Anyone do a Beaded Face frame Cabinet

[Curtis Myers]

I'm wanting to do kitchen cabinets with a beaded face frame and inset doors/drawers.

Anyone have experience beading a face frame?
Did you bead the face frame or glue in the beading after face frame was assembled?

I see Kreg has router bits for beading face frame and a $399 fence system for doing them.
Anyone use the Kreg expensive fence system. I do not plan on using the fence system unless I see very positive feedback for it.

All the Best
Curt

https://keystonewood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1-4_Bead.png

[Mark Bolton]

I have only done a couple jobs (thankfully) as we are not setup to do them profitably. Router table and set of bits. Its persnickety and slow but unless you have a hoffman or some other dedicated notcher it is what it is.

[Jared Sankovich]

Yep. A simple jig will get you the same as the kreg fence. Or with a slight rethinking a rather effective "machine" for not much $.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?257916-Beaded-face-frame-notching-jig

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?278835-Beaded-face-frame-notching-jig


https://youtu.be/jjV2hB7MpH8

For a single kitchen I'd likely just do an applied bead though. Integral with the kreg bits requires the stock to be sized to a couple thousands in width to be a single pass no issue affair. Otherwise it's a gap filled mess, requiring lots of tweaking to each joint.

[johnny means]

Back in the early 2000s these were really all the rage in kitchens. The way I always did them was to work all my parts through a system of notching cuts on the table saw. No special bits or fences. Just a dado set and a stack of cut to length and carefully marked beaded stock. The key is super detailed planning and marking so that no setup needs to be repeated.

[Jim Becker]

Any beading I've done has been applied and in general, I put it on the drawers/doors rather than the rails and stiles, but that technique isn't all that different than the opposite. If I were a production shop, I'd want a more formal way of doing this kind of work if there was a call for it, but since I'm not, it's all been one-off and manually done.

[Curtis Myers]

Any beading I've done has been applied and in general, I put it on the drawers/doors rather than the rails and stiles, but that technique isn't all that different than the opposite. If I were a production shop, I'd want a more formal way of doing this kind of work if there was a call for it, but since I'm not, it's all been one-off and manually done.

Jim,

Ive seen beading on doors and drawers using mitered corners in a couple kitchen centers.
Have you done applied/glued-on kitchen cabinets like this. What size bead did ya use?

[Jared Sankovich]

I'm not Jim, but a .250" bead with a 1/16" quirk (.312" total) is correct for cabinets imho.

[johnny means]

Mitered doors with beading are made with beaded stock. That's why they're mitered, it makes it super easy. They're considered a little low brow amongst wood snobs. Presumably because of the weakness of a miter joint. Those I do with a Domino at the corner. The nice thing is that this technique allows virtually any profile to be used.

[Malcolm McLeod]

I have the Kreg system. It was used to build a complete, large kitchen where SWMBO said, "Beaded!".

It made the large scale production of the face frames very easy and precise. I haven't touched it since. PM me if interested in one.

[Prashun Patel]

I considered the Kreg jig years back, but ended up doing an applied beading. If this a one-job experience, I would do applied.

[Robert L Stewart]

I have done kitchens and other types of cabinetry both ways. The Kreg Beading system makes it a snap in planning and ease of use.

[Jared Sankovich]

As an aside, the kreg bits are sized for a 3/16 bead and 1/16 quirk for a 1/4 overall width. Deviating from those dimensions results in a different minimum width of face frame parts.

[David Kumm]

When I used the Kreg, I made the rails and stiles extra wide and screwed them together, ran them edgewise through the planer to make them identical and did the notches together and cut to width. Not terribly efficient but made the doors uniform. If I did a lot I'd make jigs but for a one off, didn't bother. Dave

[Curtis Myers]

I have the Kreg system. It was used to build a complete, large kitchen where SWMBO said, "Beaded!".

It made the large scale production of the face frames very easy and precise. I haven't touched it since. PM me if interested in one.

What is SWMBO?

[Mark Bolton]

What is SWMBO?

She Who Must Be Obeyed... forum slang for wife, ball and chain, happy wife happy life..

