Cabinet Finished Ends?

[BrettL]

Hello All,

 

I am brand new to Chief Architect and have been watching videos and looking at the reference guides trying to learn how to use CA for kitchen design.  

 

I am having trouble understanding how (or if) CA handles finished ends and interiors.  I have figured out that a schedule can be made that will show the Automatic Finished Ends. This seems to come apart when you have, for instance, a 24" tall wall cabinet sandwiched between two 36" tall wall cabs (like over a sink). The 36" tall cabs should include finish ends, but don't.

 

Also, is there a way of changing the color of one side or the interior of a cabinet, as you would see in real world?

 

Thanks

[MarkMc]

2 hours ago, BrettL said:

Hello All,

 

I am brand new to Chief Architect and have been watching videos and looking at the reference guides trying to learn how to use CA for kitchen design.  

 

I am having trouble understanding how (or if) CA handles finished ends and interiors.  I have figured out that a schedule can be made that will show the Automatic Finished Ends. This seems to come apart when you have, for instance, a 24" tall wall cabinet sandwiched between two 36" tall wall cabs (like over a sink). The 36" tall cabs should include finish ends, but don't.

 

Also, is there a way of changing the color of one side or the interior of a cabinet, as you would see in real world?

 

Thanks

Hi Brett, welcome aboard.

I posted a link for you in Tips to the plan file with an example of the symbol I use for making the inside of cabinets what they are in real life. I set my default cabinet to use that in the back.  Fillers done that use the defaults will also have these in the back and will need to be altered. Keep some in your library and drag them in as needed.

 

Otherwise in that file and this one -open the cabinets there (and here) examine the dialog boxes, then open the symbol (s) and examine them looking at -orientation and origin, then stretch areas. Do a little reading up on symbols in either the help or the reference manual (my favorite). You will want to make a "cabinet inside" back insert for walls and any other depths. Keep them in your user library (be sure to rename them)

 

For finished sides- yes CA is a bit unreliable when it comes to finishing sides. I expect that may be fixed sometime soon since based on conversations I've had but in the meantime.

I set the default cabinet sides to "unfinished" then I use a custom OIP field (pictured below) where I place the finished sides.

 

SO yes you have to do it.

The options are-either to have them already filled out to have both finished in your default cabinet

OR have neither filled out. While it is easier to delete than to add I currently favor not filling it out (however I have set up all my user library cabinets to have a Flush Finish Mod since that take more work to add)

For the way I work with cabinets and defaults I ONLY use the cabinets for the "Build, Cabinet,.." menu OR cabinets that I have stored in my user library. I NEVER use cabinets from Chiefs library since they do not behave well with defaults. I've set keyboard shortcuts for the menu cabinets (CB; CW; CT; and fillers FB; FW; FT) Design with those then use "Replace from library" to change to cabinets that I already have conigured (with mods listed). The system is pretty efficient and gets a schedule that can be used to create an order (I've posted info on doing that in the past) This plan has the beginnings of a schedule though I typically rename most of the fields to make them shorter.

Then once you get a handle on that you may want to look over the annotation sets that are in this plan. They are an older set and may have some mistakes (in the process of redoing all of that) but they will give you an idea of some things you can use them for that will speed things up.

 

Finished Sides and interiors.plan

[BrettL]

Thanks for your help.  I don't have a problem manually entering my finished ends, but I was hoping to be able to see graphically if I had indeed specified finished ends. I'm gathering that that is impossible at this time.  

 

I will definitely check out your annotation sets, but I'm not there yet.  I'm only a few days deep right now and still trying to learn the basics of the program.

 

Thanks again.

Brett

[MarkMc]

13 minutes ago, BrettL said:

Thanks for your help.  I don't have a problem manually entering my finished ends, but I was hoping to be able to see graphically if I had indeed specified finished ends. I'm gathering that that is impossible at this time.  

 

I will definitely check out your annotation sets, but I'm not there yet.  I'm only a few days deep right now and still trying to learn the basics of the program.

 

Thanks again.

Brett

Not it's not impossible pretty easy actually. Here it is-take a long look through the DBX of all the items I've referred you to so you can start to see what you can manipulate and what you can't.

Here is a plan with base set as what you are after- set it as a default, change side to finished and presto. I'd copy a slab door to my user library and NAME it cab_side or such so it's easy to identify in the materials of the DBX (didn't bother here)

I like your idea, going to implement it myself, a visual clue would be handy thanks.

 

Cabinet side different.plan

[BrettL]

I like the workaround.  I'm sorry that it is needed, but I like it.  

 

I think the finishing touch is to add Left Side and Right Side attributes to your cabinet schedule. That way unfinished sides display as "Has Face" while finished sides show up correctly.

[MarkMc]

10 minutes ago, BrettL said:

I like the workaround.  I'm sorry that it is needed, but I like it.  

 

I think the finishing touch is to add Left Side and Right Side attributes to your cabinet schedule. That way unfinished sides display as "Has Face" while finished sides show up correctly.

I do my cabinet schedules according to how each supplier wants them ordered. Every one I deal with has a single column for finished sides with anything more than that added as a modification (flush finished, door on side non working, wainscot end...) This one is in progress right now, has been abbreviated from it's final.