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Originally Posted by BrianF
What does one need to do to make a pine cabinet? I have a plunge router. Can I make finger joints with it?
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Yeah, you can do finger joints but I prefer half blind dovetails and 3/4" solid pine. Here's how I build cabs -
frettech.com/rfc/cab - dovetails provide a super strong locking joint that don't even need to be glued, though I throw a dab of aliphatic resin glue (yellow glue) into each dovetailed slot before joining panels.
I have a router dedicated just for dovetailing, an old and ancient 1hp Sears Craftsman my dad used for cabinet making many decades ago. It does a great job for dovetailing and I've probably built nearly 70 cabs with the little bugger. I retrofitted the base plate to accept the proper bit collar for the PC dovetail jig. It takes some 'sperimentin' to dial in the right bit depth for yer board stock, and once ya find it, lock that sucker in and don't mess with it! I always use carbide bits, too.
Most dovetail jigs require a specific schedule for the dovetailing process, here's mine for the Porter-Cable jig ...
Besides getting down the router/jig settings and process, buying good wood is super important - you want straight boards with as little cupping as possible. I regularly pass up really nice looking boards because they're just too warped on the width (cupped). Knots don't hafta be an issue, they can add some rustic character to a cab, and a shot of super glue wicked into a knot (after finishing!) will make it hard and a permanent part of the cab.
I don't cover the cabs, just stain 'em and clear coat with polyU - lots more wood resonance, particluarly with light white or sugar pine. Using solid hardwoods can make for tougher cab building when sanding out the dovetails and sides, and routing the corner rounds. Finding thin maple veneer over a softwood (pine) would be the way to go, if ya can find that stuff. Doug Stalter at Vintone makes gorgeous hardwood cabs -
www.vintone.com Don't forget, a hardwood cab can easily weigh 2 to 4 times what a pine cab will weigh!