Trick to fix warp in cabinet boards

[cyclone]

So, I've been a lurker since the days of green screen monitors Us computer guys are a bit wary of the whole social media thing. BUT, I may croak before I become interesting enough for Google to bother with saving any of my internet transmissions, and I'm not dating a Kardashian, so I figure its time to start "giving back" )

I build cabs using the reverse rabbet joint. It's a strong union that works well and requires only two cuts per joint. It looks pretty too. I've been successful with a 60$ router table and jig, and also with a nice table saw and dado blade. I recommend the dado if you are building cabs this way, but the router works fine for head cabs, if you have a good router bit and a steady hand I have tried making finger joints but its so much work and I screw up at least one piece per box.

I should state that this applies only to using pine or hardwood, not ply or MDF, no warpage issues there, at least there shouldn't be.

The one thing that made Leo and others not use this joining method (big assumption is that warp in the individual boards makes it difficult to make the cuts at the proper depth across the board. Finger joints completely eliminate this problem, there's play there and after gluing, sanding takes care of the rest. The reverse rabbet joint makes cabs that are tight and will hold together pretty well with no glue. Its a better joining method if you get good cuts, imho.

After you've cut the sides and top/bottom to length (do them in pairs!!) , lay them cupped side down in the grass for 30 min, with sun shining on them. As the moisture gets absorbed, the wood flattens out. It really helps if the wood is already cut to size, if they are long pieces it takes longer and the "unwarpage" isn't as uniform. When the wood flattens out, make your cuts. It will return to the warped shape if it has time to condition, but clamps take care of that during the gluing process.

Spraying water on one side and a heat gun would probably do the same thing, haven't tried. it.

Hope that helps somebody out there.

[Joe L]

Yep, this works. And even if you do use finger joints, it makes it easier to line them up.

For the finger joints, I use a router, Harbor Freight dovetail jig with a Woodstock D3158 1/4" fingerjoint template. It is very accurate, easy to use and CHEAP! Heck, you don't really need the jig. Just screw the template to a piece of wood, clamp it to your work bench and use a couple of C clamps to hold the piece. Box joints are much, much easier than dovetail joints.

Don't try to use regular wood glue. The joints are too tight and the working time is zilch. Use Gorilla Glue. Its greasy as snot for at least 30 minutes. Use blue tape on the inside to catch the inevitable ooze out. Glue two opposing joints of a box at a time and use a dead nuts accurate square. Pipe clamps are nice to have to pull the joints together. I then shoot a brad in the edge of the boards in the middle of the joint forming like a hinge. Then I shoot one from both directions in the middle of the joint That holds the joint closed and I can remove the clamps. You can use finishing nails if you don't have a brad gun. I fine tune the squareness of the joint at that point and set it aside. After a couple of hours, the joints will never move again. You can then use a nailset to bury the brads so you don't chew up your roundover bit.

This works for me and it is accurate, low stress and I haven't scraped a joint yet on about ten cabs.