[Jared Sankovich]

When I used the Kreg, I made the rails and stiles extra wide and screwed them together, ran them edgewise through the planer to make them identical and did the notches together and cut to width. Not terribly efficient but made the doors uniform. If I did a lot I'd make jigs but for a one off, didn't bother. Dave

I run it all through a shaper off a back fence. Not as fast as ganging through a planer or widebelt but consistent and square (or as square as a double shear head can be)

[David Kumm]

Jared, it was keeping the distance between the notches on the face frame and doors exactly the same that got me to screwing pieces together. I'm sure there is a better and faster way to do it but my memory is shorter than the intervals between making beads. Dave

[Jared Sankovich]

Jared, it was keeping the distance between the notches on the face frame and doors exactly the same that got me to screwing pieces together. I'm sure there is a better and faster way to do it but my memory is shorter than the intervals between making beads. Dave

Ah. That would work. Ive always used stops to keep all parts /notches perfectly consistent, but ive never used the Kreg jig, just the router bits. Not being able to set a stop at whatever distance out to 96" would be a hindrance to me.

[Jared Sankovich]

For those using the kreg fence, do you stick to single pass notching (and the widths required by the bits) or do multi pass to a width mark? Other method?

[Jim Becker]

I'm not Jim, but a .250" bead with a 1/16" quirk (.312" total) is correct for cabinets imho.
Sounds about right considering I used a "standard" .25" beading cutter.

[Patrick Walsh]

I had been a cabinet maker full time the last few years. Up in Boston we are always behind the idea with trends. Did piles of beaded face frames and doors.

We always did applied bead and even on stain grade work. Honestly you can’t see the glue line even ripping the beading right off the table saw.

I have used the Kreg bit but not with their fence. I made my own version. Only issue with that system is without a fence that is long enough to repeatedly put notches for intermediate rails the system is kinda useless imop.

If I insisted or had a client that insisted on integral I’d just work $5k into the project budget for a used Morso NFL or maybe sat $2-3k then eat the rest of the cost and consider I just got a new toy half price and the next job would make up my out of pocket loss.

But applied works and if you have a wide belt to sand the backs flush your golden. Even if not a it s tiny bit of material to clean up and aha d plane and sander makes quick work of it for a single project. If you did it day ina d day out like that you might shoot your self.

[jeff norris 2011]

I do beads all the time. I prefer a cock bead (raised bead).

423241

The method I learned was make regular face frames, them mill beaded stock, mitre the stock and glue it into the face frame. it may take longer but it is fool proof. the only trick is matching stock

[Jeff Duncan]

I've done plenty of them, though its been a few years since the last job I used them on. Never did applied beading, always seemed like cheating to me. Especially on stain grade where you'll notice the different shades. But thats just me, as long as the person getting the work is happy.... thats all that counts;)

I had a custom beading cutter made for the shaper and ran all the stock through. All the notch cuts were done on the tablesaw..... too cheap to buy one of those fancy machines to notch. Really not that bad though, probably an extra couple hours of work vs having one of those notchers on an average kitchen. Since I didn't do them all the time, just didn't makes sense to invest that much in such a specialized piece of equipment. Anyway the key for me was planning so that once setup for a cut, you make ALL the cuts before moving to the next size. Worked week enough for me anyway.

good luck,
JeffD

[Patrick Walsh]

Ok tables saw.

So rip fence is a bump stop and you used a sled or?

Next size as in if the flat of a rail or style is different I assume.


I've done plenty of them, though its been a few years since the last job I used them on. Never did applied beading, always seemed like cheating to me. Especially on stain grade where you'll notice the different shades. But thats just me, as long as the person getting the work is happy.... thats all that counts;)

I had a custom beading cutter made for the shaper and ran all the stock through. All the notch cuts were done on the tablesaw..... too cheap to buy one of those fancy machines to notch. Really not that bad though, probably an extra couple hours of work vs having one of those notchers on an average kitchen. Since I didn't do them all the time, just didn't makes sense to invest that much in such a specialized piece of equipment. Anyway the key for me was planning so that once setup for a cut, you make ALL the cuts before moving to the next size. Worked week enough for me anyway.

good luck,
JeffD

[Jared Sankovich]

