Face Frame clamping solution?

[Len Rosenberg]

Hi all. I will be attaching a face frame to a cabinet that has three sections, so two vertical dividers. Clamping around the edges is easy, but what do folks use to clamp the mid sections? This will be a clear finish, not paint, so will not be using screws, nails or brads. I plan to attach the frame using glue. I've seen the Bessey EKT, which I think would work great but I would need 6 or 8 and they are $80 a piece. I've also seen the Rockler face frame clamp but I'm not convinced how well it would work, and those are $35 each. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Len.

[Edwin Santos]

How tall a cabinet box are we talking about? Could you use a cambered caul the length of your vertical dividers? When clamped at the top and bottom, the curve will apply pressure in the center. Hope this makes sense.

Are you using any form of joinery other than the glue? I have used biscuits to attach face frames in which case clamps on the ends and a heavy weight in the center would be enough.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Plus 1 for using cauls. You don't need to buy fancy ones. You can make good-enough ones from 2x4s.

[David Eisenhauer]

I had a small, commercial cabinet shop that targeted the kitchen cabinet upgrade market for several years and usually built clear-finish stuff. I tried all the ways I could think of, but the divider stiles seemed to glue on in the most secure fashion at the exact position I needed them to by using cauls as Edwin says. It seems like an additional step, but it works every time without any drama. I did enough of the same sizes that I used all-thread rod to pull my cauls tight rather than clamps for ease of installation and that made a big difference for me. Using clamps, I always felt I needed a third hand (as a minimum). I usually used aluminum bar clamps to clamp the outer stiles and rails in place.

[Warren Wilson]

I've used painter's tape for this very purpose -- Lee Valley sells a slightly elastic tape to add a bit of pressure. If you have a good fit between the pieces you don't need kilonewtons of force to have excellent adhesion.

[Len Rosenberg]

Thanks. The cabinet is 30" tall by 51" wide. I have not used cauls before. Any suggestions on how to make them?

Len

[Lee Schierer]

I usually don't put the back on until after the face frame is in place.

[George Bokros]

Hi all. I will be attaching a face frame to a cabinet that has three sections, so two vertical dividers. Clamping around the edges is easy, but what do folks use to clamp the mid sections? This will be a clear finish, not paint, so will not be using screws, nails or brads. I plan to attach the frame using glue. I've seen the Bessey EKT, which I think would work great but I would need 6 or 8 and they are $80 a piece. I've also seen the Rockler face frame clamp but I'm not convinced how well it would work, and those are $35 each. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Len.

Home Depot has them for $48 ea, still not cheap but almost half of what you cite.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/BESSEY-2-1-8-in-1-Handed-Edge-Clamp-EKT-55/205971653?cm_mmc=Shopping|G|Base|PLA|D25T|Tools&gclid=CJzYgM7lsdI

[Len Rosenberg]

I usually don't put the back on until after the face frame is in place.

Well, live and learn :) Lee, this is my first face frame cabinet, and I didn't realize this would be an issue. The back is already very securely attached and is not coming off.... Also, given the size of the cabinet (30 x 51), attaching the back was necessary to make it square and rigid. I don't think leaving the back off until the end was really an option. But for smaller cabinets, that is great advice, thank you.

[sebastian phillips]

e355024355026355027

[sebastian phillips]

You may have to be creative-
spring braces off the ceiling are simple and cheap
clamp F style clamps to the box sides, with the bar just above the FF. Then shim hard between the clamp bar and the FF-also cheap and easy.
Plan it out, you'll come up with a good solution that works.
Good Luck,
Seb

[andy bessette]

Where there needs to be clamping pressure, but clamps are impractical for some reason, you can assemble using screws set in a counterbore, and bung with plugs cut from scraps of the same frame material. For this I use Fuller bits and plug cutters.

355030

[Sam Murdoch]

If there are shelf pin holes you can make up a clamping block using those. You need a couple of 1" to 5/4" thick pieces of stock with shelf pins attached in 3 or 4 spaces (or more if you are inclined) relative to the holes in the cabinet. The straight pins without spoons or other "built in support pads" are best suited. Set the pinned blocks into the shelf pin holes of the cabinet and use this to clamp to while attaching the face frame. Of course you don't want to use white knuckle tension on your clamps or you will distort the holes but an easy light pressure just to keep the verticals of the ff in place until the glue dries.

For the record - all my cabinets big, short, wide or otherwise get their face frames attached BEFORE the backs are attached. I add temporary bracing on big cabinets if needed to square up before the face frames go on.

