Very Broad Tool Queston...

[Enforcer407]

Hey guys,

I know this may seem too broad but what would you consider to be NECESSARY tools for cabinet construction. There is a Sears near me that is closing down and everything is on crazy discount. I want to go in with a list to beat all lists of what I need and just go to town. Thanks in advance.

[yotsuya]

Router, jigsaw, circular saw, drill.

Table saw if you can get a great deal on one.

[PL1]

Forstner bits, spade bits and/or hole saws especially a 1 1/8".

Framing square

C-clamps, right-angle or variable-angle clamps and 3' or longer pipe/bar clamps

Miter box

Broom, bench brush, dustpan, and shop-vac for the omni-present MDF dust

Breathing filters for MDF dust

Eye and hearing protection


Scott

[EvilNuff]

Well the four main tools in any woodworking shop are table saw, bandsaw, planer, jointer so start with those.  Past them, a couple sanders, dust collection systems, chisels, a good hand saw, a good cordless drill, mallet, a #5 hand plane and a low angle block plane.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Alright, I'm going to weigh in here - get ready. 

Yotsuya and PL1 are on the right track.  Evilnuff's going towards general WW rather than cab building.  Absolutely no need for a jointer or planer for cab building, you're going to be using finished stock from the lumberyard.  Also, for the cab sides you're going to need a circular saw, so skip the table saw.  The small table saws you can get for cheap are too small to help with the large pieces on a cab.  Plus, as Evilnuff has proved, table saws are super dangerous! 

Same reason - jigsaw trumps bandsaw for this application and it's way cheaper.  you need to bring a small saw to big work rather than big work to a bandsaw. 

Pipe clamps - these are nice and I use them sometimes.  However, most arcade projects can easily be clamped by drywall screws while the glue dries. 
Miter box- for shortening long narrow stock.  If you're just making 2x2 blocking for corners, you can cut those with another saw you already have. 

same with handplanes - not for this type of construction because everything is painted or wrapped.  If you're doing a woody - maybe. 

dust collection - not for one project.  use your SO or parent's vacuum cleaner and throw away the bag afterwards.

Here's my answer - you can build a quality stand up cab with the following power tools from Sears on sale:

-Drill - absolutely essential - get a small drill index and a small set of spade bits - consider a corded drill.  they're more powerful and reliable than cordless and a much better deal.  Cordless is great but doesn't help much on a stationary project.  better for around the house/at the jobsite stuff.

-Jigsaw - if you have any curved cuts at all a jigsaw is essential.  stay away from the cheaper one's here- they don't hold the blade at 90 degrees to the baseplate very well. they start to be OK around $60 or so.   get good quality blades (i.e. bosch) and use them on materials as the package recommends - there are different types.

-Circular saw - for your straight cuts a circular saw is essential.  Using a simple guide, you can reliably and precisely cut out your cabinet parts. The cheapest circular saw is pretty good these days for light work.

-Router - I would try to find someone to borrow one from.  A $50 router or a palm router is ok for cabs because you're just swinging small bits.  Don't get a laminate trimmer if it's your only router - too small for t molding bits.

That's it, the minimum I would go into a cab build with.    I'd allow $200 for this stuff.  I'd figure another $150 for small tools, t molding router bit, tape measure, sandpaper, good paintbrush, square, dust mask/safety glasses, etc. 

good luck.

[edekoning]

I'm a complete WW noob that has never used any tools before starting on my very own cab. I bought a drill, jigsaw, router. And spend in total about 350,- on those tools, including clamps, bits, blades, straight edge etc.

I did not really feel that I needed a circular saw. I just used my Jigsaw to make a rough cut. Then I used a straight edge and router to make the final straight cut. Note that I've only worked with MDF.

That being said, it did suck that I had no way of making angular cuts. My jigsaw could be set to 45 and 22.5 degrees, so I designed my cab around those angles. Taking it slow, my angular cuts are ok, but not great. What would you guys suggest for making precise arbitrary angular cuts?

[Woodshop Flunky]

I did not really feel that I needed a circular saw. I just used my Jigsaw to make a rough cut. Then I used a straight edge and router to make the final straight cut.

True, you don't have to have a circular saw.  However, I would certainly put in on my short list of new tools down the road.  I can't imagine doing much panel cutting with the Jigsaw/Router method (although many of us have).

What would you guys suggest for making precise arbitrary angular cuts?

Precise is the keyword here.  Working with MDF, you could "tune" the joint with a sanding block... but that's a lot of delicate work.  I would try to make sure the mating panels only come together on the outside edge of the joint.  On the inside there would actually be a small gap.

[ChadTower]

Clamps, clamps, clamps, and also some clamps.  You can never have enough different types and sizes of clamps. 

[spoot]

As Chad said.......

[selfie]

Get the biggest router you can afford.

Unless you use it very regularly a battery drill is not a good idea. Leaving the battery idle will kill it fairly rapidly.

Oh yeah a few clamps are nice but I still would like more...

[darthpaul]

A Kreg Pocket Hole System, nothing beats pocket screws when putting together the cabinet boxes.
Oh, did anyone mention Clamps? 

[BobA]

+1 for Darthpaul and a Kreg Pocket Hole System.   Makes cabinet and frame building a breeze.   Hidden screws and glue can replace clamps in a few seconds and the assembly is good to work on in minutes.  You have to use the recommended screws as they pull the work together to tighten the assembly instead of pushing pieces apart like regular screws.

[EvilNuff]

TopJimmy is dead on, I misread the original question and was thinking cabinets as in woodworking cabinets not oh the purpose of this forum arcade cabinets...my bad!