Cabinets

Posted in: Cabinets
Kitchen Cabinets designing methods: Face-frame or Frameless?
By Martin Smith
Mar 27, 2008 - 3:05:36 PM

Two-thirds of American cabinets still use the conventional method for designing, which is face-frame
 
As the name suggests, the face-frame cabinets are covered with a hard wood frame on the front of the cabinet framework. This covers the sharp edge of the 1/2-inch or 3/4-inch plywood, provides a hard base for the hinges to be attached and adds rigidness to the cabinet.

The strong and stable face-frame allows use of sleek plywood backs and eliminates the top panel on base cabinets.

The standard European cabinets follow the frameless designing method which is quite similar to a box. The cabinet sides, back, top and bottom are constructed using plywood or particleboard sheets, usually wood coated or laminated with plastic or melamine.

Usually thin laminated band matching the panel surface covers the edges on the front.

The frameless cabinet door generally overlays the cabinet box with just a minor insight between them whereas in case of face-frame cabinets, the frame is easily visible through the doors.

Normally, there are holes drilled at a vertical distance of 32 millimeter along the side boards, in case of a frameless cabinet. These holes come in use to secure additional components like  pegs, hinges, and drawer slides. The size of these holes may be modified as per requirement.

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