Cabinet Glue Up Question


TomInNC

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I'm building my first set of cabinets largely following the Bourbon Moth video below. In every other cabinet build I've watched, when the carcass was glued up, there were either stretchers or a full top on the carcass. If you go to around minute 5, he glues up just the bottom of the carcass and then goes back and pocket screws stretchers in the top after taking the clamps off.  I went through a dry fit using this exact same approach, and when I add the clamps, the base goes out of square immediately because of the clamping pressure.  Unless I just have weird clamps, I'm assuming his base is also out of square initially. Is there enough flex in the glue to actually allow you to square the carcass with the stretchers after gluing the base?

 The glue up doesn't seem difficult, so I'm just leaning towards assembling the whole carcass in one go. 

https://www.bourbonmoth.com/watch-qtYSg/v/easy-cabinet-build-pt1

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I would suggest that you cut the stretchers and clamp them across between the sides near the top so that they stay the correct distance apart when the bottom clamps are tightended.  Also, try to keep the bottom clamps in line with the bottom so they are pushing the sides straight nto the bottom.  His wood pecker corner clamps are no near as strong as the extra clamps that he adds and they will flex.

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He’s one of a thousand different ways to build a cabinets. If I had to rank his build, it’s in the 5-6 out 10

No dado required and can be butt jointed on the two bottoms..

We just staple the back on. 1/4 in residential and 1/2 in commercial with screws..,

Staples are a lot cheaper than pocket screws..

 

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On 9/10/2023 at 5:19 PM, phinds said:

No, but you CAN squeeze out too much. Don't ask me how I know :blink:

New one to me..Some glues need glue to make the joint, but cabinetry no..

 

Id like to hear about the failure.. Every time this problem erupts, it’s usually user error..

 

Here is something I learned when I moved from cabinetry to furniture making. Glue is not the enemy, but a failure to remove glue after making a connection is. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I make segmented bowls. When I first started, I would tighten the clamps WAY too hard and I had a few joint failures due to not enough glue. The pieces being glued together were quite hard exotics and I had made the surface smooth, so most of the glue squeezed out.

After I realized my mistake, I refrained from over-smoothing the surface and over-tightening the clamps and did not have the problem again.

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