Cabinet Construction

We offer two custom cabinet brands; Fashionable Enclosures, and Eli Sperry. Both of these cabinet brands use furniture quality solid wood and plywood with time tested old world joinery, the best glues, hand rubbed baked on finish, and the best modern hardware available.

Most cabinet companies do not offer close-up images of their cabinet construction. We are proud of what we sell and like to show off our quality craftsmanship. I would guess that if you closely inspect other cabinet brands, you will find they do not measure up to our standards of quality. Quality joints and materials greatly contribute to the longevity of the product. Please examine the following images of our cabinet construction:

We deliver direct to most locations from Maine to California at no extra charge. Call us for purchasing assistance, 207-667-4439.

If you can find a cabinet built this well or better, I want to know who makes it. Send me an email.

Before you purchase any cabinet, you should examine the way the cabinet is built. The best way to do this is to view the cabinet without a counter top. Don't base your decision on well written specifications. You need to actually inspect the cabinet or see pictures like these to see quality materials and workmanship or possible flaws.

A top view will quickly tell you if the cabinet is made from quality plywood and real wood. The plywood should have three or more solid layers ( not layers that look like sponge ) and should not have patches on the surface. Outer veneers should be grade "A" real wood. You don't want a wood grained vinyl or some type of plastic coating.

Look at the joints and the cuts. The joints should be tight fitting. The cuts should be smooth, not torn or extremely rough. You don't want splinters or wood that will some day peel. Small imperfections are O. K., but avoid any ragged edges. There should be no gobs of glue. If there are signs of glue that resemble a spider's web, then the manufacturer used hot melt glue. This glue is not strong, and is used more for hobbies. It does not hold for long. Our cabinets are glued with furniture grade glue and clamped until dry.

The side of the cabinet should be plywood with a matching wood species on the exterior. You don't want wood grained vinyl on the exterior. If vinyl is used, the cabinet side will not age to the same color as the door. Vinyl is also impossible to fix if it is damaged. Vinyl tends to peel and blister.

Our finished ends are flush with the cabinet frame, with no obvious groove or seam. Most cabinet brands have an unsightly seam on the end. Our finished ends are unique because of our miter-locked joint. This fine furniture joint is superior and almost invisible.

You should examine the face frame assembly. The joints should be tight, and stiles and rails should be sanded flush where they join each other. Frames should be glued and screwed together for longevity, and doors and frames should be made of the same wood species. Some companies use one wood species for the door and another for the frame. This can cause the frame to age to a color different than the door.

The picture to the left shows our beaded frame ( for beaded inset style doors and drawers). The bead is cut into the frame - not applied as a molding. Our F. E. brand frames are 3/4" thick and 1 3/4" in width.

Avoid cabinets with rough or splintered edges.

Inside the cabinet you should see real grade "A" wood. The side panels and floor should be cut with a smooth edge and be tight fitting. The finish should be baked on. A hardwood interior will withstand wear better than an interior finished with a wood grained vinyl.

Under the hardwood veneer the cabinet should be made of plywood to resist warping. Plywood will hold a fastener better than MDF or particle board.

If you see gobs of glue or torn edges you should move on to a better product.

Pull the drawer out and remove the drawer box. Then examine the mount in the back of the cabinet. If a plastic mount is used, it will not last. Some companies use a slide that looks like ours, but it is mounted to a plastic holder that can break with use. ( How many plastic items have you bought that later broke? ) Also check to see what is holding the mount in place. Staples or short screws through pressed board or a thin back may break free. Our mount is stainless steel, and it is screwed into a wooden horizontal rail in the back of the cabinet. The front is also screwed into the cabinet. This system will not fail.

When you pull the drawer out, it should slide all the way out ( called full extension ). This gives you full access to the interior. When you close the drawer, it should pull itself shut, sliding smoothly like as if on glass. The dovetails should be extremely tight, multi-beveled, and glued. We recommend hardwood drawer boxes. Test the wood to see how hard it is ( finger nail test ). Avoid splintered dovetails and sides with cracks.

Examine the bottom of the drawer. The bottom should be plywood and be captive by all four sides of the dovetailed drawer. The sides of the drawer have a slot that accepts the plywood bottom and locks it in place. The bottom is then pinned and glued. The bottom of our drawer is additionally supported by the steel drawer slide. This image shows the drawer release ( red lever ). We also force a small amount of hot melt glue into the crack on the under side of the drawer box to act as a sound deadening cushion. We do not use this glue to hold the drawer together.

