Attaching the face frames

Once the face frames are stained, and the carcasses assembled, it's time to put the two together. One advantage of attaching a fully assembled face frame to the the carcass is strength. The face frame acts like another side of the box, making the cabinet even more rigid. If individual pieces of the frames are attached, that extra strength is lost.

Face frames can be attached a number of ways. The most common is to use glue and a hand full of brads (small nails), but that leaves visible nail holes. I prefer to use biscuit joints.



Biscuit joints are small slots cut in each mating face using a biscuit jointer, the slots are filled with a compressed wafer of plywood specifically designed to fit both slots. Glue is applied to both slots, the wafer inserted and the pieces clamped together. The wafer absorbers moisture from the glue and expand, locking itself inside the slots, once the glue dries you have a very strong joint.






These two images show biscuit slots and biscuits glued into a carcass side.

I also apply glue on the flat edges of the carcass, so a solid bead of glue meets the back of the face frame.


Another advantage of this method is alignment. The biscuits hold the face frame in place while it's being clamped. Its fast and strong, and leaves no holes to be patched.