Will Sampson talks about the long-running arguments in woodworking over cabinet construction methods and then talks to Phillip Crabtree, inventor of the patented Cabinotch cabinet construction system, who is relaunching his company back under his own ownership again.
This episode of the Woodworking Network podcast was sponsored by FDMC magazine. FDMC magazine is your vital source of information to improve your woodworking business. Whether it is keeping you apprised of the latest advances in manufacturing, helping you solve your wood technology problems with Gene Wengert, or inspiring you with case histories about successful businesses and best practices, FDMC magazine is there to be the sharpest business tool in your shop. Learn more and subscribe for free at woodworkingnetwork.com/fdmc.
Woodworking Network is a home for professional woodworkers, presenting technology, supplies, education, inspiration, and community, from small business entrepreneurs to corporate managers at large automated plants.
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Intro music courtesy of Anthony Monson.
Welcome to this episode of the Woodworking Network Podcast. Join us as we explore the business of woodworking big and small and what it takes to succeed. I’m Will Sampson.
This episode is sponsored by FDMC magazine, and don’t forget to take our survey at woodworking network.com/podcast-survey.
Today, we’ll be talking to Phillip Crabtree, the inventor of Cabinotch, a patented cabinet box construction method and a dynamic outsourcing opportunity. But first I want to talk about:
It’s just a box, right?
There’s a saying in the arid West, often misattributed to Mark Twain, that goes: “Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting.” If we were talking about cabinets, it might go, “Kitchens are for cooking, and cabinet boxes are for fighting.”
Almost every shop I visit has a different way of building their cabinet boxes, and they are quite willing to strenuously debate that their boxes are best. I mean, a box is a box, right? Or is it?
First off, there is the decades-old argument over face frames or frameless construction. The argument goes that face frames make a box stronger, protect the front edges and prevent racking. Frameless advocates counter that their boxes are plenty strong, don’t rack once installed properly, full-overlay doors and edgebanding protect the edges, and without frames there is much more usable space inside the box, not to mention all the savings in time and materials there is for building frameless. Face frames still have the edge in the U.S., but Europe and Canada seem to do just fine without them. Go figure.
Even without resolving face frame or frameless, you can get into a whole ‘nother argument over the actual construction of the box itself. Dowels, biscuits, screws, staples, mortise and tenon, blind mortise, and a whole host of new RTA fastener schemes, not to mention glue, case clamps, bar clamps, or no clamps at all. The hell with whisky, many a beer has been drunk or spilt in the course of arguing over cabinet boxes.
In the early days of cabinetmaking software programs, these arguments use to drive software companies and their programmers absolutely bonkers. Every time they would show their programs to new potential customers, everything would stop when the shop owner would say, “Ahh, but we don’t build our boxes that way.” It seemed like every new version of every program included a new box construction method in the library and sales efforts assured new customers that they could “build it your way” and still reap the benefits of the software.
When shops started converting from conventional manufacturing to nested base CNC routers, there were even more arguments about box construction as construction methods were designed to maximize the efficiency of the machine. And don’t even get started on the arguments over whether to make your own boxes or outsource them from a supplier.
As I heard all these arguments play out over time, I just had to laugh a little. I mean, in more than 90 percent of the cases, the customers didn’t know the difference and really didn’t care. All the customers cared about was whether their cabinet boxes were going to hold up, fit all their pots and pans, dishes and glassware, add value to their house, and impress their friends and neighbors. Biscuits are for baking, not building cabinets, they might say.
There are a number of issues at play here. One is the inability of many custom shops to truly see value through their customer’s eyes. Another issue is holding on to old ways of doing things more for tradition than efficiency or customer demand. And yet another issue is not really measuring the differences in between construction methods in materials cost, production and installation efficiency, and real-world durability. Do you know how many boxes a day you can put out with your current methods? Have you run tests with other methods to see if that can be improved? Do you actually explain technical differences to customers so that they can perceive the value in the way you build?
But maybe all that doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s just a box, isn’t it?
Before we get to Phillip Crabtree, let’s pause for a word from our sponsor. FDMC magazine is your vital source of information to improve your woodworking business. Whether it is keeping you apprised of the latest advances in manufacturing, helping you solve your wood technology problems with Gene Wengert, or inspiring you with case histories about successful businesses and best practices, FDMC magazine is there to be the sharpest business tool in your shop. Learn more and subscribe for free at woodworkingnetwork.com/fdmc.
Now let’s talk to someone who really knows his cabinet boxes, has a patent on a unique construction method and is relaunching his company Cabinotch as a dynamic outsourcing opportunity for cabinet shops.