Cabinetmaking

How to Choose the Right Hinge for Your Project During Cabinet Making Courses

May 11, 2018

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On any cabinetmaking project, there is a wide array of hinges to choose from. However, not all hinges will do the same job, so it is essential to think carefully about your project in order to make the right choice.

The desires of your clients will also need to be taken into account. Cabinets are about functionality first and foremost, but some people will want a solution which is more pleasing to the eye. A good cabinetmaker will use their knowledge and expertise in order to find a solution that provides the best of both worlds.

Here are a few things to consider when selecting hinges during the drawing stage of a project.

Cabinet Type Must be a Key Focus When Deciding on Hinges

Cabinets can be broadly divided into two different types, face-frame and frameless. Face-frame cabinets are more traditional and include a separate wooden frame on the front to which the hinge is attached. Frameless cabinets are often called euro-style, and the hinge is fixed to the interior. Concealed (European style) hinges are commonly used on frameless versions, and graduates of cabinetmaking courses will like their easy adjustability.

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Installation of a concealed (European-style) hinge

Exposed hinges are more common on older face-frame designs, but still have their advantages in modern cabinetmaking. The butt hinge is the most common type used to hinge two wooden parts together, and leaves the central spine exposed to the naked eye. The flush hinge is another popular design, as it can be fixed directly onto the surface without having to cut a recess in the timber.

Students at Cabinetmaking School Learn to Choose Attractive Hinges

After a list of suitable hinges has been found for the cabinet type, you and your client can focus on the design of each option, and evaluate how suitable they are for the project. Exposed hinges, for instance, are more suited to traditional kitchens than modern ones. The spine and the two halves of a fully exposed hinge are all visible when the cabinet door is closed, so a visually pleasing design should be used.

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A traditional exposed cabinet hinge

The European-style concealed hinge, on the other hand, is becoming much more common because it is not visible until the door has been opened. Certain versions also have self-closing or soft-close special features to reduce noise. However, they are often more expensive than standard exposed hinges, so consultation should take place with the client to make sure it fits with their budget.

Some Cabinet Doors May Require More Flexibility than Others

Students at cabinetmaking school will learn that many projects will require hinges with varying flexibility. Many hinges will only open to around 90 degrees, so different models may need to be used to provide better ease of access. However, an opening angle of 180 degrees or higher could see the door banging into an adjoining cabinet. This type of hinge is usually more suitable for frameless cabinets with full overlay doors.

Exposed kitchen cabinet hinges usually only need to open to around 180 degrees, but 270 degree hinges may be required for things like TV and entertainment units. There are also a wide variety of choices with European-style concealed hinges, but the widest opening versions can be quite bulky and more difficult to install.

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Cabinetmaking

Finding Entrepreneurial Success With Cabinetmaking Training

March 13, 2018

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Cabinetmaking skills are applicable to many work environments in the construction and renovation industries, but some people just aren’t going to be satisfied with going in and working for someone else. There’s real excitement to be had in starting a business and making your own way, and real opportunity to do so with cabinetmaking training behind you.

Being good with woodworking isn’t quite all it takes to succeed when going into business, though. Having a strategy in mind, knowing how to get attention, and being smart with money are all attributes that can help you find the success you desire.

Think you might like to go into business for yourself? Here’s how you can find entrepreneurial success.

Figuring Out Where and How You Want to Work Are Important First Steps

Cabinetmaking requires a bit of space in which to work, so it will be necessary to put some thought into a location in which you might run your business. This might mean renting warehouse space, or even just taking over the backyard shed or your basement. Just make sure any family or roommates you live with will be okay with sawdust accumulating while you’re in the middle of a project!

Keep in mind that regional laws regarding operating a business in your home should be taken into account if you decide to pursue these latter options. Wherever you go, it will also be important that you and your space are properly insured. You don’t want to lose everything in the event of a burst pipe or a fire. Note that operating a business out of a home often requires special insurance, so don’t count on your regular insurance being sufficient.

cabinetmaking schoolWherever you set up shop, make sure you’ve got good insurance to protect you from accidents

Have an Idea of the Finances You Will Need to Get Started

After deciding where you want to work, you’ll need to figure out how much money you’ll need to get started and how to get it. In addition to any location leasing and insurance costs, you’ll also need to think about purchasing equipment and materials. Cabinetmaking training will provide you with an idea of the kinds of equipment that will be needed, like various saws, hammers, measuring devices, and other implements, so try to build and cost a list of the essentials.

Don’t forget that you’ll need to eat at some point, so it’s important to take stock of your personal financial situation. Don’t assume you can operate at a loss or at low wages for too long, and always leave a little extra room in your budget for things you’re forgetting about. You don’t want to lock yourself into a budget and then find yourself stuck when a surprise expense pops up.

cabinetmaking trainingTake some time to figure out finances before starting out on your own

Entrepreneurial Cabinetmaking School Grads Will Need a Marketing Strategy

In the early days, the skills gained through cabinetmaking school won’t be enough to guarantee lots of business. It will take time for people to find out about your work and to cultivate a strong professional reputation.

