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In article ,
(Conan The Librarian) wrote:

Wreckers,

I'm working on a (two-piece) hutch for SWMBO, and I've been
considering the options for joining the bottom/frame to the top unit.
(Note: I'm not talking about attaching the flat surface to the base
unit; that's something I always do with glue-blocks.)

I DAGS and found the usual options. Use a connector on the back
(figure-eight or the "stacking connector" like LV carries), use a
dowel-pin and let gravity do its job, or use a cleat or fastener to
attach from the inside. I had also considered cutting mortise into
the top of the base unit and tenoning the frame members of the top to
fit, but that seems like a lot of work for very little advantage to be
gained.

So, do any of youse have actual experience with the various
methods? Would you care to point out some gotchas to be aware of or
simply suggest your favorite options?

At this point I'm leaning a bit towards the connector method, and
maybe cutting some molding to dress up (i.e., *cover* up) where the
two units meet. But I'm struggling a bit with it because I tend to be
a traditionalist (read: Neanderthal) and use metal fasteners only as a
last resort.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Chuck Vance

Chuck

I've done 4 or 5 two piece cabinets for clients. Although gravity is
probably sufficient, I never want to have a client phone me up to say that
someone has knocked the top piece off. So, I use threaded inserts in the
bottom of the top cabinet. I use knock-down bolts (the ones with a thin
head that use an allen key) that go through the bottom cabinet. The
boltheads sit in holes countersunk into the inside surface of the bottom
cabinet's top. I've found this to be an easy to do and very strong way to
connect two part cabinets.

dp