From cut list to build manual: drilling plans, hardware and assembly

Transcript

The spoken text of the video, per chapter.

What a cut list does not tell you0:00

A cut list tells you which parts to cut. It does not tell you where the holes go, in which order to screw things together, or how many dowels to buy. That is why cutlistlab turns your design into a build manual: a printable document for exactly your cabinet.

The TV unit0:17

We take a TV unit: two doors, two drawers and two dividers. Nothing special, just a cabinet like you would build.

The Build manual button0:26

At the top is the Build manual button, next to What do I need. It makes a pdf of the whole document in one go. Nothing is sent anywhere and no account is needed; it is built in your browser, from your own design.

Cover and contents0:42

This is the cover: the cabinet in perspective, the material, the number of parts and the number of assembly steps. On the next page the contents: eight chapters, from the cut list to the adjusting.

The cut list0:57

Chapter one is the cut list, with number, size, thickness, material, grain direction and edge banding per part. That number comes back everywhere: on the drawings, in the steps and on the drilling plans. So you never have to guess which panel is in your hands.

The hardware, counted from your cabinet1:16

Then the hardware, counted from your own cabinet. Two full overlay hinges, two half overlay, two sets of drawer slides, sixteen cam locks, sixteen dowels, four handles. Plus the screws, the glue and the edge banding by the metre. This is your shopping list for the store.

The drilling jigs1:36

Under the tools is a block you will not find in any factory manual: the drilling jigs. For each jig it says how to use it, with the dimensions of your cabinet in it, and a link to the manufacturer. The cup hinge, the cam locks and the dowels.

A drilling plan per part1:54

The heart of the document: a drilling plan per part. This is the left side, seen from the inside. Every hole is dimensioned from two edges, and every kind of hole has its own shape and size. A dowel hole does not look like a cam bolt, and not like the screw hole of a mounting plate. Below the drawing each kind is listed with that same shape.

Assembly in 22 steps2:20

Then the assembly, twenty two steps for this cabinet. First the hardware on the loose parts, at the workbench, with a detail drawing of, for example, the mounting plate. Then the carcass, on its front, in an order that actually works: here we start with a divider, and the sides go on last. In each step the new part is filled grey with a heavier line, what is already in place is thin and white, and below the drawing is the hardware for that step. Then you stand it upright, and finally the drawers and the doors go in, each door with the hinge that belongs to it.

Adjusting and checking2:57

The last chapter is about adjusting and checking: getting the doors straight with the three adjusting screws on each hinge, lining up the drawers, and measuring the diagonals once more when the cabinet is in its place. That is the part that decides whether your cabinet looks factory made or not.

Print it, rebuild it3:16

The pdf is A4, ready to print. Print it for the workshop, or put it on your phone. Change something in the design and you simply click Build manual again; it is rebuilt fresh every time.

The whole series3:31

From dimensions to a cut list, and from a cut list to a manual you can actually build from. The other videos in this series cover the hinges, the drawers, the wall of cabinets, the sloped cabinet and the pull-out pantry. Open cutlistlab.com, design your cabinet and click Build manual.