24″ × 30″ wall cabinet plans

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw and a straight edge (or have the store cut the sheets)
• Hammer
• Table saw or track saw for ripping
• Stud finder
• Level
• Circular saw with a bevel setting, or a table saw
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part. Cut sheets with the good face down when using a circular saw: the blade splinters the top face.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Edge-band

   Iron edge banding onto every front edge that shows, and all four edges of each door and drawer front. Trim and sand.

   Set a household iron to "cotton" with the steam off. Cut each strip of banding about 1″ longer than the edge, lay it glue side down so it hangs a little past both faces, and slide the iron along it slowly, about 10 seconds per foot.

   While the glue is still hot, rub the banding down hard with a scrap block. Let it cool, then trim the ends with a sharp utility knife and the overhanging sides with an edge-banding trimmer or a sanding block held at a slight angle.

   • Tip Band the parts before assembly. Once the case is together the iron cannot reach the inside corners.

   ✓ Run a fingernail along every banded edge: nothing lifts and nothing overhangs. Re-iron any loose spot.

4. 4Drill the shelf-pin holes

   Two rows per side of each shelf bay, 2″ from the front and back, 1/4″ holes 3/8″ deep every 1 1/4″ (32 mm): bay 1: 3 11/16″ to 26 5/16″.

   Use a shelf-pin jig so both sides match.

   • Tip Mark the bottom end of each side and always hook the jig on that end. If one side is flipped end for end, the holes will not line up.
   • Tip Wrap tape around the bit as a depth flag, or use a stop collar. Test the depth on a scrap first.

   ✓ Push 4 pins in at the same row and lay a shelf on them: it sits flat and does not rock.

   STOP. A hole drilled through a side shows on the outside and cannot be hidden. Check the depth stop before each side.

5. 5Build the case

   Work on a flat floor with the front edges facing up. Stand the bottom between the sides first; clamp a square scrap block inside each corner to hold it at 90° while you drive the screws.

   Drill a pilot hole with a countersink bit for every screw, 3/8″ in from the edge so the screw lands in the middle of the plywood edge. Wipe glue squeeze-out with a damp rag before it dries.

   Glue and screw the bottom between the sides with its underside at 0″, and the top flush with the top ends. 1 5/8″ screws, 3 per joint.

   Square the case and nail on the back.

   • Tip To square the case before the back goes on, push on the long diagonal until both diagonals measure the same, then nail one corner of the back and work around it every 6″.
   • Tip Plywood edges split if a screw is closer than 3/8″ to a face. Keep the drill straight.

   ✓ Diagonals match within 1/16″.

6. 6Hang the doors

   Drill 35 mm hinge cups 1/2″ deep, 7/8″ from the hinge edge: 2 per door, at 3″, 26 7/8″ from the door bottom. Screw the plates to the case 37 mm from the front edge, clip the doors on and adjust the gaps to 1/8″.

   Clip each door on, then adjust: the three screws on each hinge move the door in and out, up and down, and side to side. Turn them a quarter turn at a time.

   • Tip A hinge-boring jig or a drill press keeps the 35 mm hole square. A hole that wanders leaves the door crooked.

   ✓ Closed doors sit flat with even gaps all round, and they open without rubbing.

   STOP. Set a depth stop on the 35 mm bit before drilling a door.

7. 7Set the shelves

   Glue a strip under the front of each adjustable shelf, flush with the edge.

   Push in 4 pins per shelf and lay the shelves on.

   • Tip Set heavy things on the lowest shelves. Shelf heights can change later: the pins just pull out.

8. 8Rip the French cleat

   Tilt the circular saw (or table saw) blade to 45°. Clamp the 7″ cleat strip (G) to the bench with the cut line down the middle, and rip it lengthwise into two halves.

   Each half now has one square edge and one sloped edge. Mark one "wall" and one "cabinet".

   ✓ Put the halves back together the way they came apart: they rebuild a flat strip with no gap.

   STOP. A bevel rip can pinch the blade. Support both halves along their full length and keep hands out of the blade's path.

9. 9Fix the cabinet half and the spacer

   Lay the cabinet on its front. Set the cabinet half of the cleat across the back at the top, flush with the top and sides, sloped edge at the bottom. Turn it so the slope rises toward the cabinet: its sharp edge then points down, away from the cabinet, like a hook.

   Glue it, then drive two 1 5/8″ screws through it into the back edge of each side, and 2 1/2″ screws through it and the back into the top panel every 6″.

   Glue and screw the bottom spacer (H) across the back at the bottom the same way. It is as thick as the cleat so the cabinet hangs plumb.

   • Tip Wrong-way-round cleats are the classic mistake. Before any glue, hold both halves against the wall and the cabinet the way they will hang and try them.

   ✓ Look at the cleat from the end with the cabinet standing up: there is a sharp lip pointing at the floor on the side away from the cabinet.

10. 10Hang the wall half of the French cleat on the wall

    Draw a level line 83 1/2″ above the floor; the top of the wall half goes on it. Turn the wall half so its sloped edge is on top and slopes down toward the wall: it makes a V-shaped groove with the wall for the cabinet's lip to drop into.

    Slide a stud finder along the wall and mark every stud with a pencil. Studs are usually 16″ apart, measured center to center. Confirm one by drilling a tiny test hole where the trim will hide it: you'll feel the drill bite into wood.

    Drill pilot holes through the back or hanging rail where it crosses a stud, then drive #10 × 3″ screws into the studs: 3 in all.

    • Tip Before drilling, check the wall for pipes and wires: avoid drilling directly above or below outlets and switches, and behind sinks.

    ✓ Every screw went into wood (they pull tight, not spin). The piece doesn't move when you pull on it firmly.

    STOP. Drywall alone won't hold it. Never hang this with only drywall anchors. Keep the load under about 150 lb, and never hang it over a bed or crib.

11. 11Hang the cabinet

    With a helper, lift the cabinet above the wall half, push it against the wall and lower it so the two slopes hook together. The cabinet pulls itself tight to the wall.

    Slide it sideways into place. Then drive two 2 1/2″ screws through the back into the bottom spacer and on into a stud, so it can't be knocked up off the cleat.

    ✓ A level on the cabinet side reads plumb, and lifting the bottom edge doesn't raise the cabinet.

    STOP. Fully loaded this cabinet is about 121 lb. Never hang it over a bed, crib or sofa, and keep the heaviest things on the bottom shelf.

12. 12Finish

    Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

    Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

    Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

    Paint, stain or a clear coat (water-based polyurethane is the easiest). Apply thin coats with the grain, let each dry fully, and sand lightly with 220 grit between coats.

    Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

    • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.