I have done this, taking your point into consideration. You are one of the few people that will cause me to rethink my position when yours differs from mine. You can outsource everything and do a poor job of coordinating and assembling it all, or you can outsource everything and do a great job tying it all together.Īs far as I'm concerned, if my clients can choose from over 1,000 door styles, in virtually any wood species, with finishes ranging from clear lacquer to high-end faux finishes, glazes and paints, with a choice of any drawer hardware on the market and dozens of drawer construction options (some of which we make in-house, some of which we outsource), well, if that's not custom, what is? Like anything else there are expensive, high quality and cheap, low quality options for outsourcing. You don't make your own drawer slides do you? What about hinges? Do you mix your own finishes? Lay up your own plywood? Grow your own trees?
#Cnc dovetail drawers full#
The world is full of specialization, with technology being what it is there is no way any one person can be an expert on everything, and unless you have a huge operation you just can't produce these specialized products as efficiently as a company that does that and only that for a living, and has the economy of scale on their side. Gary, I have to disagree with you one on this one. After a while is seems that providers of that factory made junk actually believe that they are 'high quality' and 'custom'. I am always temped to go off when someone takes features that used to mean something in my craft and starts merchandising with them. My guess is that it would be advertised as 'higher quality' than ones that were made in a different but 'branded' factory.Įnough of my rant. Maybe thats it, its custom assembled from low bid production parts. Whats custom? The size? The design? It sure isnt the cabinetry, as it is a combination of the lowest priced parts that can be assembled. I take serious exception with a shop that advertises that is is a 'custom' shop, but it is providing outsourced doors, drawers, moldings, corbels etc, and is sending the plywood out to a CNC cutter for processing. This may be a way to survive, but we as cabinetmakers are losing our craft. Actually, it seems to me that the majority of 'custom' cabinet makers in the US are outsourcing everything these days. Of course it costs more to custom make a dovetailed drawer. Roger makes a good point about making vs. When I learned the trade, any plywood part used in a cabinet case is simply a cheaper alternative to 'real wood' There are some very elegant ply materials out there that are every bit as strong and aesthetically pleasing as solids, but as Joe says, may be 'cheesey' in the customers eye. We are also paying attention to this in an effort to provide a more 'green' product.Īs far as draw box materials go, the final decision lies with the consumer. Since we are also looking to develop a lesser priced line, nested drawers may be a solution. We do our own so that we can keep the quality higher than is available from a vendor. I was looking to see what the joint quality would be if I needed it. That was the reason that I devoloped my ShopBot dovetail jig in the first place. In most cases it requires a higher grade of material than they can supply.
The majority of our custom pieces require a much better fit and finish than can be purchased from a production vendor. These types of suppliers are the reason many small custom shops wish to cut our own. The same drawer from a supplier with better quality is around the same, but unfinished and no slide. I can surely see differences in the market between your part of the country and ours.ĭraw pricing here for a <16' width and 18' long by <4' depth drawer (finished)is $50 including a Blum Tandem slide.
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