Help getting Face frames flat after sanding

[Scott Davis]

I am hoping for some advice.
I have made some cabinets but always single ones, I am now working on some built ins for our play room.
There are two pairs of cabinets where the lower box is an open shelf and the upper box will have doors.
I made 2" faceframes. I left a 1/4" over hang on the FF's because it says in many posts this aids installation. After assembly of the frames, I sanded them, mistakenly not thinking about keeping that surface nice and flat. There were some tiny variances where the styles overhung a 1/32" or so that I was working to get perfectly flat. Now that I have glued them to the box, I can see the two FF edges on separate boxes, that will be attached to each other, have a few low spots from the sanding.

I am not sure the best way to try to fix this? I don't have a hand plane but maybe I should get one anyways. A flush trim bit is an option but because these cabinets stack, I would be going over end grain on the stiles on each end. This would also removed my 1/4" overhang which was supposed to help me later installation. I don't know a way to only remove say 1/8" leaving a smaller overhang.

Any thoughts on what I should/could do? I could go with what I have, but there are little gaps between the FF's in a few places. I am probably the only one that would see it.

[John TenEyck]

If you want to remove some of the edge of the face frames where they will join, say 1/8", then pin nail or double stick tape a 1/8" shim against the cabinet just below the face frame. Then use a flush trim router bit with the bearing set to land on the shim to route off what overhangs the shim. Pull off the shim and you're done.

John

[Scott Davis]

so rip that shim with table saw?
I need to make sure the plywood carcass if perfectly straight then. It was single sided prefinished ply and I think there was a tiny warp with a tip in middle that the FF covered up.
Is there any technique to cover up where Face frames meet? Like adding a detail there? Finished wood strip or something?

[John TenEyck]

If the carcass sides aren't straight then you could clamp a plywood straight edge to the front of the face frames as a guide for your router. Use a 1/2" straight bit and measure the offset from the edge of the bit to the outside of the router base plate to set the fence to give you a 1/8" cut.

There are likely other ways to deal with those low spots w/o having to trim the face frames, but they may be just as much or more work. One easy way would be to route a small rabbet or bead along the edges of the face frames where they meet. That should get rid of the low spots or at least disguise them. A small chamfer could work, too.

John

[Scott Davis]

Thanks John! I like the idea of routing something there.
Does "rabbet" always = "Bead"
if not, what shape bead did you have in mind?
I can try this on a test piece to see how it looks.

[Warren Lake]

if its two cabinets it can often be built as one cabinet. Look at high end ktichens face frames still a bunch of boxes screwed together face frame butting to face frame. Old guys I knew built as big as they could. Its not possible all the time but furniture is built that way not boxes stuck together like lego. I think a few might make larger cabinets, forgotten now but have seen a bit. Doesnt help you now but maybe you could have built it in a better way and not faced what you have now. No idea nothing posted. People need to show what they are talking about

[Scott Davis]

yes thanks Warren, I def could have made the FF as one. I was worried about installation. I am also asking a cabinet painting shop to spray the FF's and open shelves when they are ready. Because of that, I will need to get the frames on before putting them on the wall. I could not handle that myself.

Next time I know not to sand the frame like that! It's my first venture of this sort, so this is first big lesson.

I will keep working and get a pic of the actual frames to be joined later when I get there, I just know one of them has low spots. I bet the bead idea will fix it. Will leave it there for now and come back later. Thanks

[John TenEyck]

Thanks John! I like the idea of routing something there.
Does "rabbet" always = "Bead"
if not, what shape bead did you have in mind?
I can try this on a test piece to see how it looks.

Well, no, a rabbet and a bead are different things. A rabbet is a rectangular cut in the edge of a board. A bead is a semi-circular cut. Both would serve to eliminate or at least disguise the low spots, as could a chamfer. If you look at commercial furniture you often will see a small rabbet cut on the face frame where it meets the side of a cabinet on an exposed end.

We all make mistakes. We can either start over or learn to fix them so one knows. Knowing which way to go comes with experience. Choose one or the other because leaving them is going to bother you.

John