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Frames are common to many types of woodworking projects from
cabinets to entertainment centers, doors and more.
The thread that ties all of these applications together
is that the workpieces are assembled in a flat plane.
Frames are commonly assembled from material as
thin as 5/8” up to 2” thick. For cabinets, 3/4” thick
material is the standard. The goal is to always use
the setting of the Kreg Jig® that will allow you to
place a pocket hole so that the screw will exit the
mid-point of your material (ie. for 3/4” thick stock,
you will want the screw to exit at 3/8” by using the
3/4” setting of the jig)
Face Frame Components
A. Rail
– Horizontal members of a face
frame. Pocket holes are always placed into
the rail so that the screw will be driven into
the stile across the grain.
B. Stile
–Vertical members of a face frame.
Stiles capture the rail, that is, they run all the
way from top to bottom and the rails fit in
between.
Standard Face Frame Dimensions
A typical face frame measures 31-1/2” tall by approximately 24” wide
when assembled. You can just as easily build a face frame to custom
dimensions such as 31-1/2” tall by 48” wide with pocket hole joinery. Rail
and stile widths typically range from 1-1/2” to 2-1/2” wide.
Steps to Building a Face Frame
1. Plane wood to thickness, rip to width and cut square to length.
Planing your wood to the same thickness assures that you will produce
flush frames without a great deal of sanding once assembled. Cutting
your materials accurately will greatly affect overall squareness as a
pocket hole joint will pull the workpieces into alignment with the cut
edge. (An untrue cut will be pulled into untrue alignment!)
Face Frames
