Terms Common to Cabinet Construction and Hardware


Adjustable Shelf – Shelf that can be added or removed, with varying
positions possible.

Backplate – Usually a metal plate, often decorative, fitting between
handles, pulls or knobs and doors or drawer faces.

Bead board – Paneling with beaded, routed detail.

Bridge cabinet – Cabinet spanning an open space, such as above an appliance.

Cam and bolt — Construction hardware connecting the top, bottom or sides of
some cabinets.

C-C or O.C. – Indicates a center-to-center hole measurement between screw
holes.

Crown Molding – Decorative molding applied to wall cabinet tops to provide a
finished look.

Custom Cabinetry – Cabinets built to fit customer’s order of cabinet
dimensions, shape, wood species, finish and special detailing.

Edge banding – Material applied to edge of objects such as countertops,
shelving or doors, to seal and cover the surface.

DIA – Indicates the diameter of a round or symmetrical piece, often
associated with a knob.

Finish – The overall surface color, sealing, and added accents of a cabinet
or piece of decorative hardware. This includes the highlights and darker
tones added to create a special look. It does not include the shape, carved
or cast detailing, or physical design of the piece.

Fixed Shelf – Shelf constructed as a permanent part of the cabinet structure
in a fixed position.

Flat Panel – Recessed center panel to a door or drawer design.

Fluted Rail – Decorative piece of molding spanning areas between cabinets.

Framed Cabinets – Cabinet box has a front frame around the cabinet opening
to which the door is attached.

Frameless Cabinets – Frameless have no front frame. The doors are attached
directly to the side walls of the cabinet.

Full Overlay – Cabinet door that covers all or most of the face frame.

Glaze – Secondary staining process used to create highlight on wood doors.

Knob – Cabinet hardware piece used for opening a door or drawer that
requires only one hole and one screw.

Light Rail – Decorative molding applied to cabinets to hide lighting and/or
to provide a finished look.

MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) – Engineered wood product used as an
alternative to natural wood.

Melamine Laminate – Plasticized, hard surfacing material used on door and
drawer faces.

Mullion Doors – Doors with glass center panel.

Particleboard — Engineered wood product made from wood particles.

PRJ – Projection of a pull or knob from the door or drawer surface.

Pull (Handle Pull) – Cabinet hardware piece for opening a door or drawer
that requires two mounting locations (two holes and two screws).

Recessed Door – Door with flat panel recessed from the stiles and rails.

Rosette — Small decorative piece of molding, often round, square or
otherwise symmetrical.

Shelf Pin: A piece of hardware, often metal or plastic, on which an
adjustable shelf rests.

Soffit – Soffit or bulkhead is the box-like protrusion between ceiling and
the top of wall cabinets.

Soffit Spacer – Decorative molding applied to wall cabinet tops to allow
door clearance.

Solid Wood – Wood boards fitted and glued together, as opposed to plywood,
laminated wood, veneers, particle board, or MDF.

Stain – Coloring applied to wood surfaces as part of the finishing process.

Stock Cabinets – Pre-designed, factory-built cabinets.

Toe Kick – Molding used to cover the open space under the cabinet for a
finished look.

Veneer – Thin sheets of superior wood attached with glue to an inferior
substrate.

V-Groove – Vertical beaded or grooved design.

Vinyl Laminate – Decorative Material used on the interior of some
factory-built cabinetry, and sometimes used to cover cabinet exterior end
panel surfaces.


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WHEN RESEARCHING THESE TERMS ARE VERY IMPORTANT. I NEED MORE.
BUTT DOORS. I KNOW THERE ARE BUTT HINGES, BUT I UNDERSTAND SOME CABINETS DOORS ARE BUTT, WITH A SLAB OF WOOD CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE DOORS TO GIVE AN ILLUSION OF A STYLE, IS THIS CORRECT, A STYLE IS A PIECE OF WOOD CONNECTED TO THE FRAME THAT IS IN BETWEEN THE DOORS.

"JAMIEB" wrote in message

I Am Doing A Great Deal Of Research On Replacing My Kitchen Cabinets.
Every Place I Go To Uses Differant Terms. Can Someone Help.
What Is A Butt Door No The Hinges
Veneer Frame Vs Sold Frame With Veneer Panel
I Think I Have Found A Cabinet Web Site That Sells For Much Less Then
My Local Home Improvement Stores But I Want To Get It All Right

The Terminology Notwithstanding, You Do NOT Want To Buy Any Cabinets Without
Being Able To Fondle Them In Person.

Go somewhere locally ... you will not be sorry that you did.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/01/06

As for buying from a website, only if you can visit their facilities. So you
know EXACTLY what you are getting. Remember though in Kitchen design the
Counter tops and space will have the most effect since the majority of your
time is spent in prep work. If money is tight think first about the counter
top and sink, then the flooring, appliances then cabinets. As for cabinets
themselves Construction is actually more important then material. Solid wood
depending would be paramount, but remember someone can make **** out of
anything wood, particle board, ply and cardboard.

as for your questions it's not always as easy because some company's define
things differently. Veneer is always a venear, whereas solid frame could
mean solid wood, solid composite etc etc. Over all get a Lee Valley
Catalog... it will help you to see the terms many use...........



"JAMIEB" wrote in message
...

I Am Doing A Great Deal Of Research On Replacing My Kitchen Cabinets.
Every Place I Go To Uses Differant Terms. Can Someone Help.
What Is A Butt Door No The Hinges
Veneer Frame Vs Sold Frame With Veneer Panel
I Think I Have Found A Cabinet Web Site That Sells For Much Less Then
My Local Home Improvement Stores But I Want To Get It All Right




--
JAMIEB

In article , JAMIEB wrote:

I Am Doing A Great Deal Of Research On Replacing My Kitchen Cabinets.
Every Place I Go To Uses Differant Terms. Can Someone Help.
What Is A Butt Door No The Hinges
Veneer Frame Vs Sold Frame With Veneer Panel
I Think I Have Found A Cabinet Web Site That Sells For Much Less Then
My Local Home Improvement Stores But I Want To Get It All Right

First, think about the features that are important to you:

* External finish? Do you want natural wood for appearance,
laminate for durability or whatever?

* Internal finish? Laminate is easy to keep clean and sealed
particle board is a bitch.

* Frames? You want strength for durability and also to support
a solid countertop.

* Decide if you want to pay a premium for really good quality
hinges, drawer glides etc.

* Accessories? Do you want special roll-outs, a rice dispenser
or other such fittings in a matching finish?

When in the showroom, look at the drawers very carefully. The
quality of materials, construction, glides etc. is usually
pretty indicative of the quality of the rest of the cabinet,
in my experience.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 20:24:37 GMT, (Malcolm Hoar)
wrote:

In article , JAMIEB wrote:

I Am Doing A Great Deal Of Research On Replacing My Kitchen Cabinets.
Every Place I Go To Uses Differant Terms. Can Someone Help.
What Is A Butt Door No The Hinges
Veneer Frame Vs Sold Frame With Veneer Panel
I Think I Have Found A Cabinet Web Site That Sells For Much Less Then
My Local Home Improvement Stores But I Want To Get It All Right

First, think about the features that are important to you:

* External finish? Do you want natural wood for appearance,
laminate for durability or whatever?

* Internal finish? Laminate is easy to keep clean and sealed
particle board is a bitch.

* Frames? You want strength for durability and also to support
a solid countertop.

* Decide if you want to pay a premium for really good quality
hinges, drawer glides etc.

* Accessories? Do you want special roll-outs, a rice dispenser
or other such fittings in a matching finish?

When in the showroom, look at the drawers very carefully. The
quality of materials, construction, glides etc. is usually
pretty indicative of the quality of the rest of the cabinet,
in my experience.

Be careful with that one- while it may be true with big-box cabinets
where everything is made in one factory, it's often (though not
always) the case that door fronts and drawers are made by an outside
vendor in smaller cabinet shops. In that case, the drawers can be
much better or worse (usually better, truth be told) than the cabinets
themselves.

In article , Prometheus wrote:

When in the showroom, look at the drawers very carefully. The
quality of materials, construction, glides etc. is usually
pretty indicative of the quality of the rest of the cabinet,
in my experience.

Be careful with that one- while it may be true with big-box cabinets
where everything is made in one factory, it's often (though not
always) the case that door fronts and drawers are made by an outside
vendor in smaller cabinet shops. In that case, the drawers can be
much better or worse (usually better, truth be told) than the cabinets
themselves.

Well, I'm sure that happens but it's not very common, IMO.

In any event, the drawers are still worthy of special attention.
There's much more to go wrong than there is with the frame --
fronts falling off, bottoms dropping out, glides failing etc.

And I'm not suggesting that one ignore the rest of the cabinet;
just giving the drawers some extra attention.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 21:51:28 GMT, B A R R Y wrote:

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 11:57:55 -0500, "Swingman" wrote:

Go somewhere locally ... you will not be sorry that you did.

I like the imported cabinets where they run the doors through an
aggressive wide belt sander, putting an amazing cross-scratch pattern
on the stiles.

What a decorative effect! G

they don't charge extra for the non-skid surface?
Mac

https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 20:24:37 GMT, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:


First, think about the features that are important to you:

* External finish? Do you want natural wood for appearance,
laminate for durability or whatever?

* Internal finish? Laminate is easy to keep clean and sealed
particle board is a bitch.

* Frames? You want strength for durability and also to support
a solid countertop.

* Decide if you want to pay a premium for really good quality
hinges, drawer glides etc.

* Accessories? Do you want special roll-outs, a rice dispenser
or other such fittings in a matching finish?

When in the showroom, look at the drawers very carefully. The
quality of materials, construction, glides etc. is usually
pretty indicative of the quality of the rest of the cabinet,
in my experience.

Damn, Malch! I thought your name sounded familiar and after looking at your page
I saw the Best Comm part...

You were one of the many early users on Best that taught me the internet and got
me started out writing web pages... back before Al Gore even invented it!

VERY small world!

Mac

https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm

On Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:59:19 GMT, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:

Well, I'm sure that happens but it's not very common, IMO.

In any event, the drawers are still worthy of special attention.
There's much more to go wrong than there is with the frame --
fronts falling off, bottoms dropping out, glides failing etc.

And I'm not suggesting that one ignore the rest of the cabinet;
just giving the drawers some extra attention.

For sure... Not a good thing to be raiding the refrigerator at 3am and having a
drawer stick closed or come all the way out and land on your bare foot...
DAMHIKT

Mac

https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm

In article , wrote:

Damn, Malch! I thought your name sounded familiar and after looking at your
page I saw the Best Comm part...

You were one of the many early users on Best that taught me the internet and
got me started out writing web pages... back before Al Gore even invented it!

VERY small world!

Very big network ;-)

Also very nice to meet again!

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:59:19 GMT, (Malcolm Hoar)
wrote:

In article , Prometheus wrote:

When in the showroom, look at the drawers very carefully. The
quality of materials, construction, glides etc. is usually
pretty indicative of the quality of the rest of the cabinet,
in my experience.

Be careful with that one- while it may be true with big-box cabinets
where everything is made in one factory, it's often (though not
always) the case that door fronts and drawers are made by an outside
vendor in smaller cabinet shops. In that case, the drawers can be
much better or worse (usually better, truth be told) than the cabinets
themselves.

Well, I'm sure that happens but it's not very common, IMO.

Really? It's been three for three in my experience. Seems foreign
drawer vendors can dovetail quicker and cheaper than cabinetmakers,
and raised panel doors were the same story. Might just be my area,
but that was what I have seen. I'll admit it left a very sour taste
in my mouth, but I wasn't the boss. In each case, the cabinets were
sold as custom handmade cabinets.

In any event, the drawers are still worthy of special attention.
There's much more to go wrong than there is with the frame --
fronts falling off, bottoms dropping out, glides failing etc.

I'll agree with that one, no reservations.

And I'm not suggesting that one ignore the rest of the cabinet;
just giving the drawers some extra attention.

I'll give you that one, too. I was just pointing out that the drawers
may be the jewels of the cabinets, and it pays to be careful when it
comes to evaluating the whole. It's amazing the short cuts some
relatively "high-end" shops take to get product out the door.

Jamie
By your question I am assuming that you are looking at 'handmade' or
'bespoke' kitchens. The frame (stile and rail) of the door is usually
made of solid wood and many cabinet makers (including Norm from the New
Yankee Workshop) use veneered panels for the centre of the doors.
Veneered Ply or MDF is more structurally stable than solid wood, but
IMHO can never be a true replacement for solid timber.

If the doors are butt hung then they use butt hinges (ie the type you
get in household doors) and have a more traditional appearance to the
MFI type method which use Euro hinges and doors are set on the outside
of the carcase. This is a matter of aesthetics of what you prefer.

There are many companies, as eluded to already, who claim to do
handmade or bespoke kitchens, but who in reality are merely buying in
componens from companies with CNC machines. While the quality is often
excellent in these products, I do fee they have a cheek saying they are
handmade and charging the prices they do.

The cabinet chose is most critical. MFI and the likes use Laminated
chipboard. Some people use veneered MDF, others Ply and others build in
solid wood. Whilst I will sometimes build in solid wood, I usually use
marine grade ply for this purpose as this give the desired strength and
stability to last a very long time and put up with any future
dishwasher/washing machine leaks.

I personally make drawers using dovetail joints, but this is not
necessary and you shouldn't be put off a kitchen just because it doesnt
use this method. It is time consuming, very strong and very aesthetic,
but there are many other jointing methods that give more than enough
strength and are much quicker to produce.

Finally runner chose is also important. These can take some abuse in a
kitchen. Its worth looking at the runners on your chosen kitchen to
assess whether they look substantial enough.

Hoping all this helps
Calum Sabey (Newark Traditional Kitchens 01556 690544)