Cabinet shops often specialize. The majority make only household cabinets and similar cabinets and shelves for stores. Others concentrate on booths, counters, bars, backbars, and wall and ceiling panels for restaurants and other public rooms. Still others make only church fixtures, including paneling, pulpits, pews, and altars. Some cabinet shops work only as subcontractors to general building contractors.
Cabinetmakers can and frequently do complete the entire job.
They select and cut the materials, fit and assemble the parts, and do the final touch up with sandpaper and steel wool. They work from drawings and stock bills, planning the sequence of operations and the cutting of the lumber for economy, efficiency and final appearance. If the piece is to be finished so the natural characteristics of the wood are in evidence, the Cabinetmaker gives particular attention to knots and other features and carefully matches the grain. The Cabinetmaker's trade includes the use of such machines as trim saws, band saws, shapers, planers, jointers, and sanders. However, some shops employ other workers to operate these machines while the Cabinetmakers use hand tools to assemble and finish the frame, hang doors, fit drawers, and install hardware.