different sizes but still remain symmetrical because it gives your eyes just something to look at if the whole cabinet is everything the same exact size it gets a little repetitive and boring in in my opinion so just changing up the dimensions while still remaining symmetrical uh in my opinion gives the eyes a little bit something to look at so the face frame is done and let's go ahead and let's actually work on the Shelf so R4 rectangle and I'm just I'm going to draw this just to remain horizontal I'm just going to Draw It On The Ground real quick P4 Push Pull let's pull this up 75 in Enter space bar triple click to select everything M for move and I'm going to grab this point pressing up on the keyboard will will constrain me to the blue axis and I'm going to drop it off so that the top of my shelf is constrained with the top of my opening here and then I can P4 Push Pull and just pull it out to where it needs to be space bar triple click G4 component enter now that just put my shelf in the approp uh in the appropriate location let's add a color to it whoops wrong one right there there we go so we need some supports for this this shelf or else it's just going to fall down R for rectangle from here to this bottom Edge right there my second dimension is the smaller of the two and I'm just using 3/4 in plywood so to only modify the second dimension I'll press comma 75 enter P4 Push Pull let's pull this all the way over here to this corner space bar triple click G4 component enter now let's drop another color on top of that and just to distinguish Parts need another support here in the front M4 move control brings up copy and let's drag this over to there and that will be plywood support that won't ever be seen But I want to cover up this plywood Edge so so let's make a solid wood toe kick R rectangle from this corner all the way over to here P4 Push Pull let's push this out 75 in Enter space bar triple click G4 component enter let's drop a color on it and things are getting a little bit too close down there as far as colors go so just drop another color on there I'm doing a horrible job of making these contrast but that's okay all right I'm done with my wireframe here so I'm just going to select the wireframe and delete it now I've got two plywood supports here for the bottom of the shelf and I also need one to connect these two corners so let's just grab one of these and for move control brings up copy and just drop it off right there now the purpose of this is to give the back of the countertop something to sit on and also you can reach in here and screw through this to secure the cabinet to the wall now now to secure the countertop to the cabinet we need something horizontal to screw through so R rectangle from this corner over to Here My First Dimension is my left to right width so let's type in two comma enter P4 Push Pull let's push this down uh 75 in Enter space bar triple click G for component enter M for move actually before I move it and copy it let's just drop a color on there and I'm running out of contrast and colors so just whatever M4 move control brings up copy and I'm just going to copy this all the way to the other side now I am going to do some pocket holes in this so let's right click and say flip along the red and that way when I've add my pocket holes it'll update on the appropriate side over here so these two strips you can from the bottom side of the cabinet you can screw through these into the countertop to secure it assuming that you're your using countertop you can screw through this wouldn't work with granite obviously all right let's build some doors and to make the door I'm going to make a little guideline first so r a rectangle from here to here that is the opening f for offset and let's click on the inside and drag to the outside 05 in enter this gives me a half of an inch overhang all the way around let's double click to get this Center section away let's delete it nice still have this whole piece right here I'm going to go ahead and make this a component that way it's just my reference guideline area R for rectangle and I'm going to go from here to here let's make the width of this of this um style two and half two and 1/2 in the second dimension is my width so let's press comma 2.5 enter P4 Push Pull it's pull this out 75 in enter now these are going to be tongue and groove so let's just go ahead and draw that tongue really really quick um R for rectangle from this midpoint and I want the rectangle to be let's see the first one is my let's go 0.25 comma 05 enter now that's the shape of it but I need to center it so let's grab this M for move and let's drag it along the green axis and say let's Center it over here to this point P4 Push Pull let pull this all the way down or push it all the way down to chop that away so that gave me my perfectly centered half of an inch Groove I'm sorry quarter inch Groove that is one half of an inch deep space bar triple click G4 component enter M for move control brings up copy and I'm going to go from one side to of my boundary box to the other right click and flip along the red now you see why we've been flipping back and forth because now we have a left and a right as opposed to two lefts let's click on our little guide box down here we no longer need it so let's delete it and let's drop some color on these R for rectangle and let's draw the rails and they go like so and I'm actually just going to keep drawing all these rectangles grab this Center Line delete it Center Line delete it P4 Push Pull let's push this down 2.5 in enter space bar triple click G for component enter now I didn't make this this bottom Groove in here and actually I'll go ahead and make it really quick I was going to show you something else but I can do that later let's double click to edit the part L4 line from here to here from here two here this gives me a Groove in the middle let's P push P let's just push this up 0 five inches enter so now I have my groove for the panel this piece fits in the uh grooves right here just fine let's grab this M4 move control brings up copy from this corner holding shift constraint to the blue axis and let's just reference off one of these now we drw it along the blue so we need to right click and say flip along the blue I should have dropped my color beforeand hand that way I don't have to do it twice but that's not a huge deal let's just give it some color that's just way too bright there we go so that's the door and R for rectangle I'm just going to draw this right here P4 push pull this is the panel we're going to pull the panel just right there space bar triple click G for component enter now the way I have the panel it's not actually in that Groove and all of that stuff is hidden so you can either use K for hidden lines but that may be confusing to edit your Dimensions you could either use the TR the X-ray button and that still may be