Two-Piece Square Corner Cabinet Deck

[Daren LaBranche]

Does anyone know how I can make the top/bottom for these cabinets in two-pieces that are butt joined (like the deck beneath the L/S in the photo)? I use 1 and 2 mm thick edgebanding. Cutting these parts with a radius is easy, but putting the edging on and trimming it by hand is difficult. And since my edgebander can only do straight edges, I'd like to give this design a try. It would be even better if I could add the thickness of the edging to the length of the deck piece on the left so that I could remove the edging from the piece on the right (at the joint only) before I connected them. Or perhaps somebody has other ideas?

[Scott Marshburn]

Hi Daren.
This can be done by taking the deck/Top into part editor. Create a close contour of the left section plus the thickness of the edge banding. Then cut pocket using closed contour
Then you can create a display panel the appropriate size needed to replace the section that was removed. Make sure to allow for the edge banding on the front of this panel also.

[Scott Marshburn]

Here is a quick video if you are Interested.

https://youtu.be/o2br_BxgHkw

[Daren LaBranche]

Thanks for your quick and helpful info Scott! I'm obviously not as experienced with eCabs as you are, and I was even able to learn a few shortcuts from your video. Thanks for taking the time to post this. If you don't already work for TW, they should seriously consider bringing you on board.

I do have a couple of questions though. I have no experience using the 'closed contour' section of the part editor (I tried a little, but it wasn't exactly intuitive) so I simply used a rectangle to 'cut part using geometric shape' instead.

1) Is there a reason why I should used the closed contour method rather than the geometric shape method?

2) I'm not sure how you determined the exact size of the part to cut off the deck? I used the dimensional info in the cut list to give me an X and Y coordinate to start my rectangle from, and noticed that the edging was not included in these dimensions.

3) I then added a display panel, but w/o the edging. Aside from not calculating or displaying the edging on the display panel, do you see anything wrong with the way that I did it?

4) This is obviously is a cabinet specific modification that does not parametrically change if any of the cabinet's materials or sizes change. It's now a static product, that requires that I remember this fact if I were to ever use it again. How would you identify this product so that you don't inadvertently forget this?

5) I just re-opened this cabinet from the catalog and see that it did not save the display panel. How do I keep it with the cabinet?

Thank you

[Scott Marshburn]

Hi Daren.
I apologize for any confusion that I may have caused. I made this video on the fly without giving thorough thought. The closed contour that I used could have been done differently without the L shape on the right side. I will update that video as soon as I can. That being said.

1) Is there a reason why I should used the closed contour method rather than the geometric shape method?

There is no reason in particular to use the contour mode to do this. I used this because there is no need to determine the dimensions. I just created the edges and used those edges as construction guides to create a closed contour for the pocket cut. Do note that I did not apply any edge banding to the deck. I did however offset the top line by the thickness of the edge banding to allow for it.

2) I'm not sure how you determined the exact size of the part to cut off the deck? I used the dimensional info in the cut list to give me an X and Y coordinate to start my rectangle from, and noticed that the edging was not included in these dimensions.

I suppose that you could take the cabinet into line drawings and get the specs from there. I just find it much easier to use the contour mode for stuff like this.

3) I then added a display panel, but w/o the edging. Aside from not calculating or displaying the edging on the display panel, do you see anything wrong with the way that I did it?

You should deduct the thickness of the edge banding from the front edge of the display panel. Other than that I see no problem as long as the end result works for you.

4) This is obviously is a cabinet specific modification that does not parametrically change if any of the cabinet's materials or sizes change. It's now a static product, that requires that I remember this fact if I were to ever use it again. How would you identify this product so that you don't inadvertently forget this?

You could name it in a way that would catch you attention. Maybe something like Lcorner2PieceDeck. That being said. In the batch and custom layout areas the only dimensions that you can change on a corner cabinet is the height. So if you need to adjust the width and/or the depth you will have to take it into the cabinet editor to do this. With this and the name maybe that would trigger some further investigation. As I stated in my video eCabinets will not let use the normal stretchers in corner cabinets. I would prefer to use a left/right stretcher front back orientation for this.

5) I just re-opened this cabinet from the catalog and see that it did not save the display panel. How do I keep it with the cabinet?

My bad on that one. I failed to mention that after you get the display panel in place you should associate to the cabinet. To do this click on the display panel then double click on the cabinet. Right click and select associate to cabinet. Make sure to save it back to your library.
Thanks Scott Marshburn

[Daren LaBranche]

Thank you Scott. I now understand why you use the closed contour section rather than getting the dimensions elsewhere beforehand. I'm still not clear on the edging though, but at this point I'm not worried about it. I'll associate the part with the cab now too.
Cheers

[Scott Marshburn]

Hi Daren.
I had some time to ponder on this type of cabinet. I came up with a more dynamic solution. Although this does require two separate cabinets. They are very easy to adjust. You can also add partitions fixed shelfs etc. to either or both if you wish. Also they do not have to be assemblies but could be if you wish
I would post the cabinets but I am currently running the latest beta so unless you have the beta I do not think that they would work on the current version of eCabinets. If you do have the beta then you can PM me and I will send you the cabinets.
So I made a video on how I made these cabinets
Here is the link if you are interested.
https://youtu.be/77STpRMeU7E

[Daren LaBranche]

That's pretty impressive Scott! I would have never thought of doing it that way. Thank you for taking the time to enlighten me on this option. I'm sure there will be others who also benefit from this.

Cheers