Look closely at the dovetails and drawer box. You don't want a soft splintered dovetail. We don't use soft sycamore like some cabinet companies; these are hardwood birch drawers. The drawer head is attached with an adjustable screw system so that the drawer head can be adjusted if needed. Our doors and drawers are pre-adjusted and usually do not require much fine tuning in the field. Some cabinet brands require major field adjustments that may take many hours in addition to normal installation.

Inside shelves should be 3/4" thick plywood and adjustable. Our Fashionable Enclosures base cabinets have a locking, plastic coated metal shelf clip. The edges of the shelves should be finished. Some cabinet sales people suggest you use particle board or MDF for your shelves. They might say plywood isn't as stable as engineered wood. Well, don't believe everything you are told. Try setting a wet glass on a particle board shelf and then on a plywood shelf... We all know which one will last longer. We are not suggesting you store wet items in your cabinets, but plywood of good quality will not delaminate, flake apart, cup, or twist. Quality plywood shelves outlast the MDF/particle board versions.

The image to the left shows a shelf bored to fit the locking shelf clip. Again the shelf should be plywood and have nice sharp cuts on the edges.

The shelf clip should be metal and allow for adjustment. Plastic shelf clips break. This clip is metal with a plastic coating to make it less noticeable.

The toe kick should be of matching wood species and finish. Particle board toe kicks laminated with vinyl will quickly delaminate. We offer a number of decorative furniture toe styles. See our cabinet CD ROM catalog for details. If you want a standard style recessed toe kick like the one shown, we ship loose matching wood toe kick cover with your order. Our cabinets come with a stable plywood sub-base to accept toe kick cover. This makes for a sturdy area that can withstand the occasional toe bump or accept a kick heater.

Even the underside of our F. E. brand cabinet is neat and well assembled. This image shows the toe kick sub-base ( under the bottom of the cabinet ). The plastic skid is to be removed before installing.

Eli Sperry Cabinet Construction

	The Eli Sperry cabinet pictured left is constructed from beautifully grained quarter sawn oak and dislpays a wide framed shaker flush inset style door with custom five piece drawer head . The upper right corner of the cabinet has been notched to reveal the construction methods used in building the cabinet (see next image).
	This is a close-up image of the notched upper right corner of the cabinet shown above. This notch exposes the double hardwood dowels that are used to join the face frame members. An integeral dust cover is rabbitted into the cabinet's 3/4" sides for increased stability. The sides themselves are joined to the face frame using a tight fitting tongue and groove joint. Hardwood dowels, the best glues, and fine joinery enhance the extreme durability of this product.
	This is a top view of the cabinet with pert of the 1/2" plywood dust cover removed so that you can see down inside the cabinet. The normally full width dust cover and corner stabilizing blocks make this a rugged, extremely well built cabinet. This dust cover also keeps items from hanging up on the interior face of the cabinet as the drawer is pulled open. Notice the 3/4" furniture quality plywood sides.
	Blum's full extension soft close drawer system is standard. The drawer has the finest hardwood dovetails. The wood is sanded smooth so it is easy to keep clean.
	The drawer slide is mounted to a hardwood horizontal block at the back of the cabinet using a steel bracket and heavy duty screws. This drawer system will not break loose the way the plastic mounts used by most other cabinet brands do.
	This is a quality dovetailed drawer box with a plywood bottom held captive by all four sides of the drawer box. Quick release latches are mounted to the bottom so that the drawer can easily be removed for cleaning.
	A natural, real wood interior is finished with a baked on clear coat, but other options are available. The floors are sanded virtually flush with the bottomface frame so that the cabinet is easy to clean. Full depth adjustable shelves are held in place with steel shelf pins. A standard matching wood toe kick cover is supplied with each order but, other options (i.e. feet, furniture base molding, turnings, etc.) can be supplied to suit your design.
	These are tight door joints. This is quality furniture that will last.
	The cabinet's finished ends are sanded flush with the edge of the face frame. Cleaning is easier when ends are flush. It takes time and craftsmanship to creat flush finished sides. This feature is a sign of old world craftsmanship. The cabinet has an extremely durable, multistep baked on finish. This is the way furniture use to be made, but with a few improvements. To see some of the common colors and finish options, click here.
We are proud to continue the tradition of providing bench made cabinets that are custom designed for your specific needs. Please call us to discuss your cabinet purchase 207-667-4439, Mon. - Fri., 10AM - 5PM, EST. We deliver to most of the continental USA at no extra charge. We only ship ten cabinets or more.