# Kitchen cabinet bases



## rut (Nov 17, 2011)

The book I've been going by to build my cabs says to make the front/rear base components = width - 1/2".

My question to those knowledgeable is why are they not the same width so the adjoining base cabinet would but up against it. If I'm thinking right, leaving them 1/2" shorter than the face frame would create a 1" gap at the bottom of two cabs. Am I missing something here?

Thanks,
Rut


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## Charlie5791 (Feb 21, 2012)

some of the face frame remains exposed past the edge of the cabinet box so you can scribe to whatever is next to it if needed. And normally, yes, you put a shim between the cabinets at the back to take up the space at install time. It also aids in making adjustments to keep the face frames in the same plane out front.

If you KNOW you're going to join 2 cabinets, you can do what I did. Join the carcasses and THEN make the face frame for the 2 already joined.









If you look at that photo… it's 2 cabinets. FOUR carcasses, but now 2 cabinets. The 2 bottom carcasses were joined and then I made the face frame as if it was one cabinet. Same with the top. They're just sitting on top of each other right now, but you can see what I mean. I only did it this way because it was easier for me to handle 
If you're custom building your cabinets, you're not bound by the "normal" rules for modular cabinet construction. For example, these were originally going to be a pair of 36 inch wide cabinets joined together side-by-side. We had to make a change and so I built them as a pair of 35 inch cabinets joined. We needed 2 inches. 
Most folks don't come visit me with a measuring tape in their pocket.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

Are you sure it's not a total of 1/2 inch which equates to 1/4 per side?


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## cabmaker (Sep 16, 2010)

what do you mean by front and rear componants ?


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## cutworm (Oct 2, 2010)

On Kreg's website they have a download that has some good basic info.
http://www.kregtool.com/prodImages/basic_cabinetmaking_booklet.pdf


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## BobLang (Feb 2, 2009)

It sounds like you mean the plywood cabinet box should be 1/2" narrower than the face frame. That will leave 1/4" of face frame hanging past the cabinet on each side. It's a common method called a scribe, and it allows you to fit a cabinet to an uneven wall, and to have the cabinets fit tight at the front if the wall behind them is wonky.


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## rut (Nov 17, 2011)

Makes sense. And my math was a bit off (by 1/2"). Thanks for your replies.


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## LeeJ (Jul 4, 2007)

Hi Rut;

Here's a link to my site, showing how we build cabinets. For traditional (cabinets with a face frame) we use a mix of European / traditional methods. What we feel is the best of both worlds.

http://prowoodworkingtips.com/Base_Cabinet_Construction_Sketch.html

I hope this helps.

Lee


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