Cabinet Face Frame building - selecting the Best formula

There are two basic types of cabinet: "frameless" cabinets, which are essentially just a box made of plywood or particleboard, and "face frame" cabinets, which have an added wood frame on their front edge. When building face frame cabinets, joining the parts of the face frame together is arguably the most involving task in the entire process. So, what is the best joinery formula for cabinet face frames? There's no shortage of options: pocket screws, mortise and tenon joinery, dowels and biscuits all have their champions. In the end, the selection de facto depends on your situation and objectives.

For most pro cabinetmakers, the decision to adopt one formula or another has to quadrate with a pressing interest in getting cabinets out the door as fast and efficiently as possible. For the hobbyist, who has much more freedom to experiment, it's a slightly different story. If your livelihood doesn't depend on shaving a few seconds off of this process or that, then the selection de facto depends on the conditions the cabinets will have to face, your skill level, the tool you have available, the amount of time you want to give your cabinetry projects, and what you think it takes to join a face frame "right".

Carpentry Framing

Mortise and Tenon Joints

Some cabinetmakers just seem to prefer time-tested joinery methods, and may go to the length of cutting a bona fide mortise and tenon for every face frame joint. There's itsybitsy doubt that this formula is the slowest, but there's also no request that it produces the strongest joint. Many would argue that structurally, a mortise and tenon joint surpasses overkill in this application. But if you're dedicated to making cabinets in the top potential craft, then the knowledge that you've used the most resilient joint potential may be worth the extra effort.

Of procedure there are many ways to make a mortise and tenon joint, some being much faster than others. If you're committed to idea of building cabinets favorable for centuries and centuries of use, but prefer to move along as fast as possible, here are a integrate of options to consider.

Quicker, Easier "Loose" Tenon Joints

Arguably every bit as strong as a customary mortise and tenon joint, a "loose tenon" joint is typically much easier to make. The "loose" in loose tenon joinery plainly means that instead of cutting the end of one joint member into the shape of a tenon, a mortise is cut into both parts and then the two are joined by a isolate piece of stock. The process is easier because the customary task is plainly making two identical mortises, rather than the exacting procedure of cutting a de facto matched mortise and tenon in two isolate - often set up-intensive - steps. The loose tenon stock itself can whether be purchased ready-made as part of a joinery system, or can be de facto made with base woodworking tools.

The affordable BeadLock Joinery law is a longtime beloved among weekend woodworkers and produces loose tenon joints de facto and fairly quickly. The BeadLock law employs a uniquely shaped mortise made up of overlapping drill holes and a matching "ribbed" tenon stock, which is available ready-to-use, or can be made using tenon stock router bits and a router table. The BeadLock Jig consists of a multi-holed drill guide and a mechanism for positioning it on the stock so that the BeadLock mortise can be reliably and repeatably executed using an lowly hand drill. Recently redesigned, the BeadLock Jig now comes in a Basic and Pro version, both of which can be upgraded with accessory kits that allow greater versatility in mortise/tenon size. A BeadLock joint can be made in a fraction of the time that it takes to cut a customary joint, and many devotees argue that the unique, interlocking shape of the parts de facto produces a stronger bond.

The Festool Domino Joinery law also produces a loose tenon joint, and makes the process as slick as it's ever likely to get. The Domino looks similar to a biscuit joiner, and produces joints about as fast, but the similarity between the two tools ends there. Instead of cutting a thin slit into the stock, the Domino uses an oscillating carbide cutter to make a mortise wide sufficient to house one of the system's specially designed "domino" shaped hardwood tenons. The corollary is a rock solid joint in report time. Of procedure all of that speed, impel and precision doesn't come free; the Domino's price tag isn't exactly for the faint of heart. But if you plan on being in the cabinetmaking game for a while, like to speed along as fast as possible, and prefer a joinery formula that will leave no questions about the integrity of your face frame joints, the law is impossible to beat.