[Len Rosenberg]

Home Depot has them for $48 ea, still not cheap but almost half of what you cite.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/BESSEY-2-1-8-in-1-Handed-Edge-Clamp-EKT-55/205971653?cm_mmc=Shopping|G|Base|PLA|D25T|Tools&gclid=CJzYgM7lsdI

Thanks George, good to know.

[Len Rosenberg]

Thanks for the various and clever solutions! Love this forum :) I will go with a couple of cauls.

Len

[Mark Wooden]

Like Lee and Sam said, leave the back off before attaching the face frame. I usually use a few bisquits to register the frame on the cabinet.
Sounds like you may have glued the back in or have it in a full groove/dado. Not necessary for a cabinet that will be fastened to a wall, and not really necessary for a lot of furniture. It also makes the inside of the cabinet a lot easier to finish when the back is off. I learned this as an apprentice after getting chewed out by the finisher at the shop I worked in at the time.
Clamping blocks to the dividers like shown in above pics works pretty well. I use 2x4 blocks with the edges rounded and tape on the contact faces when I have to clamp at right angles at times.

[Len Rosenberg]

Thanks Mark. I feel like I just learned an apprentice lesson ;) Next time the back goes on last!

[Earl McLain]

You may have to be creative-
spring braces off the ceiling are simple and cheap
clamp F style clamps to the box sides, with the bar just above the FF. Then shim hard between the clamp bar and the FF-also cheap and easy.
Plan it out, you'll come up with a good solution that works.
Good Luck,
Seb

The f-clamps & shims would have been too simple for me to figure out on my own!! I like that a LOT.
earl

[Floyd Mah]

Here's a couple more solutions:
I had a speaker cabinet that I was building that had a curved front. I had my whole clamp collection on the speaker already (18 3" drivers on the front panel), so was left with just a few small clamps. Luckily, I had made a couple of Festool Domino mortises in the top in preparation for gluing on a top. I used the holes to put a couple of smaller clamps in the holes and then clamped on the front panel with the free jaw. This is a similar solution to the suggestion for using the shelf pin holes. You can screw a piece of wood to the shelf holes for the clamps to brace on and the screw holes would be hidden in the shelf pin holes.

The other solution that comes to mind is that the middle stiles of your face frame are likely to be only a few inches wide and 3/4" or less thick. Hence probably very flexible. I would lay the cabinet on its back, on top of some lumber to elevate it off the floor to allow placement of your major clamps. I would then place two pieces of plywood over the two central stiles. On top of this, I would collect the various weight plates from yours and your sons exercise apparatus and use them to hold the plywood on top of the central stiles. I used the weight collection lying around my house and got over 200# of pressure for a torsion box that I was gluing up. Finally got a chance to exercise with those weights.

[Elliot Faust]

You could use a cut off nail as a fastener to hold while glue dries.

Take a thin nail and pound part way into the vertical dividers of the carcass. Then cut off the nail leaving about 1/4 or 3/8 sticking up. When you apply the face frame you can gently pound it down and the nail will hold the faceframe tight to the vertical dividers while the glue dries.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Related question- is glue alone enough to hold the face frames on to the "end grain" of the plywood boxes? Seems to me that wouldn't last long, but I've never tried it.

[Scott Cenicola]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?126343-Tutorial-Shop-Made-Cauls

I found Mike's tutorial very helpful in making cauls. They work great!

[andy bessette]

...is glue alone enough to hold the face frames on to the "end grain" of the plywood boxes? ...

I would use a row of biscuits to align the frame and increase glue surface area.

[David Eisenhauer]

Yes, glue (regular original Titebond for one) alone works very well. IMO, anything else in addition to glue is there for alignment or to hold it without clamps until the glue dries.

[Bill Adamsen]

I have a number of the Bessey ETK55 clamps, but nowheres near enough for the bookshelf edging length. I made a series of cheap "shelf pin" clamps that attached over the shelf pin hole and allowed a 1/4" bolt to position the clamp. I also clamped in place with a large spring clamp though any "C" or Bar clamp would also work. The pressure was exerted by driving wedges against the face frame. It got the job done and none of the pin holes were damaged. They cost almost nothing to make. Of course, requires that shelf pin holes are part of the plan.

[Robert Chapman]

Rockler carries two face frame clamps one for use with pocket holes.

[Len Rosenberg]

355412

The Bowclamps worked perfectly.