Face frames

Today I started on face frames. This is one of the simplest parts of building a cabinet, but also where most 'built-ins' fall short, so I'll go over what my process is and how it differs from some others.

Face frames are the front of the cabinets, so they are always in view and need to look good. Keeping this in mind I always carefully select the pieces to by used, being sure to cut away ugly parts.



A basic face frame is just four pieces of wood to frame the cabinet opening. The vertical sides are called stiles, the horizontal pieces are called rails. Often the inside area will be divided up with mullions (vertical divider) and muttons (horizontal dividers). In 99 out of a 100 cases, these various parts will meet using a butt joint. It's simple, fast and effective... if it's done right.

Too often, contractors building 'built-in' cabinets will install a cabinet carcass (the main box of the cabinet), then simply nail the individual face frame pieces to the carcass, maybe with a bead of glue. In such a case, there is no mechanical joint between the stiles, rails, muttons and mullions. Simply gluing these butt joints is pointless since the end grain-to-long grain arrangement is the worst gluing situation imaginable for wood.



This poorly assembled joints will eventually open up and the individual parts will be subject to movement because they do not reinforce one another. This eventually leads to loose parts which look bad... only it takes about a year or two to happen, so your warranty has expired. A face frame joint should look like the one above, and it should stay that way.

My approach is to assemble the face frame parts into a single unit, using pocket screws first (photo below). This way the butt joints are pulled tight and stay tight, for the life of the piece. Each piece acts to reinforce its mates making the entire frame stronger and more resistant to movement and stresses.



After assembling the frames, I apply the finish before attaching them to the carcasses. Since the carcases are pre-finished, this avoids having to mask off the inside of the cabinet. Plus, the face frames alone are much smaller and easier to work with and move around than whole cabinets.

After the finish is applied, I attach the face frames to the carcases. I'll go into deal on that next time.