Didn't your mother ever teach you that farting in public is rude?
There might be some savings, if like for like materials were used. But unless the bought cabinets were custom made, the savings really won't be THAT substantial.
If the cabinets were something that can be bought at Lowes or Home Depot, it would be extremely hard, if not outright impossible to drastically undercut those prices.
1-hardware must be bought. The cabinet company buys theirs by the 1,000's or even 10,000's, versus the individual buying them at a couple or few dozen.
2-lumber costs. A cabinet company probably gets their lumber green and seasons and mills it themselves. A small furniture company would probably buy dried lumber, probably rough sawn. Definitely more expensive.
3-machining. A cabinet company is going to be using a lot of computer operated machinery. Wood is fed in one end, cut to size, comes out the other end. Moves to the next station, and similar happens. And so on. A one man operation can have a cnc machine, but still a person is overseeing each and all of the operations.
4-setup. A cabinet company makes pieces for a 1000 cabinets before changing to set up for another, at each different machine. An individual might have 2-3 duplicate machines, set up differently, but they have to be initially set up, and reset when measurements change.
By the time a cabinet is rolled out the door, the actual labor cost per unit is relatively small. The real factor for the company is large numbers. Granted, they have large overhead with buildings, machinery, land, and so on, its divided by the large lots produced.
An individual still has to buy relatively expensive equipment. 1-2 cabinet saws at $2000+, 1-2 bandsaws at $2000+, drumsander, drill press, shaper or routers, air filter, dust collector, and other machines and tools and accessories. It would cost $10,000 just for the hobbyist/small business man to get started for equipment, and that number would easily double or triple for that hobbyist/ small business man to really get serious. And to really gear it for a small business the price would go up. Now divide those numbers by a small volume of products and it becomes obvious, how relatively inexpensive the massed produced cabinetry machinery costs.
No "carpenter" is going to build high quality cabinetry on his Craftsman contractor table saw, or with his Milwaukee Hole Shooter. There are numerous tools for cabinetry or furniture that the average "carpenter" will not have.
It is not the equipment. Museum quality work can be done,and still is, by non power hand tools. Some people pay extra for it, a lot. I don’t know why.
It is more of a function of labor time. However, if this touchy feely wood hippie is as unsuccessful as he appears, he might well of had the time on his hands.
I am sure it was really more about the enjoyment of doing so than about the cost savings he used to justify the project.
I think he went overboard in committing so much of his time to the project.
There's a point when one needs be honest with oneself by wondering if we're really doing something to save money--or if we're just using that as an excuse to play hooky from more important responsibilities.
Did your mother ever theach you to read the article before posting. The guy is a custom carpenter already and owns his own custom carpentry business. One would have to assume that he already has all the shop tools and the skill to make his own cabinets. I have friends who have done the same and have made better cabinets for a small fraction of the cost of the press board crap you find in those big box stores.
Evidently yours did not.