Some newbie ????????

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Donnie Cherry
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun, Jul 01 2007, 7:58PM

Some newbie ????????

Post by Donnie Cherry »

Hello. I am new to this software and would like some help in getting started . I was wanting to know where a good starting point would be . I will be building an entertainment center and would like to use e cabinets as a tool in this ! So far e cabinets is a little bit little bit hard to get the hang of ! Thanks for the help !
Brian Rowland
Junior Member
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu, Feb 16 2006, 5:24PM
Location: Norman, Oklahoma

Post by Brian Rowland »

I would suggest downloading the \"ecabinets made easy\" guide from the thermwood home page. Have it open along with ecabs, toggle back and forth between the two, following along with the guide. Start in the cabinet editor area, play with construction settings to learn how they affect the cabinet, then you can start putting cabinets together into assemblies to create an entertainment center.
\"Do, or do not. There is no try.\"
Mark Hesketh
Guru Member
Posts: 366
Joined: Fri, Aug 25 2006, 9:12AM
Company Name: Paris Kitchens
Country: CANADA
Location: Paris, ontario

Post by Mark Hesketh »

One key thing to remember, with e-cabs you are not creating a cabinet from scratch part-by-part. Rather, you are taking an existing cabinet and modifying it to match what you want. you can add parts, remove parts, and change parts as you wish, but you always start with a cabinet to change. If you are used to other drafting methods/software, this is the oddest feature to wrap your head around.

Good luck
Raymond Beausoleil
New Member
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu, Aug 24 2006, 2:18PM

Post by Raymond Beausoleil »

The breakthrough for me was understanding the role of the construction properties in defining the cabinet parts as well as their relation to the cabinet. With typical CAD programs you drag surfaces and lines to change dimensions. Not so with eCabinets.

For example, if you open the STD BASE FRAMED cabinet and open the construction settings you'll notice a check box for HAS FACE FRAMES. Uncheck this box and face frames are removed. Check the box and the face frames are added back.

Notice that the face frame is flush with the sides of the cabinet. You may want to extend the face frames 1/4\" past the sides. Notice that in the construction settings the left stile and right stile has a field for OUTSIDE SCRIBE. Enter 1/4\" in each and voila the frames now extend 1/4\" past the sides.

Another key parameter you will see in many of the construction settings are the INSETS. A good example of where these are used is in defining a drawer box size in relation to the drawer opening. Enter appropriate insets for right, left, top, bottom, and back and you've defined a relative drawer box.

As already mentioned, learn everything you can about the construction settings and the best way is to start with the std cabinet, change each parameter and observe the change in the cabinet. Then create a test project in which your goal is to make it as complete as possible. Include defining overall cabinet size, wood type, drawer fronts and drawer boxes, doors, slides, hinges, pulls, banding as appropriate, etc.

Hope this helps.

Ray
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