My old shop teacher told me to build face frames first, and 6 months of callback repairs proved him right

Jade Flores · 2026-10-16T01:20:03.867668+00:00

Back in trade school in Modesto, my instructor Ray kept saying to build the face frame first and fit the boxes to it, never the other way around. I blew him off for my first few cabinet jobs and built boxes first because it felt faster. After 6 months I had 3 kitchens where the doors rubbed and the gaps wandered, all because my boxes were off by an eighth here and a sixteenth there. Ray retired last spring and I finally called him to admit he was right. Anyone else build frame first, or do you fit frames to boxes and just deal with the shimming?

Guest Forum

Loading…

My old shop teacher told me to build face frames first, and 6 months of callback repairs proved him right | Cabinetmakers - Guest Forum