Five Basic Tools To Get Started Building Cabinets

Building your own kitchen cabinets, vanities and custom built-ins can be one of the best ways to increase the value of your home. It’s fun, rewarding and can help transform any space! You may think getting started building cabinets requires a full woodworking shop, expensive tools and years of experience, but I’m going to show you five basic tools to get started building cabinets, so you can start building today!

I have been building custom cabinets, vanities & custom built-ins for years and started with some simple tools. I have added to this tool list over time, but it was much easier to justify those purchases after I saved thousands of dollars building my own cabinets over the years.

I love how cost effective and rewarding it is to build my own kitchen cabinets and vanities. Having the ability to make any cabinet any size helps utilize space and improve design options. I have also been able to make fun DIY furniture pieces like this DIY Console Table, and DIY Modern Wood Stool.

Basic Tools To Get Started Building Cabinets

1. Miter Saw

A small humble miter saw is very important. It does not need to be one of those large sliding rail miter saws that are too heavy and extremely large. I have been using a 12″ miter saw like this for years to build cabinets and trim houses. I use it to cut face frame parts down to size.

2. Small Table Saw

A small table saw will come in handy for two main reasons. It is used to cut down sheets of plywood for making cabinet boxes and ripping down face frame parts (that’s the front of the cabinets that the doors attach to). Ideally, your table saw will be able to cut at least 24″ wide. This is often called “Rip capacity”. The saw below has 24.5″ of rip capacity, so this is a great option to get large sheets cut in half.

3. Compressor & Nail Gun

Another important tool for cabinet making is a compressor and nail gun set will be helpful when assembling cabinet box parts, and nailing face frame to the front of your boxes.

4. Kreg Jig

A Kreg Jig is a great took for making pocket screws when assembling face frames. A basic Kreg Jig set is a great way to get professional results as you acquire the basic tools to get started building cabinets.

5. Orbital Sander

One of the first sanders you should buy is an orbital sander. It gives you the ability to sand at many different levels. I sand my custom cabinets using anything from 80-220 grit sandpaper.

As you can see the list of basic tools to get started building cabinets is quite small. I have built so many cabinets using the tools listed here. Here is a quick list to summarize.