Typical cabinet construction involves building plywood cabinet boxes and attaching face frames to the front. Methods for attaching the face frames to the boxes vary. None that I found met all my needs, so I developed my own way of building and attaching face frames to cabinet boxes. My way of making and attaching face frames ensures a perfect fit, installs without nails or screws through the show face of the frames, and get this– they’re removable!
Years ago I read an article by Norm Abrams where he described how he uses biscuits to attach face frames to cabinet boxes, virtually eliminating the need for hardware and allowing face frames to be finished before installation. I really liked Norm’s approach, primarily because it keeps the finishing process out of the house. He rips a slot in the front edges of his cabinet boxes, then uses his biscuit joiner to cut slots in the backs of his face frame components. He glues the frames to the boxes with biscuits so there are no nail holes to fill and finish. It was easy to rip a groove in the front edges of all the box components, but when it came to cutting biscuit slots in the back of the face frames I was vexed. On my cabinets, the face frame edges are not flush with the edge of the plywood boxes so I have no reference edge from which to set the biscuit joiner. I was unable to divine a method of setting up the slot cutter to mill the stiles that was accurate and reliable, and Norm’s article is surprisingly silent on this crucial point. I was inspired but not converted.
I knew I could improve on Norm’s technique. My solution does everything Norm’s approach does, but is easier to do and has the added bonus of making the frames removable. My solution is to use 1/4″ MDF as a spacer between the cabinet boxes (creating a “female” void between every cabinet box) and as a spline running down the back of the frame stiles (creating the “male” element of the joint that fits into the void instead of a biscuit). The result is that all my cabinet boxes are 1/4″ apart, which makes the total width where two cabinets meet = 1 3/4″. My 2″ stiles cover beautifully with 1/8″ overlap on each side. I ripped a 1/4″ groove down the center of the stiles. The MDF spline was glued into the stile’s groove when it was time to install the face frames, and the MDF spline slid nicely between the boxes and were easily secured with a couple screws located discreetly inside the cabinet box. I used screws instead of glue for easy removal and repairs if needed.
I had a couple long frame rails in the kitchen and was nervous about leaving them unattached. One option was pocket screws. Another was an attachment block glued to the cabinet box through which screws could be driven to secure the frame rails. For cabinets up to about 18″ wide, I didn’t see any need to attach the frame rails to the boxes. My frames are all 1″ X 2″, so they’re pretty stiff and strong.
For end panels like the one shown in the featured photo, it too is attached to the cabinet box with 1/4″ MDF spacers to create the void for the spline on the face frame. Careful fitting of molding hides the reality that the face frame is not attached to the end panel save for the spline joint, although these corners can be glued if you have no interest in making the removable.
For cabinets that terminate against a wall, a scrap of plywood attaches to the cabinet box separated by 1/4″ MDF, as shown in the drawing.
This method checked multiple boxes for me. First, it was a foolproof way to align face frames with cabinet boxes. Rails were custom cut with the stiles dry-fit in their grooves- no measuring ensured a perfect fit despite variations in plywood thickness and flatness (Grrr). Second, the face frames were made to be removable… forever. I’m jazzed about the ability to pull all my frames out when the hardwood floors need to be refinished, saving my beautiful legs from the floor sanders.
Of all the benefits of this technique, my favorite has to do with finishing. I love being able to finish all my frames, doors and drawers in the shop and then install them without ANY nail holes or any other breach of my finish coat. I like to spray opaque lacquer, so it was especially nice to keep that stuff out of the house.