Anyone else using Trim Head screws to join cabinets during installation?

[scott vroom]

We've been using GRK trim head screws (8 x 2-1/2) to join adjacent face frames in cabinet installations. They've got a very small head and have the general appearance of a finish nail except with threads. The head conveniently counter sinks into common domestic hardwoods.


Does anyone else use trim head screws in this application? Are there better choices for joining face frames?

[Michael W. Clark]

Scott,
I used #8 FH screws, on my wetbar cabinets. I don't know that they are any "better", but I would think that they would be a little less expensive if you buy a lot of them. I countersunk them and set the head flush with the surface. The stain is a dark reddish brown and I used black square drive screws from McFeelys. If the ones you are using do not need a pilot hole or countersink, you may bebetter off with what you are using when you factor in the extra time. My FF are hard maple, and I would have been reluctant not to use a pilot hole.

Mike

[Sam Murdoch]

I am a huge fan of the GRKs and use these trim screws for many applications but for attaching cabinets together through the face frame I prefer a headed screw as I think it pulls and holds tighter, so I use the # 8s. If there is a hinge on the FF I mount behind that. If not I use the silver version that more closely matches the color of Euro hinges. I flush the head very carefully and don't mind the exposed screw as I accept it as part of the system - just as the Euro hinge or the shelf pins are.

Having said all that :rolleyes:- there have been times that the trim screws were the choice. Of course I clamp the frames tightly before setting the screw so the screw is not really doing any pulling but rather just keeping things in position. In the case of using the trim screws I have covered them with colored wax stick or wood fill for the paint grade applications.

[Paul Johnstone]

I like fastcap screws.. they have a large head, but you can buy stickers which have real hardwood on them to cover up the head. So you can stain them to match.. It does a really good job at hiding the screws, IMO.
You do have to invest about $50 in the special drill bit to make the job super easy though. The special bit automatically drills the pilot hole for the screw and countersink hole for the screw head and sticker.

[phil harold]

I am a huge fan of the GRKs and use these trim screws for many applications but for attaching cabinets together through the face frame I prefer a headed screw as I think it pulls and holds tighter, so I use the # 8s. If there is a hinge on the FF I mount behind that. If not I use the silver version that more closely matches the color of Euro hinges. I flush the head very carefully and don't mind the exposed screw as I accept it as part of the system - just as the Euro hinge or the shelf pins are.

Having said all that :rolleyes:- there have been times that the trim screws were the choice. Of course I clamp the frames tightly before setting the screw so the screw is not really doing any pulling but rather just keeping things in position. In the case of using the trim screws I have covered them with colored wax stick or wood fill for the paint grade applications.I am with Scott on this one.
Hide under the hinge is my preferred method.
trim screws dont suck up tight in my eyes , not saying I have not used them on some installs...

[scott vroom]

I am with Scott on this one.
Hide under the hinge is my preferred method.
trim screws dont suck up tight in my eyes , not saying I have not used them on some installs...

Phil, what size and type screw do you use to tie adjoining FF cabs?

[Larry Edgerton]

I am a huge fan of the GRKs and use these trim screws for many applications but for attaching cabinets together through the face frame I prefer a headed screw as I think it pulls and holds tighter, so I use the # 8s. If there is a hinge on the FF I mount behind that. If not I use the silver version that more closely matches the color of Euro hinges. I flush the head very carefully and don't mind the exposed screw as I accept it as part of the system - just as the Euro hinge or the shelf pins are.

Having said all that :rolleyes:- there have been times that the trim screws were the choice. Of course I clamp the frames tightly before setting the screw so the screw is not really doing any pulling but rather just keeping things in position. In the case of using the trim screws I have covered them with colored wax stick or wood fill for the paint grade applications.

I do the same. I am a huge GRK fan, use a couple of thousand dollars worth of them every year for all kinds of applications. They have a screw for everthing up to 12" long. But I use the #8 [red driver] for cabinets.

Larry

[phil harold]

Phil, what size and type screw do you use to tie adjoining FF cabs?
For 1.5" face frames deck screws #8 2 1/2" square drive predrilled and counter sunk
Dont forget to clamp and aligned before screwing

[Jay Jolliffe]

I also use GRK's for different applications. Trim head to the regular head. I know this thread is about cabinets. A house I care take used the coated ones on the exterior trim which was 1 1/2'' thick red ceder. That is something that you don't use them for. They're rated for exterior use but not for cedar. Stainless Steel is what you use. This house has hundreds of them holding the trim on that have to be removed & replaced with stainless...The cedar actually rots the screw off. This is after 5yrs & this is what most of them looked like.239615

[Jeff Duncan]

Yup, been using trim head screws on FF installs for years now. You don't always have a hinge to cover the screw so minimal head visibility is preferable. I always carry the Fastcap wax kit with me so I can sink the head just below the surface and a little wax makes it disappear! I also use trim heads for installing pre-finished hardwood door jambs!

