Magazine Articles - Cabinet Construction

[Tommy Squires]

I have about sixty feet of counters and cabinets to build in my new shop. I know there are advocates for various techniques of cabinet construction (pocket screws, dadoes, dowels, etc.) here at SMC. Have there been any articles written lately comparing these (strength, speed, finish quality, etc.) that you have seen? Not trying to start a war here. Just been a while since I did case construction and wondering what I have missed.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

In my opinion you can't beat pocket screws for shop case construction. It's fast and strong. I made a large bench/storage case with six doors and all was assembled with pocket screws. You can use glue too if you want for some additional strength.

[frank shic]

i prefer stapled confirmat screwed butt joints with no glue or rabbets.

[Randal Stevenson]

One of the woodworking magazines did an article comparing joints and construction methods (biscuits, pocket screws, etc). But I don't think any have compared full construction. There are a lot of variables there, as depending on your setup, one may be quicker for you then the others.

I would play around with your tools and the various build methods on some scrap, then build to your satisfaction, and to (censored location), with us. Your living with it.

[Glenn Madsen]

The thing to think about in cabinet construction is: Is the method good enough for the task?

There are dozens of ways to do things, some better than others. The job just has to be good enough for the purpose. No one is really going to care about fancy Asian joinery in a plywood box meant for holding routers and screws.

I like biscuits and pocket screws for these types of cabinets, because they are fast, strong and I have what I need to get them done. Sliding dovetails might be great for front room display bookshelves, but when I have to fill my shop with boxes, I want that job finished, strong, and catching sawdust from the next project.

[Tommy Squires]

Sorry, didn't mean to hide my location. I'm pretty basic when I try to use this, for me, new technology. Hope its corrected now. :o

I agree with all of what is said here. Just thought there may have been a detailed review of current practices out there somewhere. I haven't used pocket screws yet but have heard nothing but good about them. I have always used dados for the cabinet and face frames with mortise and tenons. Just the way I learned back in the dark ages.

I have pictures of my shop but that would seem to be both gloading and off topic.

[glenn bradley]

Hard to beat pocket holes for quick over / under case work. If you're going to take a little more time and use them to practice joinery and door construction (great opportunity if you need the practice) I'd go dados and rabbets with glue for a cleaner look.

As far as strength I think dados will win out over machanically aided butt joints . . . let's see . . . here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhLfb7m9Fug) Wood Mag's video.

[Norman Pyles]

Thanks for that link to Wood mag Glenn. That was really interesting.

[Richard McComas]

I like melamine for shop cabinet, pin the boxes together with brad nailer, if anything is misaligned tap into alignment with rubber hammer, drill and insert conformant screws about every 4-5 inches, no need for glue. Place cabinets on separate wooden toe kick. Maybe not as strong as dado's ( I don't really know) but strong enough for the job.

[Eric Larsen]

My belief is that your shop is the first, best extension of your craft.

If you make shortcuts or otherwise slough-off the fundamentals in the creation of your shop, you will be more likely to do so again down the road.

Build a shop to be proud of. You don't need to make it out of expensive hardwood, inlaid with ebony. But if you're going to be a master craftsman, you may as well think like one from the get-go.

I for one need the practice in joinery.

[Dan Forman]

As a relative beginner, I see shop fixtures as a way to practice my skills, so like Eric, I try to do things down there the same way as I would for the rest of the house, with the exception of using expensive woods. However, I guess I don't have 60' of anything to build!

Tommy---I was stumped for a minute too, but I think the "censored location" that Randall was referring to was (H E double hockey stick), as in "to heck with us". :D

Dan

[Pete Brown]

I've tried a few different types of joinery in my kitchen project.

After trying tongue & groove (sommerfeld), pocket screws, dados, dominos, and biscuits, I have settled on pocket screws and dominos.

I assemble the face frames using dominos, and attach them to the carcase using dominos for placement (much like biscuits) and a few pocket screws to avoid all the tie up with my clamps.

I build the carcase using pocket screws. I build the bases separate from the rest of the cabinet and attach them to the bottom of the box. This is easier for me than notching the cabinet and coming up with a different way to level the floor. I put the floor on the base, and the rest of the cabinet on the floor. I use solid 3/4" plywood backs (the 1/4" plywood I had was crap, I didn't like the look, and this is just stronger anyway).

My shop is only large enough for me to work on one cabinet start to finish at a time. If I had room to set up an assembly line, I might do it differently (not sure unless I were to try)

Pete

[Tommy Squires]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I was looking for some magazine or book article that compared techniques but I learned from each of your posts. Thanks for the link to Wood's torture test. That seems to indicate that the old dado method is still pretty strong. Thanks for the advice to do my best work on the shop cabinets. I believe in this too and since I am retired, I have the time to enjoy the process. I will continue to look for new methods that might improve my result but for now will probably stick with dados for the cases and mortise and tenon joints for the face frames. I might try biscuits for the location of the frame to the case. I have always nailed but hiding the nails can be a hassle.