I've done plenty of them, though its been a few years since the last job I used them on. Never did applied beading, always seemed like cheating to me. Especially on stain grade where you'll notice the different shades. But thats just me, as long as the person getting the work is happy.... thats all that counts;)

I had a custom beading cutter made for the shaper and ran all the stock through. All the notch cuts were done on the tablesaw..... too cheap to buy one of those fancy machines to notch. Really not that bad though, probably an extra couple hours of work vs having one of those notchers on an average kitchen. Since I didn't do them all the time, just didn't makes sense to invest that much in such a specialized piece of equipment. Anyway the key for me was planning so that once setup for a cut, you make ALL the cuts before moving to the next size. Worked week enough for me anyway.

good luck,
JeffD

Any reason for the custom shaper cutter over the standard freeborn?

[Curtis Myers]

For those using the kreg fence, do you stick to single pass notching (and the widths required by the bits) or do multi pass to a width mark? Other method?

Kreg sells several notching bits. They sell two widths (1-1/2" & 2") notching bits each supporting 1/4" or 3/8" beading bits.

https://www.kregtool.com/store/c40/beaded-face-frame-system/

Curt

[Dan Hahr]

I’ve done a whole house in beaded face frames. I bought a nearly new used Kreg jig and it worked very well. It takes a couple hours to set up and test fit but as long as you size your stock carefully, it’s set till the end of the job. I used 1.5” FF and the 1/4” bead (bead plus quirk). It’s very nice for assuring alignment of rails. As long you want very clean, nice tight joints and not a “rustic” look, you’d be very happy with the Kreg jig.

Dan423262

[Jared Sankovich]

Kreg sells several notching bits. They sell two widths (1-1/2" & 2") notching bits each supporting 1/4" or 3/8" beading bits.

https://www.kregtool.com/store/c40/beaded-face-frame-system/

Curt

Right but you're limited to the kreg 3/16 or 5/16 bead with and 1.5 or 2" ff overall width. If you want for example a 2.5" mid rail for a library ladder mount it's a 2 pass deal.

I was curious how people accounted for that. I've taken the industrial notcher approach of shifting the part by the difference of the cutter width vs the rail width. Though if you mark out everything you could just cut to the line.

[Jeff Duncan]

Ok tables saw.

So rip fence is a bump stop and you used a sled or?

Next size as in if the flat of a rail or style is different I assume.

I have a slider attachment for my saw that I've used on its own and I also have a sled which makes setups a bit easier. And yes the fence acts as a stop when using the slider. With the sled you can just attach stops.

While a full height door box is simple enough to do top and bottom of stiles the same... when doing drawer bases you have to do multiple notches. Pain in the butt if you forget one!

JeffD

[Jeff Duncan]

Any reason for the custom shaper cutter over the standard freeborn?

Because I'm excessively anal about getting things to look the way I want:rolleyes: I just wasn't happy with the off-the-shelf beading cutters, so I had one made up that hit the sweet spot for me. Wasn't really that much different either, just a little tweaked from standard. Seemed like it may have been excessive at first, but I ended up pushing a lot of stock through that cutter, so worth it in the long run. Would anyone else notice...... yeah probably not:o

JeffD

[Jared Sankovich]

Because I'm excessively anal about getting things to look the way I want:rolleyes: I just wasn't happy with the off-the-shelf beading cutters, so I had one made up that hit the sweet spot for me. Wasn't really that much different either, just a little tweaked from standard. Seemed like it may have been excessive at first, but I ended up pushing a lot of stock through that cutter, so worth it in the long run. Would anyone else notice...... yeah probably not:o

JeffD

If you mean the quirk a bit fat in width, or the outside of edge of the quirk should have a bit of angle to it.. well then I'd agree 100%

Seems excessively anal may common..lol

[Mel Fulks]

Jeff, I've done that ,too. I like the beads to have a nice deep round and and bottom at a point. No flat "quirk" .

[Gregory King]

Curtis, you might want to checkout Norm's cabinet series. He used this as well. Only downfall in a kitchen cabinet is that the bead provides for a good food catcher. Might be a tad hard to clean. Greg