If you install correctly....meaning clamping your cabinets together and pre-drilling, you won't have any problems with the trim heads keeping the cabinets together;) And if you think the smaller heads don't grab well enough, then I dare you try to separate 2 cabinets fastened together that way!

I also recently started using the Fastcap screw cap system and it's a great tool to have, especially for frameless cabinets. Being able to make your own caps in the same finish or materials as the cabinets is soooo much better than using the little plastic caps.

good luck,
JeffD

[Jamie Buxton]

To my eye, there's not much benefit to the trim head. While it is smaller than a standard head, it is still big enough to be quite visible. I feel I have to do something about it -- plug it, or hide it behind a hinge, or just call a spade a spade and leave it visible. That is, the choices I make about it are exactly the same ones I make about regular-headed screws. So the trim-head doesn't really have any advantages. The downside to using it is that it is yet another kind of screw to stock.

[HANK METZ]

I got a bunch of those in a box somewhere in the shop, no real advantage to using them in either finish or hidden surfaces.
Now that you made me think about 'em, I'll pull them out and just use them up.

- Beachside Hank
Do not use remaining fingers as push sticks.

[Jim Becker]

Scott, I use Trim-head screws when I'm assembling carcasses made of 1/2" sheet stock...which is most of the time I'm making carcases.

[Lee Schierer]

I've never used trim head screws, but based on the small head size and the fact that cabinets hold a lot of weight, I don't think I would ever use them for holding a cabinet to the wall. The only exception would be if I could put a washer under the head.

[scott vroom]

I've never used trim head screws, but based on the small head size and the fact that cabinets hold a lot of weight, I don't think I would ever use them for holding a cabinet to the wall. The only exception would be if I could put a washer under the head.

Lee, I was discussing using trim head screws to tie adjoining cabinet face frames. No way I'd use them to attach cabs to the wall.

[Steve Griffin]

My favorite way to join cabinets is to not need to join cabinets. I've installed entire kitchens with big cabinets and not a single "joined" cabinet except corners. Bigger cabinets are no fun to carry, but easier to install and often improves the look, depending on the style.

But for the times I do need to join cabinets, I try every trick I can think of to hide them--behind hinges, in drawer banks, pocket screws on outside of carcass. Sometimes with inset doors, the best place to hide a screw is the faceframe edge on the hinge side--easy to plug, and really doesn't show anyway.

For open bookcases, sometimes glue and clamps can work.

I use about 7 trim head screws a year, usually to wrestle some warped piece of trim into place when nothing else is working.

[Larry Edgerton]

Sometimes I do a modified version of what Steve is talking about. I build boxes that I can handle, assemble in the shop, then fit a one piece face frame on splines, disasemble and put it back together on site.

Larry

[Matt Meiser]

Not that I've done that many, but I've mostly used faceframe mounted hinges and try to hide them behind the hinge.

Related, where do you find good quality trim head screws? I could only find them at one of the big boxes (not known for even 1/2 way decent screws) or "Trim Head Drywall Screws" at the local hardware store which usually carries 1/2 way decent screws but the Drywall part scared me off.

[Jefferey Scott]

Not that I've done that many, but I've mostly used faceframe mounted hinges and try to hide them behind the hinge.

Related, where do you find good quality trim head screws? I could only find them at one of the big boxes (not known for even 1/2 way decent screws) or "Trim Head Drywall Screws" at the local hardware store which usually carries 1/2 way decent screws but the Drywall part scared me off.

Matt, I've been using trim head screws from McFeely's on my cabinets and they seem very strong.

[Sam Murdoch]

Matt as this thread started - the GRK trim heads are truly excellent and available nearly anywhere that screws are sold. As Jay mentioned though they don't hold up in exterior applications through cedar.

[Matt Meiser]

Well, not quite anywhere. I didn't see them in the big boxes or my local hardware. That's pretty much everything local that I know of. Googling GRK turns up lots of online places I've never heard of--but it does look like Amazon might have them.

[scott vroom]

Well, not quite anywhere. I didn't see them in the big boxes or my local hardware. That's pretty much everything local that I know of. Googling GRK turns up lots of online places I've never heard of--but it does look like Amazon might have them.

Matt, Amazon sells the GRK 2-1/2" trim heads: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1EBQ0/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

[Larry Edgerton]

Matt, better yards like Fingerle in Ann Arbor or Chelsea Lumber will have GRK Brand screws. I use a ton of them for work with Azek/Versatech, and they are nice to work with.

Larry

[Matt Meiser]

Believe it or not I've never been to Fingerle. When I worked in Ann Arbor I didn't know about them and now I'm never up there when they are open. Though a friend redid my porch and bought Azek there for it so they have gotten a little business from me.

[Jim Becker]

Lee, I was discussing using trim head screws to tie adjoining cabinet face frames. No way I'd use them to attach cabs to the wall.

I use them for this...I missed that point in the OP. Sorry. They are perfect for this application as they don't really show and if you choose to counter sink slightly, there is only a small hole to plug if you want to finish them off. (I don't do that...I just drive them as perfectly flush as I can)