PSA: Check your face frame joints after 6 months

I built a set of shaker-style cabinets for a client in Madison back in March, and this week I noticed the mitered corners on the face frames had opened up by almost 1/16 inch on three separate doors. The seasonal humidity swing from dry winter to humid summer caused the wood to move more than I expected, even with sealed finishes. Has anyone else seen this happen with poplar frames, or was it maybe my adhesive choice?

4 comments

4 Comments

danielwhite1mo ago

Wait, are you saying the mitered corners opened up on shaker doors? Those aren't mitered on standard shaker frames, they're usually just butt joints or cope and stick. Did you actually cut miters on the face frame corners themselves? Because if you did, that's probably why they moved. Miters on cabinet face frames are a bad idea in general since wood moves across the grain way more than along it, and trying to glue a miter that spans two different grain directions is nearly impossible to keep stable. You should have used a simple butt joint with a pocket screw or a domino for strength, then the seasonal movement would just be a tiny gap in the stile-to-rail joint instead of the whole corner opening up. Poplar actually moves less than a lot of woods, so the real issue is the joint design not the wood or the glue.

betty_reed611mo ago

Adding to what you said about joint design, the real kicker is that miters look clean but they just don't hold up in a shop or a house that gets any kind of humidity swing. I've seen guys chase those gaps with filler and paint, and it always cracks again come winter. If you really want that miter look without the headaches, you can cut a 45 on the stile and leave the rail square, then hide the end grain with a small spline or a key. That gives you the visual line but keeps the long grain glue surface strong. But honestly, for shaker stuff, why complicate it when a good cope and stick or even a simple rabbit joint will outlast everything else?

julia921mo ago

Miters just love to open up like an old suitcase.

the_wyatt1mo ago

Wait, is it really that big of a deal if a miter opens up a bit? I mean yeah it's not ideal, but I've got miters on some stuff I built 10 years ago that barely moved. I live in a place with pretty normal humidity though, not a swamp or a desert. Maybe people just overthink this stuff and blame the joint when it's really just bad glue or a sloppy cut.