[FrankLepore]

As a newer woodworker, I'm looking for some sage-like advice.

I'm working on a cabinet that's going to have four shelves on the bottom and a few small drawers at the top. It's nothing too fancy, but I wanted to use dados for the shelves. Well, this was my first time cutting dados with a router, and it was frustratingly difficult to get them lined up correctly on both sides of the cabinet.

Ultimately, I knew some of the dados were slightly imperfect, but when I dry assembled the cabinet, everything was able to fit. So last night, I got everything lined up, clamped, and glued up. It actually came together okay, but the problem I'm now facing is that it's far from square. This has manifested in both the feet, which have a decent wobble to them, as well as in the drawer slide installation. (The drawers are not sitting flat when placed on shims on the top shelf, which leads me to believe the boards are somewhat twisted.)

My questions are as follows:

a) Is this a problem I could fix in any way?

b) I'm half tempted to disassemble by cutting the shelves out flush at the joint, sanding clean, then using something like pocket screws where I can ensure a square alignment. (I don't have the same aversion to pocket screws that most do. Haha.) I assume I would lose about 1/8 to a 1/16 of an inch from the cuts, but that would be fine. The dados would also be filled in due to the remaining shelves.

Is this something that could be done, and if so, what's the best way to get a flush cut at the joint?

Thanks in advance for any input. I feel like I've learned a lot from this project and I'm hoping to be able to clean it up a bit.

 

[Rebelwork]

Looks like it needs a back..

 

[Half Fast Eddie]

Your work looks neat. These 2 pictures (red) clearly show the carcase is racked and needs a back.

 

[Miket]

Looks pretty good.
Like they said a back should take the rack out of the box.

For the slides, instead of shimming off the shelf, measure from the top or bottom of the sides to align them.

 

[FrankLepore]

Okay, this is making me feel a little more hopeful!

I was currently planning on 1/4” plywood as a back. New questions:

Is there a better option and do you have a recommended method to keep the cabinet square when I attach it?

I was only planning on adding the back to the area behind the drawers. Would I need it to span the entire height of the cabinet to get square?

Thanks a ton for the input!

 

[calabrese55]

OK a couple of suggestions.
First if you are going to build cabinets like this one get some of these clamps.
Cheap and dirty https://www.amazon.com/SEDY-Clamp-Woodworking-Holder-Picture/dp/B07PLV5LX8
or these real good but more $$ Amazon.com
They will assist you a bunch in keeping things like your cabinet square.
Another option is to only glue the shelfs one side of the cabinet so you can lay the side flat on the side and install / glue the shelves at 90 degrees to that first side . You will have complete access to shim , block, prop up sach shelf to get a perfect 90 . From there you can add the other side after all is glued and dried..
As far as your current issue. If you cant rack back the assembly to square and hold it there with tha cabinet back then you can cut out the shelves close to the cabinet sides as possible. A good hand saw or pull saw can be your best friend here.
To save the shelf material square them up and bread board the ends to make up the material lost. You most likely will wrap the exposed ply wood edges anyway.

Lastly if you can next cabinet / shelf project start with the material for the sides in one piece twice as wide as finished dimension and some extra. Cut your routed dados across after carefully squaring a fence for your router. Then seperate the two sides. This should leave you with two great matching sides to receive the shelves.
Don't give up... I have been making mistakes far greater than yours for nearky 50 years it happens.
calabrese55

 

[Steve Neul]

I think this time you better put a back on the entire cabinet. It will fix the problem this time. In the future while the glue is still wet measure the cabinet diagonally from each side and twist the cabinet until it measures the same. On a smaller cabinet a framing square would be good enough.

Another option is if you are going to fasten the cabinet to the wall you could use true up the cabinet while fastening it.

 

[woodnthings]

As a newer woodworker, I'm looking for some sage-like advice.

I'm working on a cabinet that's going to have four shelves on the bottom and a few small drawers at the top. It's nothing too fancy, but I wanted to use dados for the shelves. Well, this was my first time cutting dados with a router, and it was frustratingly difficult to get them lined up correctly on both sides of the cabinet.

Ultimately, I knew some of the dados were slightly imperfect, but when I dry assembled the cabinet, everything was able to fit. So last night, I got everything lined up, clamped, and glued up. It actually came together okay, but the problem I'm now facing is that it's far from square. This has manifested in both the feet, which have a decent wobble to them, as well as in the drawer slide installation. (The drawers are not sitting flat when placed on shims on the top shelf, which leads me to believe the boards are somewhat twisted.)

My questions are as follows:

a) Is this a problem I could fix in any way?

b) I'm half tempted to disassemble by cutting the shelves out flush at the joint, sanding clean, then using something like pocket screws where I can ensure a square alignment. (I don't have the same aversion to pocket screws that most do. Haha.) I assume I would lose about 1/8 to a 1/16 of an inch from the cuts, but that would be fine. The dados would also be filled in due to the remaining shelves.

