Building face frame cabinets using just nails

[Bob Vaughan]

In the restoration business we removed a lot of cabinets. 50+ years ago fhat is the way most cabinets were built. A lot of them lasted a very long time, and were of a better quality than the box cabinets that became popular in the 60's. Being built in place was the norm not the exception. Good and bad in both.

This concisely says it all.

Box cabinets of today are the norm and do allow better designs as kitchenware containers.  Kitchen equipment and accessories are way different now than they were 50 years ago.  Sheet goods these days are significantly different from back then.  Nails worked fine with solid woods and veneer core plywoods of that era.

[stav]

The cabinets in my kitchen were just the fronts, a bottom and a nailer on the back wall to hold up the counter. They lasted from 1956 to around 2010 when we remodeled the kitchen.  It was all nailed together.

[Cooler]

I think the reason my vanity fought me when taking it apart was because the shanks of the nails had rusted and they did not remove easily as a result.

I also think that factory built cabinets became the norm because it was cheaper to do so. 

Still, today site build cabinets can be adjusted to account for the fact that walls are rarely plumb and "right angles" are rarely 90 degrees in a home, especially in an older home.

I did visit a factory where factory built homes were constructed.  They used steel jigs and I am certain that those houses were built more accurately than site built homes.    I'll bet that the cabinets fit easily in place.

[Arlin Eastman]

Back when I was maybe 12 or so my dad did some cabinets like that with ring shank nails and they held very, very well.  He was not a carpenter or woodworker so they did not look great or even good in my opinion but they did what he wanted.

[jstraw]

Our current house has nailed pine cabinets and it’s less than 20 years old. It was done onsite by the builder. It was done for a specific look and construction requirements. Our house is timber framed. The walls are structural insulated panels. You can’t just hang cabinets anywhere. The timbers carry the load of the house, so there are no studs to mount cabinets to. The special requirements means it’s just less risky for the timber frame company to build them.

At first I thought the pine cabinets were a negative of the house. But, after upgrading the drawer slides to full extensions, I’ve grown to really like them. The shelves are single board solid pine. The lower cabinets only have dividers where the appliances are, which allows storage of items you wouldn’t normally think about. I keep my 32” cast iron gas griddle top in a corner lower cabinet. The custom construction also allowed non-standard options such as a scalene triangle shaped corner cabinet next to the fridge that provided great storage, but did not interfere with the entrance into the kitchen.

[Turner52]

Nice looking kitchen and I'm sure it will last a long time

[EricU]

if you go to a museum and look at the furniture made 200 years ago, there are nails all over it.  

Our kitchen cabinets were mostly glued and doweled. I think the vanities were glued and nailed or glued and stapled in a factory.  I took one vanity out, it was really hard to tear it down.

I am cutting stock to make another vanity. Probably do the same as last time, dowel and pocket screws. Pretty easy to account for wood movement with that type of construction. I'm happy with the way the other one came out and I see no reason to nail through a show face. Given more time, I probably would use more mortises and fewer dowels, but there is no good reason to do that.

[Admiral]

if you go to a museum and look at the furniture made 200 years ago, there are nails all over it.  

Our kitchen cabinets were mostly glued and doweled. I think the vanities were glued and nailed or glued and stapled in a factory.  I took one vanity out, it was really hard to tear it down.

I am cutting stock to make another vanity.  Probably do the same as last time, dowel and pocket screws. Pretty easy to account for wood movement with that type of construction.  I'm happy with the way the other one came out and I see no reason to nail through a show face.  Given more time, I probably would use more mortises and fewer dowels, but there is no good reason to do that.

I've made three bathroom vanities (so far) out of cherry; birch plywood boxes with dado/rabbet glued and brads joinery; face frame butt jointed using pocket screws, doors M&T frame with flat panel and the exposed sides have applied frame and panel which I could have just pocket screwed but was I was already set up for M&T on the doors so that's they way they went.  My bride said they exceeded her expectations, and she is damned picky, so I guess I done good.  Also made matching framed mirrors, they were pretty big so that frame was M&T also.

[rwe2156]

That is a cheesy way to build crappy cabinets.

You need some perspective.  Carpenters commonly doubled as cabinetmakers back in the day. Kitchens back then were small and though of as utility rooms.

That is the way the ones in my house were done. Fir plywood nailed together with finish nails, no glue. They were even nailed to the walls.  The drawers, I admit were a joke, but they worked.  The cabs were 45 years old when we bought our house.

Demo'ing that kitchen was not as easy as you might think. 

I marvelled at how well they were made considering it was done with a skil saw, hammer and nails.

[EdL]

Over 50 years ago our town carpenter did his built-ins or off-site with finish nails. They are still rock solid, several are still in use in my shop.

Ed