Cabinetmaking — "Elena Starts Out"

During the dry fit, I discuss what we need to do next before we can actually assemble the cabinet.    We will illustrate these considerations on these pages.    First, I have her draw pencil lines of where a rabbet will be cut.  Many of today's cabinets from the big box stores skip having rabbets, and they use thin stock for the back.    This probably saves 7 to 10 lbs. of weight and a little in cost, but I think that the cabinet's strength relies on a solid back. This is especially true when we make the upper cabinets. They have to hang on the back. A reinforced back strip can be used for this, but I think rabbeting the 3/4" back is just the better way.
	In addition to penciling where the rabbet will be cut, she also is marking for the base. She will cut dados in both sides and the backs for this base.
She has placed a piece of scrap white melamine board under the router and with the switch in OFF position, she plunges the router and locks it in the plunged position. She will use this as the "zero" reference point.
	With the router still plunged, she can set the plunge depth rod to 1/4" using the brass 1/4" rod.
She attaches the dust collection hose to the router's dust port. She is using the Festool OF 1400 router. It offers a number of dust ports for use depending on the operation. For rabbeting and dadoing, we find that this dust port that surrounds the bit works best.
	She is using a 3/4" mortising bit and this test dado shows that the white melamine material fits into this dado perfectly. With the white melamine particle core board and MDF material, we find that the 3/4" thickness is pretty exact. On the other hand, veneer core plywood tends to be undersized and we would have to make a narrower dado and rabbet. We will cover that method in time.
Elena is going to setup to make the rabbet cut on this edge first. We have cut two scraps of MDF that will serve as guide blocks. She places them at the edge of the panel and eases the guide rail to abut them.
	To help keep the guide rail in position, she has attached the "Gecko." It is a fairly new product in Festool's catalog. It has two suction pads that can be pumped to hold onto smooth surfaces. I know the glass and solid countertop people use these, but I am not sure whether they will work on the white melamine. We did wash off the panel's surface before using. Elena found that she has to press down on the whole unit before pumping the suction cup. It did help to keep the rail from moving but it does not work well enough to lift the panel.
She adjusts the router until the mortising bit is just at the edge of her rabbet pencil mark.
	When she adjusts the router to the line, she is moving the router and its mounting rods. When she gets where she wants it to be, she fastens the rods so that the router can be moved along the guide rail. This sounds way more complex than it is.    Also, note that she has another scrap of white melamine on this edge. The router and the "outrigger" can ride this piece to keep the router from dipping during the cut.
She makes a test cut and checks the depth. It is exactly 1/4" — just where it is suppose to be. It is important to set the depth accurately since the final width of the cabinet will be somewhat dependent on the rabbet and dado depths.	—
	We have made up a different set of spacer blocks for setting the guide rail for making the dado for the bottom shelf or floor.

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