Is this something that could be done, and if so, what's the best way to get a flush cut at the joint?

Thanks in advance for any input. I feel like I've learned a lot from this project and I'm hoping to be able to clean it up a bit.


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Because it has no back, it will square up using some corner squares. Those shelf dados are not super structural against "racking" that's the condition you have now.
A 1/4" or 3/8" full plywood back nailed on the back, placed slightly in from the edge to make it less visible, will square it up IF you work a little at a time.

 

[Leo G]

Well you said it wobbles on the floor. That might be caused by the dados not being squared to each other on their respective sides, giving the cabinet a twist. Not really a killer but it means shimming the cabinet to keep it from rocking or recutting the bottom of the cabinet to make them square to each other.

If the sides are parallel and you make the back square and nail/screw it on it should square up the cabinet. It might not transfer all the way to the front though.

 

[rogerh]

What I would do, to straighten it, is to cut some solid scrapes, at least two, the diagonal dimension of the opening. Cut the scrap 1/4” longer than the diagonal dimension. Then pull the scrap into the opening, until the cabinet is square. Then glue and screw a full back on to it.

 

[Half Fast Eddie]

I was currently planning on 1/4” plywood as a back.

1/4” works well, or even this. Lay it face down (obviously), measure the diagonals, pull into shape with long pipe clamps, see if it will stay square. Or … if you can work quickly … spread glue on the back of the shelves and sides, lay the back flush along one long side and nail or staple in place, then rack the cabinet square and start stapling the rest.

 

[B Coll]

Is your intention to apply a face frame to this box? If not, you really do not have an issue. It is more common than uncommon for Euro boxes (frameless cabinets) to be out of square, as long as they are not racked. Generally the boxes are squared up when installed. Like others have said squaring it with a back will work also, but that box will still move in and out of perfect square until it is installed. The good part of Euro boxes is they are cheaper to make and give you slightly more room. The downside is they are more difficult to install well than face frame cabinets.

 

[FrankLepore]

Hmm. Perhaps “cabinet” isn’t the right word here. This is meant to be a stand alone unit, like a bookcase. It’s going to hold specific sized boxes and isn’t being installed anywhere. It’s just going to stand against a wall.

 

[Half Fast Eddie]

Free standing bookshelf? Definitely needs a full side glued-on back.

 

[B Coll]

Hmm. Perhaps “cabinet” isn’t the right word here. This is meant to be a stand alone unit, like a bookcase. It’s going to hold specific sized boxes and isn’t being installed anywhere. It’s just going to stand against a wall.

I think you are asking al lot of the design to remain square without the construction to square it. What you could do is attach a cleat under the top shelf, square it up, and once squared screw it to the wall through the cleat. Without a back and face frame you are depending on the dado's alone to keep it square. Honestly, that will not work in my opinion. Either installing a face frame and back, or squaring and securing to the wall when square, I don't think you have many options. If this makes you feel better, you did nothing wrong in the construction.

 

[Terry Q]

Investing in some clamping squares will assure you never have the problem again.

Amazon.com : clamping square

I would finish a product thinking I had everything nice a square only to find out later it wasn’t. I have since invested in a couple sets of clamping squares and use them on everything that needs to be square and have never had a problem since.

 

[Leo G]

Just measure corner to corner diagonals and if they match the cabinet is square. Do this right after clamping up, after the glue dries it should remain square

 

[allpurpose]

If you don't have or can't afford clamping squares there's always plywood.. Works every bit as well as long as they're..you know..square?
Make them any size you need..

 

[rogerh]

I believe this cabinet design will make the cabinet, top heavy. A top heavy cabinet really needs to be fastened to the wall, at the top. There could be a problem pulling on a drawer, if it is free standing.

 

[FrankLepore]

I believe this cabinet design will make the cabinet, top heavy. A top heavy cabinet really needs to be fastened to the wall, at the top. There could be a problem pulling on a drawer, if it is free standing.

This had crossed my mind.

Basically the drawers are going to contain dividers and trading cards. I want them on top because I'm going to be accessing them a lot more frequently, and I'll be looking through them and pulling things out frequently.

The bottom shelves are each going to have two specific boxes that weigh between 7-10 lbs each, so between 14-20 lbs per shelf. That means that, when full (which they will be) the bottom shelves will be holding 56 to 80 lbs. My assumption was that this, along with the weight of the carcass, would be enough weight to make sure the cabinet stays put when pulling the drawers out.

Additionally, I was going to make two of this same unit and connect them at the sides with these socket cap bolts: Amazon.com. This way, if I needed more storage in the future, I could even add a third, etc. But also, pulling one drawer out would also have the weight of both full cabinets.

Does this seem sound? Is there a better way to set this up without the drawers being on the bottom?

This is an image of a previous cabinet I built for similar storage needs. The boxes on the bottom few shelves are the same that are going to be stored here at two per shelf.

Additionally, I seriously appreciate all the input I've received here! Thanks a ton to everyone who has replied.