confusing but what I like to do is when I when I don't really have a good visual but I know what needs to happen let's just click on the part M for move control brings up copy and let's just copy one off into space I know that I need to go half of an inch on all directions so let's just double click edit the part and uh P for Push Pull let's pull this out 05 in enter let's pull this out 0.5 in enter and then do the same thing with these two faces let's go down 0.5 in enter and let's go out 0.5 in Enter space bar and click to get out of my part so basically these are copies so what I did here automatically updated right there except I never had to move my part uh to actually or never had to move any of these to actually uh modify the dimensions so I just modify a copy and then just delete it so I Chang the size of this without ever modifying it just by using a copy let's select this this this this and this by holding shift let's say G for component enter now all of this door is a component let's M for move control brings up copy and let's holding shift to constrain to the the red axis let's drop it off right there and then we need to go half of an inch on the other side so let's go another 5 in enter now that door is where it needs to be let's make another one for right here now we're going to have to edit this one because it's not the appropriate size but that's okay M4 move control brings up copy and let's do the same thing let's drop it off right here add another .5 in this direction and then let's let's see it's explo explode this component cuz I made all parts this a component let's move this M4 move let's move this style right there and then move it again half of an inch this way just like we have been doing so now my vertical boards here are in the appropriate spot these are too long same with this and these are copies so let's first off say click on this one click on this one and say let's make these two unique from the other four so now what do I update here or what I modify here will be updated right here but not messing up these so let's double click to edit the part and instead of push pulling all of this stuff let's use a window to select it like so M for move and let's move it this direction now before I drop this down let's look at the length down there Dimensions that says says I'm subtracting 2 and one4 of an inch so let's drop it off right there and of course it updated right there that two and one4 I got to do the same thing to this panel so let's double click to edit the part use a window to select the left hand side M for move and we're just moving just the small geometry and it is an it is a copy still so let me back up right click and say make unique let's double click to edit this one do the same thing use a window to select only the left hand inside geometry and for move let's push this in 2.25 enter now it's in the appropriate location so let's select this holding shift to select this this this and that Center panel G4 component enter now this this panel is a door this uh uh this group component is this door is a component holy cow excuse me M4 move control brings up copy and and let's copy right there and then another. 5 in enter so there's the doors and this video is getting a little long so I'm probably going to keep screwing up but there's the doors let's make the drawers I like to start with my uh front to back pieces as opposed to my left to right pieces I guess my side the sides of my drawers so let's R for rectangle and let's just draw a piece in the second dimension is my width so I need to go comma 75 in enter P4 Push Pull let's push this all the way to the back and then let's subtract 05 in from that so that way it won't bottom out right there now the the um the drawer slide is about half of an inches half of an inch off the the base of here so let's go5 enter and I also want to just put the bottom of the drawer right under the bottom of the side so let's push this again 375 cuz I'm going to use 38 of an inch plywood for the bottom of that so that's my height that I have so far and I also want some leeway up here so let's just push it down again 25 in so that's pretty much the size of the drawer side that I need space bar triple click G4 component enter let's drop a color on here M for move and the thickness of the drawer slide is typically. 5 in enter now let's M for move control brings up copy let's copy one of these all the way over to this side and then take into consideration the thickness of the drawer slide which is 0.5 in enter I can draw the bottom panel really quick by R for rectangle starting here and stopping there P4 Push Pull let's push this down 375 in Enter space bar triple click G for component enter and that's the bottom panel I need a front and back piece so R for rectangle from here to here P4 Push Pull let push let's push this in 75 in Enter space bar triple click G for component enter M for move control brings up copy from here holding shift all the way back to here so that's my drawer the exact size that I need drawn out to this face frame in this cabinet and all I have to do is just Dimension this out and I have a good template for the drawers so let's select all of these M for move control brings up copy and I'm going to reference off the bottom right hand corner of this opening that way I can just drop it off at the bottom right hand corner of this opening so there's my there's my two drawers the drawer fronts are really easy R for rectangle this is what we have f for offset let's go another 0.5 in Enter space bar double click oh crud back out double click to select this area and the perimeter delete it P4 Push Pull and let's just push this out 75 in enter spacebar triple click G4 component enter now that's my draw front attached directly to my drawer and it's got a same half of an inch overhang as the doors do now you can add whatever whatever type of profile you want to the edges or just leave it plain Jane like I did M4 move control brings up copy and you can just reference off of anything really to go all the way to this other side well if you can see it there we go and let's do the same thing let's grab this M4 move control brings up copy let's drop this off right there let's right click and say you are unique you are no longer a copy P4 Push Pull and let's actually double click that of the part P4 Push Pull drop it off right there click to get out grab this M for move control brings up copy and let's bring another one right there so that is the cabinet and I'm not going to add some any more color here but you can understand what we're doing uh also something I didn't take into consideration when I made the original model is the drawer slides will attach to the face frame right here but there's nothing to attach back here so what I did is R for rectangle and let's just go down of course I can't all right let's go with 75 for the First Dimension comma enter