Frameless cabinets: Question about spacing between cabinets

[Paul F Franklin]

I've made plenty of cabinets with face frames, and generally leave the face frame proud of the side of the cabinet by 1/8 to 1/4 (where it will mate with another cabinet). This makes it easy to get the face frames on adjoining cabinets nice and tight to one another.

This is the first time I'll be making frameless cabinets with full overlay drawer fronts and doors for my home office remodel project. The boxes will be plywood with solid wood banding on show edges, so I could make the edge of the banding proud of the side of the cabinet to duplicate that detail. Of course I would have to adjust the sizes of the drawer fronts and doors to get all the spacing correct. It would be easier to just flush the banding with the cabinet sides however, and that would keep all the drawer fronts and door sizes exactly equal on all the cabinets, so I guess I would prefer to go that route, but I don't know if that will make it harder to get everything lined up nicely during installation.

You folks doing frameless cabinets, do you make the banding flush or proud of the sides? (I will be doing scribing strips where cabinets abut the walls, but I'm talking here about between cabinets.)

[Justin Rapp]

my entire kitchen is frameless overlay (build by Woodmode), and I have built frameless inset cabinets for another room. The banding is flush and cabinets connected side to side with screw hardware. Use 'connector bolts' which are machine screw for one side and a sleeve like 'nut' for the other side.

[Richard Coers]

Banding is flush. Keep the doors and drawer fronts back about 1/16". That gives you an 1/8" gap between the doors and drawers after installation.

[Paul F Franklin]

Awesome guys, thanks! Flush it is.