Does face frame stock have to be twist free?

[jussi]

I have some stock that I wanted to use for face frames that have some twist. But they're really close to the final dimension and if I run them through the jointer they will almost surely be thinner than I had planned. Can I just plane to thickness and use them as is l, twist and all, or will I need to get new stock.

[Matthew Williams]

I haven't built lots of face frames but I have had lot of experience with things "almost" being right and I have always been unhappy that I did't make it right later.
Won't hurt anything to try but I suspect that you will end up throwing it away and starting over at some point.

[Ken Vick]

It might be ok if you are going to glue them to the front of the cabinet and let the cabinet hold them in one plane. I think you know right answer, which is to use straight stock. Why does the face frame have to be a particular thickness? Are you matching something else? Ken

[JGrout]

if you want successful applications to your carcasses yes is my answer

you might get away with some twist but think about it: eventually you have to mate units together in a single run, if one is twisted how is that going to look?

Joe

[jussi]

Ken, you're right I probably did know the answer I just needed affirmation before buying more stock.

They're kitchen cabinets and I planned on planing the stock to 3/4 as I thought that was they were supposed to be. Also that thickness puts me at exactly 12" and 24" depth for the uppers and lowers respectively.

Joe, I just checked the rest of the stock and they're not twisted but are bowed / curved. The gaps in the middle range from around 1/16" to 1/8". I'm guessing that's the same difference in this case and I should use them for shorter pieces like rails for smaller cabinets?

I got these pieces at a slight discount because they were labeled shorts. Meaning under a certain length (I think 5 feet). I figured this would be ok as none of the ff pieces were longer than 45". Was I being penny wise and pound foolish or do I just need to do a better job at picking my stock.

[JGrout]

face bows are OK you can clamp those out

edges are trickier especially if the stile is going to join to the next cabinet

Use them in shorter pieces or joint them straight and rip parallel if you have the width

this is one reason I use rough stock and mill my own....... takes more time yes but less if I have no issues to deal with at assembly

[KyleD]

You talked about buying shorts. I have fallen for the same thing and gotten wood that just would not behave. Sounds like what you have there. Best explanation I got for it is that shorts are often milled from large branches that may not have been growing in the horizontal plane. They can be filled with stress and reactionary wood. This means anything can happen when you start milling them.

[Paul K. Murphy]

Face frame stock is often ripped to narrow widths, like 1 1/2" or 2 1/2". Similarly it is often cut to shorter lengths, like 24".
A board that big, described as twisted would be twisted indeed. Very twisted!
It's hard to answer without specific context. I'd say that in many cases twisted wood could be made to behave itself by gluing to the carcase. But, since you are describing it as twisted in the first place, I'm left wondering just how twisted it is.
Pretzel twisted?