Assembling Cabinet Doors... tips & techniques??

[Jim Kaczmark]

I'm about to assemble my first cabinet doors. (I have 6 of them currently, and all are "test" doors before I begin the real project.) Before I end up with any "trial & error" situations, I thought I'd ask you for any helpful procedures for the actual assembly of a single panel cabinet door with two rails & two stiles. Parts are all cut square, etc & routed with a matched stile & rail bit set. Everything fits great during my dry assmbly. I will be using space balls. Panels are flat panel solid wood. Stiles are alder.

So... steps in the actual assembly. Such as:
1) Use of Bessy K body clamps with their stands so I can fit a door & compress the space balls from all four sides.... do all sides at same time.
2) OR... perhaps assemble a rail & stile to each other... keep square. Then perhaps this would simplify the final assembly... only a panel & two "L" shaped "rail & stile" assemblies.
3) Success on using a 23 guage pin gun to hold each rail & stile together while drying versus using clamps until fully dry.

In other words... step by step, what has worked for you?

Thanks in advance,
Jim

[Gene Michael]

i gently clamp the frame together with 1/2" pipe clamps on a flat workbench. most important thing (other than alignment) is don't clamp too hard and squeeze the glue out. when you dry assemble them before gluing, make sure that the frame is square. good luck.:D

[David DeCristoforo]

Assemble 1 stile and 2 rails into a "U" shape. Slip in the panel and add the other stile. If the panel does not "slip fit" easily, it is too tight. If you have two clamps laid out and do this "on top" of the clamps, you can just lay the assembled door down and snug up the clamps. Check for square and then tighten the clamps.

YM

[Jim Kaczmark]

Yoshikuni, that is what I was thinking of doing, but with space balls (due to the floating solid wood panel), I thought that the space balls would simply be pushed down the groove in each rail as the panel was slid into the "U" as you put it... thus my idea of two "L's" that would compress the space balls instead of roll them out of place.

Thanks for the responses thus far!
Jim

[keith ouellette]

One thing you might do is to stain the parts first being careful not to stain the glueing areas. I asked about this here at the creek and got a number of different answers. I decided to stain the rails, stiles and panels first and then I glued everyhing together.

I think this has three advantages

1: you don't end up with a lot of stain build up where the panel goes into the slot and if the panel shifts after assembly you won't have an un stained line of wood on the panel.

2: the glue squeeze out is very easy to clean off the profile of the rails and stiles and from the corners. If you stain after assembly you can be left with glue spots you won't see till after you stain.

3: by staining first I found i could better control the amount of stain left at the joint seams; meaning instead of having a seam where the rail and stile meet (how ever good the fit) you could have extra stain seep in that seam and leave a dark line.

I clear coated after assembly was complete.

[keith ouellette]

I almost forgot. I put one rail and one stile together but not tight, put the panel in place then the next rail and then the second stile. I finish positioning the pieces and then tighten with clamps.

[Jim Kaczmark]

Finishing first... My cabinets will be a very light color, thus I'm going to use toners. (Do a title search for "Toner 101" on Sawmill Creek.) With this method & sealing before the toning, I'd be eliminating the glue spots and seams issue brought up here. It's all theory until I try it, but I think it will be a pretty good approach.

[frank shic]

jim, i use the space balls as well as a 23 gauge grex nailer and some bessey clamps to assemble the raised panel door. here are my steps:

1. i shove two space balls in each pair of rails and stiles.
2. i attach one rail to one stile and shoot two pins on the rail side of the joint.
3. i slide the panel in diagonally so that i don't push the space balls out of place as you previously mentioned.
4. attach the second rail to the stile and use a bessey clamp directly over the joint to pull it vertically flush with the edge of the stile.
5. attach the second stile to the door and use the second bessey clamp to pull it vertically flush with the edge of the stile.
6. clamp the door horizontally with a bessey clamp at the top and bottom to pull the sides together.
7. tack all the joints with two pins each

i should add that i cut the stiles to finish length to make the clamping process a little easier and to eliminate trimming.

[David DeCristoforo]

...I thought that the space balls would simply be pushed down the groove in each rail as the panel was slid into the "U" as you put it...

Ahh, yes. Spaceballs. In that case, place one stile on edge, place one rail, then the panel, then the other rail and finally the last stile. Same basic idea, slightly different sequence. Much easier IMMHO than trying to deal with 2 "ell" shapes....

YM

[Jim Kaczmark]

Thanks Frank,
That sounds like something similar, but more refined that I was thinking. Your method starts with one "L" made from a rail & stile instead of two "L's". as I was thinking. Proceeding with the next individual rail & stile clamping, THEN pinning would allow room for squaring as needed better.
Jim

[J.R. Rutter]

I have a fixture on my bench made from a 4 ft long fir 4x4 that has a deep dado cut lengthwise to hold the door parts during assembly. Stuff spaceballs (I use neoprene foam panel spacers because the spaceballs sometimes bleed plasticizer under pressure) before assembly. One stile goes into the dado, groove up. Then same sequence that Yoshikuni mentioned. Glue both ends of first rail and insert, leaving 1/8" proud of the end of the stile. I apply glue so that there is squeeze out on the front side along the joint. This prevents the stain line later on. Then panel, up against space balls bottom and side. Then glue and insert second rail. The fixture keeps everything steady. Then the second stile. I size the joints so that they don't fall apart when I transfer the door to clamps. For doors that don't fit the JLT door clamp, I use a pair of bar clamps and snug the joints up almost tight. Then the rails get tapped flush before the clamps are fully tightened. I find this easier and more reliable than using a second pair of clamps to draw the rails flush.

[Joe Chritz]

Just got done doing 32 glue ups for cabinet doors.

I put space balls in all pieces. 2 in the long ones a single in the center of short ones. Glue one rail end, basically just run some on the tongue edge and in the gap. A little experimentation will get the right amount. Just put it together (One joint) and check the glue amount.

Anyway, one rail to the end of the stile. Stick the panel in, the other rail end. This stands on the end pretty well, glue the opposite rail ends and stick on the other stile. Lay this on an assembly table on two parallel jaw clamps (K bodies or whatever) so the jaw is half on the stile and half on the rail. Put mild pressure on those clamps making sure the door is touching the bar of the clamp. This flushes the rail to the stile ends. Two short bessey's lay sideways across the rails and pull the joints tight. Mild pressure is all that is needed. 20 minutes and repeat.

If you have a micro pinner you can assembly with the back side up and pop in a couple pins to hold the joint closed and remove immediately.

I used to leave the stiles long and cut after assembly on a sled but this is the best system I have found so far.

When I get up in a few hours it is drum sander time.

I should add (edit) that if the parts are cut square and true the door glues up square since it can't really be out of square without a gap someplace.

Joe

[Steve Clardy]

Assemble 1 stile and 2 rails into a "U" shape. Slip in the panel and add the other stile. If the panel does not "slip fit" easily, it is too tight. If you have two clamps laid out and do this "on top" of the clamps, you can just lay the assembled door down and snug up the clamps. Check for square and then tighten the clamps.

YM

This is the way I do it.

I do not use space balls on the rails, just the stiles.

[john bateman]

...and use slow setting glue, at least until you work out a method for assembling them that you like.

[Jim Kaczmark]

Thanks to all for your replies. As I initially thought, there would be many procedures we all have devised to assemble cabinet doors. This post has VERY been helpful to me. Hope it was helpful to others.

[frank shic]

jim, there's a reason that there are professional cabinet door companies that supply the cabinetmakers - they're NOT easy to build and finish!