Joining Corner Problem - Medicine Cabinet Door

I'm building a medicine cabinet and was planning on using small biscuits to join the corners of the door. However the Cheap-O biscuit joiner I own makes the hole too big for the smaller biscuit. I've tried to make it work, but it just won't do what I want.

Is a spline a safe way to join the corners? They're not at 45 degrees but butted against each other. Any other alternatives? I wanted to stay away from using L brackets, but that may be the only solution. I have very basic tools to match my basic skills.

Thanks.

Reply to
Patrick Gillette
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I have a dremel with a plunge router attachment am I better off with dowels holding the frame together?

Example :

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Reply to
Patrick Gillette

splines should work fine. dowels would be easier and will work just as good. you could also use lap joints and glue. skeez

Reply to
skeezics

Unless the pieces are already cut, what about M/T? You can manage that with a basic tools and some patience. If there is a mirror involved, I think I'd go that route.

Reply to
Tom Kohlman

Your might want to consider a lap joint, hand made mortise and tenon, dowels (although they never seem to work well for me). All can me made with simple hand tools (saw and chisel). They will provide plenty of glue surface for a strong joint that will be opened and closed many times a day.

Reply to
Howard

A spline might be nice. If you have a way to cut a blind groove then you wouldn't be able to see the edges of the spline in the finished product. You could also do a lap joint, which is pretty strong and is nice and square.

Fancier: if you have a router, you could use a frame and stile type of bit set, which creates matching grooves in the joining sections (one bit makes the negative of the other, so they'll fit together). It would rout the groove for the mirror at the same time and leave a nice detail around the inside face.

-Marc-

Reply to
drmarcj

A lap joint doesn't work because the pieces are already cut to fit the mirror.

I'm off to Lowes to look for other ideas. Thanks guys.

Reply to
Patrick Gillette

I often run into similar joinery decisions when using wide 1/2" hardwoods and not wanting to cut housing joints, or stopped housing joints, of some type (dado/groove) for appearance reasons. The below fits your criteria of already cut parts whose dimensions can't be changed.

I generally solve it by using a router to cut what are very similar to mortise and "loose tenons". (I use the term because of the image it creates, not necessarily for its correctness.)

IOW, I cut a "mortise"or stopped groove (some running almost the length of the part) in both pieces with a router bit in a router table, the edges referenced much the same way you would do for butt joints with a plate jointer, then use a "loose tenon"/spline/tongue fashioned from the same stock, to join the parts.

In a traditional sense, this "loose tenon" is in reality, a "spline", or a "tongue".

The resulting joint is generally strong enough for the task, with plenty of long grain glue area and I have not had one fail. Downside is the need for extra careful alignment when cutting the "mortises" or grooves.

FWIW, in 1/2" stock I generally make the grooves 5/16" deep with a 1/4" straight cut router bit, and dimension the splines/tongues the thickness of the groove and 5/8" wide.

That said, making your own "biscuits" to fit the slot of your plate jointer in the same manner that you would cut the loose tenon/splines/tongues is a time consuming, but not impossible, task. The only real difference is in the shape of the spline/tongue/loose tenon above.

HTH ...

Reply to
Swingman

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