An easy way to start making your name would be to create a website with information about services, pricing, and how to contact you. Building a social media presence could also be a good idea, as clients might like the option of sending you a chat message instead of having to pick up the phone or send an email.

Social media is also a great place to use pictures to show off your cabinetmaking skills! If you have a knack for photography or can find or pay for a photographer to do some professional-quality shots of some of your best work, those images could prove a great way to convince people to hire you.

Even a great marketing strategy takes a little time to get going, so don’t expect to have a full plate of work right away. Build up an online presence and produce great work, though, and you’re likely to see results in time.

Do you want to get started working in cabinetmaking?

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Why Graduates of Cabinetmaking School are Great at Trimwork

February 02, 2018

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It can have the most appealing paint job and the most expensive wood floors, but if a house’s interior doesn’t have nice trimwork, it’s not going to look too great. It’s with crown molding, wainscoting, baseboards, and the other largely ornamental trimwork that a room gets pulled together, these various trims helping to bridge the gap between surfaces and hide untidy or uneven lines.

Though the two seem quite different at first glance, working to put together trim actually shares quite a lot with the art of cabinetmaking. As such, professionals who are trained to put together cabinets tend to excel at trimwork, and many will find lucrative, regular work on these kinds of jobs.

Curious about why they’re such a natural fit? Here’s a look at how cabinetmaking skills transfer over to trimwork.

Cabinetmaking Training Produces Professionals Who are Great With Joints

Nicely made cabinets and trim share an important element: they have joints that fit together well, are stable, and look good. It’s a type of woodworking that demands precision, something which is highly developed in the training done at cabinetmaking school. After all, cabinets nearly always require several joints to put multiple pieces of wood together, meaning any given project is going to entail a fair bit of practice making joints.

The best training programs ensure you get a good deal of this type of practice, foregoing hours upon hours of lectures and instead allowing you to learn your craft through practical exercises. Through working with many kinds of wood and on many different kinds of projects, you can quickly gain the necessary skill for putting together joints on all manner of jobs, be they cabinets, trimwork, or others.

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Cabinetmakers have mastered the joints used in trimwork

Graduates of Cabinetmaking Courses Gain an Eye for Appealing Design

Watch a renovation show where they talk about the kitchen and you’re almost definitely going to hear about how beautiful the cabinets are. That’s because the cabinets you see in homes aren’t just boxes with shelves, but also decorative pieces that speak to the quality of the home and the care that went into making it. Because of this, cabinetmakers quickly gain an appreciation for the visual style of their work, and take care to ensure the products they make look great.

This eye for visual appeal serves trained cabinetmakers well when they apply their skills to trimwork. Trimwork, after all, is meant to enhance the look of a room, not add new problems. This means that, at the least, all the trim needs to be level and free of unintended gaps. For more advanced projects, more intricate designs or arrangements might be in order. With cabinetmaking courses teaching students how to successfully accomplish projects of a variety of levels of complexity and aesthetic appeal, graduates are more than a match for even the most demanding trimwork.

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Attractive cabinets, attractive trimwork – cabinetmakers can do it all

Cabinetmaking School Graduates Work With Different Kinds of Materials

Something anyone with a little woodworking experience knows is that every project is going to be different depending on the type of material that is being used. With that in mind, the average carpenter, used to working with beams and two-by-fours of solid wood, is likely going to be pretty limited in their understanding of the finer details of working with fibreboard, composite, and other materials commonly used in trim. Cabinetmakers, though, are well used to working with all of these different materials, meaning they don’t face any surprises when they do trimwork.

Students who complete specialized cabinetmaking training have it best, thanks to their access to professional instructors with years of industry experience. Under their guidance, aspiring cabinetmakers can learn all the tricks of the trade for working with a variety of materials, ensuring they start off on the perfect foot when entering their career. Whatever they work on and with, they will be able to perform their duties with confidence.

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Cabinetmaking

The Important Differences Between Carpentry and Cabinetmaking Training

December 19, 2017

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Both carpenters and cabinetmakers are professionals who make structures from wood. But what exactly is so different about what the two do? Are carpenters more versatile? Do cabinetmakers have specialized skills that set them apart? Are they both simply woodworkers who take on somewhat different projects?

If you’re unclear about what the differences are between carpenters and cabinetmakers, you’re far from alone. Indeed, their work is pretty similar, though there are a few key details that set professionals in the two categories apart. Want to get a better understanding of what those are? Here’s what you need to know.

Cabinetmaking is a Little More Artistic Than Carpentry

Both carpentry and cabinetmaking are creative endeavours, involving a transformation of raw material into something functional. However, making cabinets means working with pieces that are relatively small and delicate, and the finished product must be aesthetically pleasing. The work done by carpenters doesn’t always require this same level of detailed care. Working to put together the frame of a house, for example, isn’t a particularly delicate task.

Unsurprisingly, cabinetmaking can be demanding, but cabinetmaking training is geared toward teaching students how to achieve perfection when working on intricate or precise projects. Instruction largely involves hands-on activity, overseen by professionals with a great deal of experience and an eye for the little details that set great pieces apart. If you like the idea of doing complex woodwork, you can learn everything you need to know by enrolling in a cabinetmaking program.

