Attaching kitchen cabinets

[jussi]

When screwing a ff cabinet to the adjacent ones do you screw through the ff or the sides.  I've always done it through the ff but have seen many vids where they do it through the sides.  Doing that way looks better but do you lose any strength or will a gap be more likely to show over time?

[museumguy]

We always screw through the stiles. Seems to pull things tighter. Drill a clearance hole through the first cabinet, pilot hole into the second.

[Stwood_]

I built all my cab boxes with a slight stile overhang on the box, then tapered the stile side slightly.
Align and clamp stiles on both boxes together, then just inside about a 1/2", insert screws into the ply sides. You have a compression fit, and never have a gap showing up later on.

Too me this was better than attaching the stiles. Drill through the one stile, only to have the grain of the wood pull the screw direction off and have uneven stiles.

[barryvabeach]

I am with museumguy.   I take off the hinge, and drill the clearance hole, pilot, and a little countersink,  so the screw will sit below the surface of the stile, then put the hinge back in place, and you never see it.   A good clamp is really helpful.