corner shop cabinet joinery

[Randy Rizzo]

I'm in the beginning stages of finally getting around to building some more permanent shop cabinets. The first is going to be a corner cabinet and I'm not quite sure how I join the sides to the face frame. I don't see pocket screws working. A spline? ?

[Dave Zellers]

Instead of putting the entire 45º angle on the front FF, it would be better to miter the front and sides. Then a spline or biscuits would work easily.

[Ben Grunow]

I suppose you are past this but I would skip that cabinet for shop use. Just make some uppers and lose the square space there if you can afford it. Every angled cabinet I have made has been a pain and in the end just full of stuff you cant reach through the little door. Lazy susans overloaded etc...

Just my opinion though. Have to agree with Dave too. Make those joints with 22.5 angles and biscuit them.

[Tom Ewell]

Nothing wrong with this joint either, put it together and plane down the exposed point of the angled rip.

Pocket hole 45 joint.jpg

[glenn bradley]

I suppose you are past this but I would skip that cabinet for shop use. Just make some uppers and lose the square space there if you can afford it. Every angled cabinet I have made has been a pain and in the end just full of stuff you cant reach through the little door. Lazy susans overloaded etc...

This is also my experience. My current shop takes advantage of corners for dust/electrical runs and rarely used or delicate item storage. I also have some of the "lost corner" syndrome where stuff is so unwieldy to get to it just seems to stay there . . . forever ;-)

P.s. I have use Tom E's joinery example with good success.

[Tom Ewell]

I use my corners for the sound system.
Ipod docking in one, two speakers in two... nuttin much in the other.

[Randy Rizzo]

Nothing wrong with this joint either, put it together and plane down the exposed point of the angled rip.

Pocket hole 45 joint.jpg

This works. Thanks. I'm not thrilled with the prospect of a corner cabinet for all of the reasons that have been mentioned. But I've got a short return wall that's just gonna collect junk, much as it's doing now! I'd rather put a short run of cabinets there and get the stuff outta sight. The attached floor plan (not to scale) is what I'm working with. I've been using it for close to 10 years now with some "temporary" benches I cobbled together. The shop is the second story of a hillside (walkout) garage, cars on the lower level.

[Tom Ewell]

Just have to make sure the length of the pocket doesn't exceed the width of the stile unless you don't mind a little peekaboo inside the cabinet.

[Robert Engel]

I'm going to dump out the wheelbarrow here.

Don't use a face frame at all -- use frameless cabs. Problem solved.

Try them, you'll love 'em.

[Randy Rizzo]

Tom Ewell's suggested procedure worked well. Did a test mockup and just needed to use 1" pocket screws in lieu of the regular 1 1/4" used for joining 3/4" stock. One more question, now that I've got all the cabinet carcasses made up and installed I'm ready for countertop material. I'd like to use an underlayment material and glue down or nail some 3/4" or 1/2" hard wood flooring on top of the underlayment. I've used particle board in the past for bench counter tops, not sure if that is the right choice for underlayment, 3/4" AC ply would probably be a better choice but it's more expensive.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Tom Ewell's suggested procedure worked well. Did a test mockup and just needed to use 1" pocket screws in lieu of the regular 1 1/4" used for joining 3/4" stock. One more question, now that I've got all the cabinet carcasses made up and installed I'm ready for countertop material. I'd like to use an underlayment material and glue down or nail some 3/4" or 1/2" hard wood flooring on top of the underlayment. I've used particle board in the past for bench counter tops, not sure if that is the right choice for underlayment, 3/4" AC ply would probably be a better choice but it's more expensive.

For shop counter tops 1/4 inch Hardboard , also called high-density fiberboard (HDF). This product is also known under Isorel or Masonite brand names.

Tack it down on your plywood or particle board counters and when it gets hacked up flip it over or replace.

Greg

[Jim Dwight]

I try not to use particle board for anything. I use waferboard when I want something less expensive than plywood.

I also like a two layer top for shop surfaces and agree that 1/4 hardboard is a good, serviceable, and inexpensive choice. Wood flooring would look nicer but you would need to cover up the edge. What I do with the multi-layer approach is to biscuit on a 3/4 board that is as wide as the combine surface. It hides the joint and helps to keep the thin top in place. You could do the same thing with flooring, I guess.

[Randy Rizzo]

I'm liking the 1/4" hard board approach. I can reuse a lot of the old counter top and just resurface with the new hard board. I had planned on edging with some left over hickory flooring when we built the cabin