Professionals With Cabinetmaking Training Tend to Use Pricier Materials

For all the griping that people make about the cost of getting new kitchen countertops, those aren’t anywhere near the most expensive part of a renovation. It’s cabinets that hold that distinction, and not just because of the labour that goes into their creation. Another significant contributor is the cost of the materials used, which are often woods like oak or maple.

Wood for cabinets can cost anywhere from $80 to $165 per linear foot. Combine that with the cost of the cabinetmaker’s time and labour and it is little wonder that new cabinets often account for about a third of people’s total kitchen renovation budget.

cabinetmaking trainingMaterials make cabinets some of the most expensive elements of a kitchen renovation

This reality does put a little extra pressure on cabinetmakers to cut accurately and waste as little material as possible, but this is again something that isn’t much of a concern to those with the right training. A good cabinetmaking school can help you develop the technical skill and patient approach necessary for success working with expensive cabinet materials.

Graduates of Cabinetmaking School Can Take on Other Specialized Tasks, Too

The possibilities for trained cabinetmakers don’t end at cabinets for the home. A cabinetmaker might be hired to do interior trim work, like installing moulding at the top and bottom of walls, to create special cabinets for use in aircrafts, or any number of other interesting opportunities.

cabinetmaking coursesTrim work is an interesting task that cabinetmaking professionals are qualified to do

If it relates to cabinets or to delicate woodwork, the opportunity is there for a cabinetmaker to make their mark. Carpenters, for the most part, don’t get to work on projects this diverse. Because of their versatility, cabinetmakers have many professional opportunities available to them, making this a good line of work to pursue if you want interesting and secure employment.

Are you looking for cabinetmaking courses that offer great employment prospects?

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Interesting Career Opportunities for Grads of Cabinet Making Courses

November 07, 2017

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If you have a knack for hands-on work and want a career in which you can complete interesting, high quality projects for a wide variety of clients, then a cabinetmaking program could be exactly what you are looking for.

Skilled cabinetmakers are often in demand in many different settings, meaning there is a whole host of career options available for those who learn the trade. Keep reading to learn more about the many doors that will open to you when you graduate from cabinetmaking courses.

Take the Entrepreneurial Route After Cabinetmaking Courses

One popular career route taken by many individuals with cabinetmaker training is to start their own small business offering cabinetmaking services. This option may be especially appealing if you enjoy the freedom of being your own boss, would like to establish and work from a home shop, or if you already have a strong network in your community from which you could draw potential clients.

cabinet making courses.jpg Hands-on cabinetmaker training can help you launch your own successful business

As a self-employed cabinet maker, you could work for a wide range of client types. Luxury home contractors, architects, interior designers, and even individual homeowners may contract your services, and running your own business will give you the chance to serve as wide or as specialized a range of clientele as you would like.

Produce Beautiful Custom Woodwork With Your Cabinetmaking Skills

If you have a more creative side that you want to be able to express in your career, the intricate, detailed pieces produced by custom woodworkers might just be the perfect application of the skills you learn in cabinetmaking courses.

Using a range of different woodworking machinery, these professionals construct striking and detailed custom cabinets and other types of wood furniture. Like regular cabinetmakers, custom woodworkers can find different types of employment, whether they want to work for a larger company or set up their own shop. As a custom woodworker, you will have the power to not only provide your clients with great furniture, but unique pieces that will really stand out and help you build a positive reputation.

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Custom woodworkers provide their clients with unique, detailed products

Use Your Cabinetmaking Training to Get Into Renovations and Remodeling

One particularly interesting path for an individual with cabinetmaking training is to use their skills to pursue renovation and remodeling work. Many cabinetmakers, cabinet installers, and custom woodworkers will do work as part of renovation jobs, and focusing specifically on this niche is a great way for you to improve your chances of connecting with potential clients.

For example, homeowners who want to improve their property, whether to sell it for a better price or to increase their own quality of life, will often pursue kitchen renovations. You can use your expertise in kitchen installation and cabinetmaking to help them renew their homes with impeccable fixtures and beautiful custom woodwork.  This type of work will give you plenty of opportunities to let your cabinetmaking abilities shine and to gain satisfied clients.

Do you want to see what you can do with skills in cabinetmaking?

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Cabinetmaking

Cabinetmaking Training Program – Student Review – Rachel H.

May 01, 2017

Rachel H. is a Cabinetmaking student at the London campus of North American Trade Schools. In her review, she talks about her experience at NATS, her instructors and why she decided to attend the school to study Cabinetmaking.

 

Transcript

“My name’s Rachel H. and I’m in cabinetmaking. What I like about my instructor is very supportive, he helps me in situations that I’d get stuck in.

I chose NATS because it will change my perspective in the future. What I enjoy about the campus is it’s very open, very friendly, it feels more like you’re on the job site and it’s easier to communicate with everyone around you.

It’s very, extremely, easy to make friends on campus because I’m very social and I enjoy talking to others and asking for help from someone who’s already done that project or something that I haven’t done yet.

My family is proud of me for choosing NATS. Don’t think twice about coming to NATS, it’s an amazing place to be, I enjoy it you would definitely enjoy it.”

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