Carcase Construction

[Christopher Pennington]

Amateur cabinet maker here. Used to make surgical cabinets in my youth and haven't touched any form of woodworking in 15 years.

So the grand plan. I will be building a series of permanent cabinets that will be made from 3/4" birch plywood for sides, tops and bottoms with 1/2 birch plywood for the back. They will be on adjustable legs and attached in the back to a VERY uneven brick wall. Honestly, I think the brick layer was drunk. Anywho...my question is, what's the best way to join the bottoms to the sides? I've been considering biscuit joins but am hesitant to use them on the unbanded plywood edge. I've considered dowels, rebates on the bottom?

What's the best, ie strongest way to join the sides of a 8'+ tall cabinet to the bottom?

[Jamie Buxton]

You'll find many ways to make that connection recommended on this forum. My usual method for cabinets is to use biscuits to establish the position of the horizontal parts (shelves, top, bottom), and glue on the ends of those horizontal parts to actually hold everything together. A butt joint in sheer is very strong. Pipe clamps pull everything together while the glue dries. A full back prevents wracking. Me, I staple the back on, having applied finish to it separately. (I spray with an HVLP that blows all of the finish out of enclosed spaces like cabinets.) I rabbet the sides so the edges of the back are not visible. If the wall is nasty, I include a bunch extra on the sides to be scribed to the wall.

Even if the bottom edge of the sides can't be seen, I still edgeband it. Otherwise, somebody can fray a bit of the face veneer off the sides.

[Sam Murdoch]

For a cabinet that tall with legs under I'm guessing that you intend that the very bottom will support the sides and not be set in between like the remaining horizontals. Biscuit will allow food easy alignment but I would also add glue and screws. If the sides will be see it is easy enough to add some solid wood as a perimeter. Would look nice and could be tall enough to span the joint. Adding the bottom under the sides will provide the best support for the cabinetry above.

Alternatively you could make all the horizontals the same size - fitted between the sides and set in 1/2" for the back thickness, then add a separate base like a plinth. The inside bottom would be flush with the bottom edge of the sides and this base would support it all directly. That would be very rugged and make assembly even easier. In this case I would rabbet the horizontals into the sides. I wrote this post about that method - http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-Secure-Joints

Welcome to the Creek. Hope your project is a fun one.