P4 Push Pull let's pull this out 2.5 in enter and then let's pull this down at least to here and then another 1 in Enter space bar triple click G4 component enter video is getting a little long so let me speed up just a little bit M for move and I'm going to grab this corner and holding shift to constrain to the red axis I'm going to drop it there and then give it that 05 in enter M for move control brings up copy and let's go all the way over to here and then another 0.5 in for the drawer slide enter now let's drop it down three qu of an inch let's grab both of these M4 move control brings up copy let's come over here right click and say flip along the red Direction M4 move and let's move this to the side of the drawer and then give it another 05 in for the drawer slide I'm going to pocket hole these into there and that will give me enough space to attach a drawer slide to it so that's the cabinet but how do you want to do the general construction of this thing well um for the face frame you can use biscuits but I'm going to use pocket holes let's go on the back side and this horizontal piece is exposed so let's just double click to Ed the part and this is how I represent pocket holes and making a plan let's go 2.5 in enter and L4 line from here to here and instead of clicking again let's just press L without moving the mouse and that gives me a symmetrical Arrow select this G for component enter I made a component in a component M for move control brings up copy let's copy one right here space bar click this one Q for rotate and let's control to copy while we rotate like so so now we got two in the other direction M4 move from the point like I said I'm trying to speed up a little bit this video is pretty long all the way over to there now the face frame I've got one two and inside there somewhere inside there is another another green horizontal piece and it updated all my pocket holes where they need to be let's edit these green center Styles so let's double click to edit the part L4 line and let's do the same thing 2.5 enter L for line down here let's draw the arrow like so space bar use a window to select just that g for component enter M for move control brings up copy from here to here space bar hold shift to select both of these Q for rotate and let's just rotate two more 180 by pressing the control button to copy M4 move and remember we're still in the edit part mode for this green style and I just put two pocket holes on the top two pocket holes in the bottom click to get outside of my part and of course it updated to the copies so that's all the pocket holes for the face frame actually no it's not I got to do these as well but the cool thing is these are in appropriate orientation so I can double click to edit this grab that one hold shift grab that one contrl C for copy get out of my part double click edit this part control V for paste and let's paste these two right like so Q for rotate and let's press control bring up copy as we rotate M for move and let's just drop these down on the bottom Edge so that represents pocket holes pocket holes pocket holes all over the place now I need to draw pocket holes on the inside of this but I've got a bunch of crap in my way so M for move control brings up copy let's copy these outside here double click to edit the part and here we go more pocket holes L for line let's go 2.5 in enter L for line and let's make the arrow use a window to select only that g for component enter M for move control brings up copy and let's copy this up uh let's go I don't know 8 enter comma 3 whoops what happened grab that M for moove control brings up copy let's go 8 enter oh I pressed comma three I need to do X3 X3 enter and there we go one two three that's good enough for me now remember this is a copy so it update it over here that's the whole point of making this so let's grab that and delete it this is a copy from here and I flip-flop so the pocket holes are on the inside here and and they should be on the inside right there like so this board is going to be pocket holes screwed in there as well and there's the pocket holes in the appropriate orientation so let's double click that at this part again grab this one grab this one contrl + C go back into this one and contrl + V already made and the appropriate orientation why draw them again if you can just copy them let's grab this one M for move and move them like so let's grab both of these Q for rotate and rotate it around M for move grab the front and we're going to go to this other side like so now this bottom piece and this bottom piece are going to be pocket hole screwed into the bottom shelf but they are copies of this one and I don't want this one to update so let's right click and say you are unique now I can edit these grab this Q for rotate and let's just rotate one like so M4 move put this on the edge M4 move again control brings up copy grab this one go I don't know 10 in enter X6 enter X7 enter that works for me works out rather well so that's that now the bottom shelf I want to pocket hole screw it into the side and I also want to pocket all screw it into the front face Brint but there's a bunch of crap in my way so let's M for move control brings up copy let's drop a copy let's edit the copy and it will update right there so let's edit this part l L for line let's draw 2.5 in enter L4 line for the arrow something like that sure that works G for component enter M for move control brings up copy I'm drawing on the wrong plane let's just go ahead and delete that L4 line 2.5 in enter L4 line again from here to here like so there we go G4 component enter M4 move control brings up copy and let's copy another one 10 in that way actually let's go with 8 enter X2 enter good enough for me let's grab both of these Q for rotate and let's rotate them around M4 move and let's put them on this Edge over here there we go Q for rotate let's grab this one Q for rotate let's copy another one down like so M for move and let's put it on the edge M for move control brings up copy let's copy another one on edge uh 10 in enter X6 enter X7 enter that works for me that worked out really well so now I have the pocket holes in the appropriate orientation to attach to the face frame and of course both of these will attach to the side it's much easier to edit a copy when there's a bunch of crap in your way so let's just go ahe and delete the copy and I think that might be it uh drawers you can pocket all screw these you make these however you want to I'm not going to represent that and this board right here it's not really that important to draw it out but it gets pocket all screwed into here and here all along the side and then back here and back here so that was a rather lengthy video If you stuck around this far then kudos to you but that's typically how I make my cabinets a lot of different ways to make them but that's the general construction for me