Best method for securing frames to cabinet box.

[Mike]

I'm not too pleased with securing the frame to the cabinet with nails from the face. I can't make the nail holes match. Any help appreciated. Mike

[max]

We usually use biscuits. We actually use biscuits for most stuff. We bought a floor model pocket holer but you don't want them on the inside. max

[bridger]

I use a variety of methods.

in locations where you have a blind side to work from, pocket screws are fast and convenient. this includes the bottoms of lower cabinets and the tops of uppers as well as some concealed dividers and the stringers for attaching counters.

for high visibility connections, biscuits work well.

neither method is as fast as nails from the nailgun, but both are faster than nails PLUS the time spent trying unsucessfully to match the filler to the grain...

[Bill Wallace]

Biscuits. You'll find the size 0 (I think) are often called/labeled Face Frame biscuits.

[Ba r r y]

Size 0 biscuits are larger than Face Frame (FF) biscuits.

Large to small = 20-10-0-FF

Not all machines can cut FF slots, only those with a second, smaller blade.

Barry

[Swingman]

There is no "best" method for all cabinets. My personal favorite for kitchen cabinets is making the FF first, grooved to accept the cabinet edges, then glue and an occasional finish nail if necessary, or just clamps if nail holes are going to be a problem.

[Doug Miller]

Glue and clamps works for me. Tested on a mockup: heavy spread of Titebond II, clamped for two hours, allowed to cure overnight, and bashed it with a hammer. The wood failed, not the glue joint.

Only downside I can see is that it takes a *lot* of clamps -- about every 4 inches around the face frame adds up in a hurry. Best to use blocks of scrap between the clamp pads and the face frame, too, so you don't get dents in the face frame. DAMHIKT.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Get a copy of my NEW AND IMPROVED TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter by sending email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com You must use your REAL email address to get a response.

[bridger]

if you make up a set of cauls you can reduce the number of clamps.

take some straight grained dry hardwood, whatever you have on hand. rip it to a little over what you want for a finished thickness. the thickness will depend on how springy the wood is and how long the caul will be. here's a good way to guage it: first, just guess. if it's say a white oak caul, 3 feet long and 2 inches wide start with 3 inches thick. take a couple of 3 inch thick scraps and set them on the bench

3 feet apart and span them with the caul-to-be with the 3 inch dimension vertical and near the edge of the bench. now take one of the clamps you're going to be using it with and clamp it down in the center of span. you can easily judge the springiness from here. if it's too soft, cut the caul down lengthwise. if it's too hard rip it narrower, but remember to stay a bit to the hard side at this point to account for the material you'll remove when giving it camber. once you have the length and thickness set so that the applied force is what you want to deliver with your clamps, and while it's still clamped up to the edge of the bench measure the distance that it has deflected- that is, subtract the distance from the bottom of your caul at the center where the clamp is to the bench top from the thickness of the scraps it's spanning. that dimension will be the amount of camber. now unclamp it and lay out the camber. you'll want a fair curve that takes out zero at the center and the camber amount out at each end. how you cut that line will be up to you and what tools you have. I generally do them on the jointer. get the curve nice and smooth- lumps will tend to telegraph out to your work. I put a small chamfer on the edges, sand them smooth and wax them for glue release, but I suppose you could pad the faces with leather or something if you wanted.

in use what you want the caul to do is apply just the right amount of force for assembly, evenly across it's length, at the point where the bending forces of the clamps have it straight. once you have the belly sanded and waxed you can tune the springiness by shaving from the back- which can be part of the dry run of the assembly.

for all of the words I used to describe this, it only takes a few minutes to do- probably less time than I spent typing.

[Bill Wallace]

I stand corrected. At least I said "I think". Now I remember, I always grab the "other" biscuit cutter when I use these dogs.

BW

[Upscale]

There are other methods you can try, but I've had great success with nails and Lee Valley Tools blind nailer. It's a very small chisel/plan combination that raises a shaving, you bang in your nail and then glue the shaving back down. Virtually invisible. To facilitate the driving in of the nail, I drill a slightly undersized hole with a drill, bang in the nail and then countersink it. LV recommends fish glue for fastening down the shaving, I use simple white carpenter's glue. Then I either apply finger pressure for four or five minutes until the glue dries enough or I use a face frame clamp.

[Swingman]

Nails! .. . careful, you'll grow hair on your knuckles if you do that.

I've often wondered why wooddorkers buy so many finish nail guns since they profess not to use them. Good to see someone else fess up to actually using nails.