I’m building built-in bookcases that are 35″ wide and butt up against each other. I need to make them modular for ease of moving, painting and installing them. Each bookcase side is made of 3/4 cabinet grade plywood. My question is if I butt them together how do I handle the face frames? I plan on making them 3″ wide which gives me a distance of 2 1/4″ from the edge of the face from to the inside of the bookcase on each end, but only gives me 3/4″ from the edge of the frame to the inside of the bookcase where I butt the them together. Having equal face frame widths on the ends and middle looks good but will the difference in distance from the edge of the face frame to the inside of the case look odd? Should I make the face frames separate for each bookcase which would make the face frame stile between the butted cases 6″ wide? Thanks.
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast -
Our favorite articles and videos -
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
face frame sizing
I put 1/2 of the total face frame on each side of the butted cases and put a strip over the seam. Then all the face frames appear as your 3 inches. If you use a decorative strip over the seams put one down the center of the ends as well. I multiply the width of the face frame by 1.618 ( golden ratio) to size the top cross rail.
I prefer a narrower face frame width, 2 inches total, 1 inch on the center posts where they meet. If the cases are very tall use 5/4 stock to increase the stiffness of the post without making it wider.
Just my opinion, others may disagree.
Steve Duncan
Fine Custom Woodwork since 1978
http://www.steveduncan.com
Face frame sizing
Steve, thanks for replying to my problem. I think I understand what you are saying. I have included a couple of jpg files to make sure. The first one shows the bookcases I am building. The cases on the left side show what the interior designer suggested and the bookcases on the left are more in line with what I was planning. The second jpg shows a close-up of the cases with the single face frame in the middle. The red dashed lines are the plywood behind the face frame. Is this what you were thinking? I was going to build the face frame and install it after the cases were installed so I didn't have a seam in the middle at all. Thanks again for your time.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled