frameless cabinets -how thick for backs?

[mound]

If making frameless kitchen cabinets (for Euro style full-overlay doors) out of 3/4" Maple plywood, is 1/2" sufficient for the backs, or would you stick with 3/4" given that there's no face-frame to add that extra rigidity?

[Philip1231]

IMO and experience, 1/4" is more than adequate for a box that will be installed via anchoring to a wall. For a free-standing box, e.g., a kitchen island, I'd be tempted to go heavier on the back, but having said that, my peninsula base cabinets have a 1/4" back and are more than adequately solid.

If making frameless kitchen cabinets (for Euro style full-overlay doors) out of 3/4" Maple plywood, is 1/2" sufficient for the backs, or would you stick with 3/4" given that there's no face-frame to add that extra rigidity?

[mound]

IMO and experience, 1/4" is more than adequate for a box that will be installed via anchoring to a wall. For a free-standing box, e.g., a kitchen island, I'd be tempted to go heavier on the back, but having said that, my peninsula  base cabinets have a 1/4" back and are more than adequately solid.

Interesting, thanks. Is that 1/4" back simply screwed/stapled/glued to the back of the carcass or embedded in a dado all around? Would that make any practical difference (screwed directly to the back vs. in a dado)  (and to be sure, we're talking a box without any face frame)

[Large Wooden Badger]

I have even gone less than 1/4 - assuming you have some kind of cleat or something to attach to the wall, not just the thin back board.

[jteneyck]

I used 1/4" backs on my kitchen cabinets.  They are set in a rabbett and secured with screws though a stapler would be faster.  Below the cabinet top I installed a 3" wide of 3/4" plywood rail, inboard from the plywood back.  It's screwed/glued to the cabinet sides and top.  Screws through that rail are how the cabinets are held on the wall.  

John

[Philip1231]

So for a 3/4" side panel, I'd rabbet the back edge to provide a 3/8wide x 1/4 deep recess for the plywood panel. Then I glue and brad nail it in place.

Interesting, thanks. Is that 1/4" back simply screwed/stapled/glued to the back of the carcass or embedded in a dado all around? Would that make any practical difference (screwed directly to the back vs. in a dado)  (and to be sure, we're talking a box without any face frame)

[mound]

Thanks all! Happy New Year!

[CanoeBoy]

If making frameless kitchen cabinets (for Euro style full-overlay doors) out of 3/4" Maple plywood, is 1/2" sufficient for the backs, or would you stick with 3/4" given that there's no face-frame to add that extra rigidity?

1/2" backs using 1 3/4 (16-14 gauge) nailed in a 1/2 by1/2 rabbit on sides and top/bottom. This is really ideal and strong for wall cabinets.

[mound]

1/2" backs using 1 3/4 (16-14 gauge) nailed in a 1/2 by1/2 rabbit on sides and top/bottom. This is really ideal and strong for wall cabinets.

Curious, does the rabbet really add any practical strength to the box as opposed to, say, screwing/gluing the back panel directly to the back edges of the cabinet sides? If everything is locked down square and the box is then screwed to the wall, does that rabbet really do anything other than hide the edges of the back panel from being visible when looking at the box from the side?

[Cooler]

If you are not putting end panels on frameless cabinets, then you need to hide the back panel's edge.  A  piece of moulding would do just as well however. 

I mill a slot and slide the panel in.  I leave 3/4" behind that panel for the hanger cleat. That way the hanger is hidden.