almost all DIY cabinets that one makes in the house are basically boxes with shelf. whether it's a european frameless type or the american frame type or a combination of both, the basic design will always simply be a box with shelfs + a door if you want to put one.

and however you make your cabinet, the primary material will always be a 4' x 8' (1220mm x 2440mm) board sheet (e.g. plywood, plyboard, particle board, MDF, HDF, etc). for frameless type you mostly use 19mm or 15mm thick board and for a frame type you use the 4mm/5mm or 10mm thick boards.

so ideally, to make a cabinet and to minimize waste per board at the same time, one needs to maximize the list of cabinet parts per board. also, to conform with system 32, the measurements you use should be divisible by 32mm or 16mm (1/2 of 32mm).

a few weeks ago, my wife ordered me to make a quick and dirty open cabinet with 4 adjustable shelfs for our storage room 🙂 he he he ... below are some of my old notes in making cabinets that will minimize wastage ... hope this info helps ...

1. most critical, is to determine first the width (depth) of the cabinet (and it's shelfs) as this will determine the max height and the max length of the cabinet to minimize waste.
(a) from my experience, the ideal width/depth of a cabinet is 400mm (approx 15 3/4" ; it's also the max depth ; 400mm/16mm=25). it's not too short (e.g. 300mm or 12") and not too deep and will result in little waste. it will accomodate most items that you want to put in the shelf. if you study Ikea's cabinets, (except base kitchen cabinet which is dictated by the depth of the countertop) the max is also around 400mm.
(b) with 400mm, 1 board, cut length wise (400mm * 3 = 1200mm) will yield 3 panels of 400mm width (length=2440mm or 8'). the 20mm balance from 1220mm is for your waste (e.g. kerf waste when cutting)
NOTE: if your using plywood, it's better (easier and less chipping) to cut length wise (with the grain) than across (against the grain of the wood)
(c) with 400mm, 1 board, cut across (400mm * 5 = 2000mm) will yield 5 panels of 400mm width (length=1220 or 4'). the 440mm balance can be use for 2 pcs of 100mm plinth for the base of the cabinet if needed.

2. ideally, the height or the length of the cabinet should be near or close to the
4' x 8' (1220mm x 2440mm) standard board size. for reference, the standard is either 1200mm (1200mm/16mm=75) or 2400mm (2400mm/16mm=150).
for our case, when we made the plan for our house, the distance between electrical outlets should ideally be 2440mm or 1220mm to ensure max size cabinets can fit between it.

using the quick and dirty cabinet with 4 adjustable shelfs as an example for the above, i made a frame type cabinet using cocolumber and 4mm plywood to cover the frame to make it into a cabinet. here is a description of how i did it:

1. vertical post: cut 6 pcs of 1"x2" with a total lenght of 1320mm, 1220mm for the cabinet and 100mm for the base (feet).

2. for each of the vertical post, drill the 5mm holes (9 per set) for the 2 pairs of adjustable shelf. each of the 4 holes will hold a 5mm wooden dowel to hold the shelf in position.
from the top of each post, the 5th hole for each shelf will be at 400mm and at 800mm. drill 4 5mm holes above and below each 5th hole with a space of 32mm (to make 9 holes per shelf). all the holes must be pass-thru the 1" of the 1"x2" wood.

3. combine each pair of vertical post with a 2 pcs of 400mm 1"x2" beams (top and bottom ; exactly 400mm width end to end) to make a square frame. the mid-point of the base beam should be exactly 100mm from the bottom end. this is to ensure that the back and bottom panel plywood can be nailed to the frame.
you now have completed the 3 sets of vertical post frame of the cabinet.

4. horizontal post: cut 4 pcs of 1"x2" with a lenght of 2440mm. this will be use to connect and assemble the 3 vertical frames - 2 frames at both ends and 1 in the middle (midpoint of the middle frame at exactly 1220mm).
you have now assembled the complete frame of the cabinet.

5. 1 whole 4mm plywood will cover the back portion of the frame.

6. for top, bottom, and side panel: cut another 4mm plywood length wise (2440mm). measure 400mm at one side of the plywood and cut with a saw. this will be for the top panel.
from the other side of the plywood, measure another 400mm and cut it with a lenght of 2440mm. this will be for the bottom panel. you need to cut each of the corner and the middle portion to accommodate the 1"x2" vertical post.
the remaining middle portion of the plywood is more than 400mm, cut the excess to make it 400mm. once done, cut into 2 pcs by cutting across with a length at 1220mm. this will be the side panels of the cabinet.

7. adjustable shelfs: use another 4mm plywood. same with #6, cut into 3 pcs of 400mm width and then cut each piece into 2 shelfs with 1220mm length. the 1220mm length is a bit too long and you will need to cut it a little to fit between the vertical post at the end and the middle vertical post. it will be somewhere between 1180mm and 1190mm. once you have the exact size, use a 1"x1" wood to cover the side of the shelf to make it sturdy.
1 plywood will make 6 shelfs. the 4 shelfs will be initially use for the cabinet. the 2 extra shelfs will be in reserve. knowing my wife, once she has filled all the shelfs, she will be requesting me again to make some additional shelfs in the future 🙂 he he he ...

total material cost for the project is about P1.2K - coco lumber (P3 per linear feet) and the 3 pcs of 4mm plywoods (P300 each) ... cheers

Boo!