Face frame question - Stand alone cabinet

[Jack Wilson50]

Hello Everyone,

I have a question about face frame construction. When you build a stand alone cabinet or book shelf, do you let the face frame overlap the outside sides or to you build it flush?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Jack

[frank shic]

you can do it either way but most prefer not to see the cabinet sides from the front view.

[Tom Ewell]

Mostly a design element , flush, proud, edge beaded, inset with the case sides dressed for show, etc., whatever you like.

[Steve Griffin]

Hi Jack,
There are two things that scream cheap factory produced cabinetry--face frames that overlap sides, and overlay doors with huge gaps between them.

Flush them. Or better yet, frame the sides like a door and attach flush to the face frame. Takes a little longer, but is actually easier, as you don't need to fuss with thin plywood veneers lining up with hardwood.

To flush a veneer ply side to the faceframe, you can either glue up super carefully and sand it out super carefully, or build your faceframe 1/32 to big and use a router with a flush trim bit. In either case, it's usually easier to work with 3/4" thick side panels than 1/4".

[Peter Quinn]

I working on one now (design phase) with four 1 1/4" legs, rails slightly set back, plywood sides and back that slip into a groove in the legs and rails' like end panels, but not so much like cabinet doors. So there are lots of ways to do it. Ice done frame and panel cabinets with mitered corners, and that looks good too. Also did one last year with a rabbit and bead to accept the end panel, and that hides the joint nicely.

[Jack Wilson50]

Steve,

I thought about building the sides as frame and panel; but I am matching an existing piece and it is not built that way. I will use a flush trim bit on the face frame since I already have it attached. When I put it on proud of the side, it just did not look right.

Thanks for the advise.

Jack

[Sam Murdoch]

Please excuse if I am telling you something you already know but here is an important tip if you don't know.

Especially since your face frame is already attached and you intend to rout flush this is a case for creeping the router from the finished end to the start. Even if your FF overhangs by only a 1/16" the risk of tear out exists and that would make such a mess of your nearly finished cabinet. If your cabinet is paint grade tear out might not be such a big deal. Anyway, I suggest, don't start the router on the left end of your case - the bottom of the run to the top, but go to the top and rout 3" then back up and rout another 3" into the first cut, then back down and 3" more, etc. Finally run the router the full length from left to right.

Also a consideration is that you will be trimming end grain on the top rail. Clamp a sacrifice piece (at least an 1" or 2" wide) hard to the top rail and flush on the end so that as you rout you are finishing your pass on the sacrifice piece and therefore not pulling out the grain off the top of your rail. Reverse all directions for routing the opposite side of your cabinet.

Again, sorry to be pedantic. Just trying to save you from avoidable grief and aggravation.

[Jack Wilson50]

Sam,

Thanks for the tip.

[frank shic]

oh, now i understand what jack was originally asking... i usually flush it up as well. you can also run a chamfer on both the edge of the cabinet side and the face frame to avoid having to sand it perfectly flush.

[Sam Murdoch]

oh, now i understand what jack was originally asking... i usually flush it up as well. you can also run a chamfer on both the edge of the cabinet side and the face frame to avoid having to sand it perfectly flush.

This is what I do. I use biscuits or dominos for alignment and I never flush rout the FF to the cabinet. I most often use biscuits as they are much less exacting but still more than up to the task. I flush nearly all my face frames on the inside of cabinetry and just add a tiny radius on the cabinet and face frame edge to create a little paint/finish break and to fool the eye and untrained hand if I don't get perfect flushitude. On the outside of the cabinet, as Jack is writing about, I would certainly flush the face frame, either using the quirk detail as Frank & I describe, or mitered to an end panel.