While the Domino is surely not to be confused with a biscuit joiner, that doesn't mean that a biscuit joiner can't be used to join face frames. In fact, the Porter Cable elaborate Biscuit Joiner comes appropriate with a second, smaller cutter designed specifically for the task of cutting biscuit slots in 1-1/2" face frame stock. In terms of strength, a biscuit joint is no match for any type of mortise and tenon joint - loose or otherwise. But many cabinetmakers find that fact to be plainly beside the point. When you get right down to it, a face frame joint de facto doesn't have to stand up to a whole lot of stress. Once it's attached to the cabinet box, it plainly has to remain stuck together. And we'd guess the majority of cabinetmakers would deem a biscuit joint more than equal to the task.

Faster Still - Pocket Screw Joints

Still more cabinetmakers swear by pocket hole joinery for joining face frames. Pocket hole joinery is used widely in the cabinetmaking industry, and by all accounts is the clear winner when it comes to getting straight through the face frame assembly process fast. A pocket hole joint doesn't wish clamping, but instead comes perfect with its very own constantly installed clamp - i.e., the screw. That means that once its assembled, a face frame joined with pocket screws is ready for the next stage in the process, and can be joined to the cabinet box without added ado. Fast, strong and self-contained, pocket hole joinery appears approximately tailor-made for face frame joinery, where joint stress is low, and a visible fastener on one side of the done stock is not a problem.

For the hobbyist, the name Kreg has come to be synonymous with affordable, easy to master pocket hole joinery systems. Over the years, Kreg has continued to heighten its groundbreaking jig, and now offers a amount of kits. Beginning at under and ranging up to nearby 0 for the K3 master System, Kreg jigs are available for virtually every woodworking budget. And later, when you turn pro, the semi-automatic Kreg Foreman will bring you up to industry yield speed.

More Options...

Still other cabinetmakers prefer to dowel their face frame joints. Nothing wrong with that: Dowel joints have been nearby for hundreds of years, are more than strong sufficient for a face frame and - in case,granted you already own a hand drill - wish only a modest investment in a doweling jig and few dowels.

A Side benefit - studying New Skills

None of the joinery methods mentioned here are itsybitsy to face frame assembly, of course. All can be used in a wide variety of woodworking situations. In other words, buying the tool primary to try one or more on a specific project involves very itsybitsy risk - if it turns not to be the preferred formula in one situation, you will, without a doubt, find a use for your newly acquired joinery technique somewhere else.

Cabinet Face Frame building - selecting the Best formula

There are two basic types of cabinet: "frameless" cabinets, which are essentially just a box made of plywood or particleboard, and "face frame" cabinets, which have an added wood frame on their front edge. When building face frame cabinets, joining the parts of the face frame together is arguably the most involving task in the entire process. So, what is the best joinery formula for cabinet face frames? There's no shortage of options: pocket screws, mortise and tenon joinery, dowels and biscuits all have their champions. In the end, the selection de facto depends on your situation and objectives.

For most pro cabinetmakers, the decision to adopt one formula or another has to quadrate with a pressing interest in getting cabinets out the door as fast and efficiently as possible. For the hobbyist, who has much more freedom to experiment, it's a slightly different story. If your livelihood doesn't depend on shaving a few seconds off of this process or that, then the selection de facto depends on the conditions the cabinets will have to face, your skill level, the tool you have available, the amount of time you want to give your cabinetry projects, and what you think it takes to join a face frame "right".

Carpentry Framing

Mortise and Tenon Joints

Some cabinetmakers just seem to prefer time-tested joinery methods, and may go to the length of cutting a bona fide mortise and tenon for every face frame joint. There's itsybitsy doubt that this formula is the slowest, but there's also no request that it produces the strongest joint. Many would argue that structurally, a mortise and tenon joint surpasses overkill in this application. But if you're dedicated to making cabinets in the top potential craft, then the knowledge that you've used the most resilient joint potential may be worth the extra effort.

Of procedure there are many ways to make a mortise and tenon joint, some being much faster than others. If you're committed to idea of building cabinets favorable for centuries and centuries of use, but prefer to move along as fast as possible, here are a integrate of options to consider.

Quicker, Easier "Loose" Tenon Joints

Arguably every bit as strong as a customary mortise and tenon joint, a "loose tenon" joint is typically much easier to make. The "loose" in loose tenon joinery plainly means that instead of cutting the end of one joint member into the shape of a tenon, a mortise is cut into both parts and then the two are joined by a isolate piece of stock. The process is easier because the customary task is plainly making two identical mortises, rather than the exacting procedure of cutting a de facto matched mortise and tenon in two isolate - often set up-intensive - steps. The loose tenon stock itself can whether be purchased ready-made as part of a joinery system, or can be de facto made with base woodworking tools.

