What to do? cabinet face

[1index only]

here's what it looks like now.I would like to take the cabinet face off and make a new one with doors on top of the frame instead of inside(does that make sense?) question is can I pull off front and cut new frame from plywood? or would it be more beneficial to make rails and styluses?

[cbrown]

What is the reason for wanting to take off the face frame instead of refinishing/painting it and just putting on new overlay doors?

If you do decide to make a new face frame, I would say rails and stiles held together with pocket screws are the way to go instead of making lots of pocket cuts in a sheet of plywood, if that is what you are envisioning.

Chris

[Tequila]

It depends on how the old faces are attached, but you can usually remove old faces without too much trouble or damage to the rest of the carcass. Do you know if they're held on with pocket screws (easiest), biscuits, or something else?

Once you get them off, I'd suggest glue and pocket screws to put the new face on. It will be a little easier than biscuits since you can do any last minute aligning right before you tighten the screws, rather than trying to get biscuit slots to line up in advance.

As for using plywood vs rails and stiles, it's pretty much a matter of preference. Plywood will be less money and less work, but it will give you a less traditional look since the grain will all run the same direction. If you're planning to paint the cabinets, it won't matter. Rails & stiles are a lot more work and probably more money, but the grain will run "the way it's supposed to", so you can get a more traditional look if that's what you're after.

One more option is to just make new doors and cover the old face frames with a wood veneer. It's probably the option that is the least money and the least work, plus you don't have to tear up the old cabinets to do it.

[1index only]

well unfortunately the pic doesn't show clearly enough the poor quality that exists, The doors already have a laminate put over what was probably originally painted. So I sanded that and painted it which only amplified the misfitted doors. the only real issue I seem to be facing is my experience, I've never done a cabinet before, and I don't have any morticing or biscut cutting tools.

[ironhat]

<snip>
the only real issue I seem to be facing is my experience, I've never done a cabinet before, and I don't have any morticing or biscut cutting tools.

What you have here is clearly a perfect excuse, er, reason for buying a new tool. "Dear, I'll be able to save us nearly $1000 if I spend only $120! And, it's the perfect opportunity for me to learn a new skill which could be saleable to the general public if, heaven forbid, I should be layed off". In all seriousness the logic is good. A Kreg Master Kit would set you back about that much and you're 1/3 of the way home. The other 2/3 would be materials and time.