DIY Roll Out Cabinets

Mark out the dimensions of the three sides of the cabinet -- the back, left and right panels -- onto 1-inch-thick plywood sheets with a pencil. Make all three sides the desired height of your cabinet. Make the two side panels as wide as the depth of your cabinet plus 1 inch to allow for a gap between the shelves and the front and rear of the cabinet. Make the width of the rear panel as wide as the width of your shelves plus 3 inches to allow room for the connection of the side panels and the placement of the shelf gliders.

Cut the plywood sheets along the marked lines with a circular saw. Have an assistant hold the plywood steady as you cut it to avoid flexing of the wood that may cause cutting errors.

Place a bead of wood glue onto the edges of the side panels that will sit against the front of the rear panel to create the cabinet shell. Press the side panels against the front of the rear panel along the outer edges. Secure the side panels in place with finish nails driven through the rear panel and into the side panels every 4 inches along the joint with a nail gun.

Measure the outside dimensions of the cabinet shell with a tape measure to cut the top and bottom panels of the cabinet. Mark the dimensions onto a sheet of plywood and use the circular saw to cut the boards from the sheet. Place a bead of glue along the top of the cabinet shell boards and press the top panel onto the cabinet, with the sides of the panel flush with the three cabinet shell sides. Nail the panel in place with finish nails every 4 inches around the perimeter of the board, through the board and into the top edges of the cabinet shell. Repeat the process with the bottom cabinet panel, gluing and nailing it into place to the bottom of the cabinet shell.

Mark the location of the pull out drawers or shelves on the sides of the cabinet frame with a pencil. Measure the width of the gliders that you’re using for the drawers and cut a strip of plywood for each glider mount, using the measured width of the gliders and the depth of the cabinet as the strip dimensions. Place a bead of wood glue onto the cabinet sides along the marked locations, then glue the strips to the cabinet walls. Set a carpenter's level across the tops of the strips on opposite cabinet walls to make certain the strips are level with one another.

Place the glider rails onto the strips of wood with the rear of the rails flush with the rear cabinet panel. Secure the rails in place using wood screws driven through the mounting holes along the rail's length and on the rear of the rails.

Cut two 1-by-4-inch boards to the height of your cabinet. Lay a bead of glue along the rear of the boards, then place the boards against the front of your side panels to serve as face frames. Secure the boards into place with finish nails every 6 inches. Measure the length along the top and bottom of the cabinet between the side boards and cut two additional 1-by-4 face frame boards to the measured length. Attach the two boards to the top and bottom plywood strips to complete the facing frame.

Create lipped shelves for your cabinet to serve as the roll outs. Measure the width of the cabinet space between the two glider rails, and the depth of the cabinet. Subtract 1 1/2 inches from each measurement for the lips of the shelves, then mark the adjusted measurements onto a sheet of 3/4-inch plywood. Cut the plywood along the marked lines with the circular saw. Repeat the process for each shelf you wish to place in the cabinet onto the installed gliders.

Cut two 3/4-inch strips to the same depth as the shelves for each shelf that you’re making, making each strip 2 inches high. Place a bead of glue along the sides of each shelf edge, then press the 2-inch-high strips onto the shelf sides with the bottom of the strip flush with the bottom of the shelf and the top rising over the plywood about 1 1/4 inches. Nail the strips into place with finish nails every 6 inches.

Measure the width of the shelves including the newly installed side lips. Cut two strips for the front and rear shelf lips to the width measurement for each shelf, making them 2-inches high as well. Glue and nail the new strips to the front and rear of the shelves with the ends of the strips flush with the edges of the side strips, creating a shallow lipped shelf.

Attach the other piece of the gliders, the one containing the rollers, to the side lips of the shelves using wood screws. Place each of the completed shelves into the glider rails. The shelves should slide smoothly in and out of the cabinet body.

Measure the cabinet opening, then purchase a cabinet door to fit over the opening from a home improvement store. Attach the door over the opening using hinges placed onto the interior sides of the cabinet, then onto the rear of the door with wood screws. Attach a handle to the front of the door on the opposite side of the door from the hinges to complete the cabinet construction.

Remove the shelves and hang the cabinet using fasteners that are appropriate to the wall material. For example, use nails to mount the cabinet onto walls containing wall studs, nailing through the rear of the cabinet wood into the locations of the wall studs.