The affordable BeadLock Joinery law is a longtime beloved among weekend woodworkers and produces loose tenon joints de facto and fairly quickly. The BeadLock law employs a uniquely shaped mortise made up of overlapping drill holes and a matching "ribbed" tenon stock, which is available ready-to-use, or can be made using tenon stock router bits and a router table. The BeadLock Jig consists of a multi-holed drill guide and a mechanism for positioning it on the stock so that the BeadLock mortise can be reliably and repeatably executed using an lowly hand drill. Recently redesigned, the BeadLock Jig now comes in a Basic and Pro version, both of which can be upgraded with accessory kits that allow greater versatility in mortise/tenon size. A BeadLock joint can be made in a fraction of the time that it takes to cut a customary joint, and many devotees argue that the unique, interlocking shape of the parts de facto produces a stronger bond.

The Festool Domino Joinery law also produces a loose tenon joint, and makes the process as slick as it's ever likely to get. The Domino looks similar to a biscuit joiner, and produces joints about as fast, but the similarity between the two tools ends there. Instead of cutting a thin slit into the stock, the Domino uses an oscillating carbide cutter to make a mortise wide sufficient to house one of the system's specially designed "domino" shaped hardwood tenons. The corollary is a rock solid joint in report time. Of procedure all of that speed, impel and precision doesn't come free; the Domino's price tag isn't exactly for the faint of heart. But if you plan on being in the cabinetmaking game for a while, like to speed along as fast as possible, and prefer a joinery formula that will leave no questions about the integrity of your face frame joints, the law is impossible to beat.

While the Domino is surely not to be confused with a biscuit joiner, that doesn't mean that a biscuit joiner can't be used to join face frames. In fact, the Porter Cable elaborate Biscuit Joiner comes appropriate with a second, smaller cutter designed specifically for the task of cutting biscuit slots in 1-1/2" face frame stock. In terms of strength, a biscuit joint is no match for any type of mortise and tenon joint - loose or otherwise. But many cabinetmakers find that fact to be plainly beside the point. When you get right down to it, a face frame joint de facto doesn't have to stand up to a whole lot of stress. Once it's attached to the cabinet box, it plainly has to remain stuck together. And we'd guess the majority of cabinetmakers would deem a biscuit joint more than equal to the task.

Faster Still - Pocket Screw Joints

Still more cabinetmakers swear by pocket hole joinery for joining face frames. Pocket hole joinery is used widely in the cabinetmaking industry, and by all accounts is the clear winner when it comes to getting straight through the face frame assembly process fast. A pocket hole joint doesn't wish clamping, but instead comes perfect with its very own constantly installed clamp - i.e., the screw. That means that once its assembled, a face frame joined with pocket screws is ready for the next stage in the process, and can be joined to the cabinet box without added ado. Fast, strong and self-contained, pocket hole joinery appears approximately tailor-made for face frame joinery, where joint stress is low, and a visible fastener on one side of the done stock is not a problem.

For the hobbyist, the name Kreg has come to be synonymous with affordable, easy to master pocket hole joinery systems. Over the years, Kreg has continued to heighten its groundbreaking jig, and now offers a amount of kits. Beginning at under and ranging up to nearby 0 for the K3 master System, Kreg jigs are available for virtually every woodworking budget. And later, when you turn pro, the semi-automatic Kreg Foreman will bring you up to industry yield speed.

More Options...

Still other cabinetmakers prefer to dowel their face frame joints. Nothing wrong with that: Dowel joints have been nearby for hundreds of years, are more than strong sufficient for a face frame and - in case,granted you already own a hand drill - wish only a modest investment in a doweling jig and few dowels.

A Side benefit - studying New Skills

None of the joinery methods mentioned here are itsybitsy to face frame assembly, of course. All can be used in a wide variety of woodworking situations. In other words, buying the tool primary to try one or more on a specific project involves very itsybitsy risk - if it turns not to be the preferred formula in one situation, you will, without a doubt, find a use for your newly acquired joinery technique somewhere else.

Cabinet Face Frame building - selecting the Best formula