30in Upper Cabinet Carcass (Frameless)
One of the easiest cabinet carcasses to build is an upper cabinet and to make it even easier, there’s no face frame. This style is referred to as frameless, or European, style cabinet. While the lack of face frame does allow for the possibility of racking (face coming out of square) during installation, it does allow for a more efficient use of cabinet space. To make this upper cabinet a little more adjustable we drilled holes for shelf pins making the shelf heights adjustable.
The carcass is made from 3/4″ pre-finished maple plywood from Purebond and while I decided to make all my own carcasses for the flip house kitchen, the doors were purchased from Rockler Woodworking. The face of the cabinets get birch iron-on edge banding and were then painted Night Blooming Jasmine from Behr to match the doors and drawer fronts. The front edge of the shelves gets banded with pre-finished maple banding to match the plywood.
If you want to make this carcass narrower simply reduce the width of the top/bottom, back and shelves. I made the one pictured to the left a 15″ wide version with a single door but it could easily be done for any size. Read on to see how easy it can be to build your own cabinet carcasses.
Our Flip House Kitchen Renovation Series
- Frameless Cabinet Carcasses
- Cabinet Door Drying Rack
- Countertops
- Cabinet End Panels
- Spraying & Installing Cabinet Doors
- Upper Cabinet Crown Moulding
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Required Tools
Materials
- Qty 2 – 3/4″ x 4′ x 4′ PureBond Pre-Finished Maple Plywood
- 1-1/4″ Kreg Pocket Screws (Coarse)
- 1-1/4″ Wood Screws
- Shelf Pins
- Pre-Finished Maple Iron-On Edge Banding
- For front of shelves
- Paintable Iron-On Edge Banding
- For front of carcass
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Dimensions
Cut List
How to build a Frameless 30in Upper Cabinet Carcass
Questions? Comments?
As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to comment below and especially don’t forget to post pictures of your finished products in the comments! ENJOY!
It would have been nice if you showed how you put the European door hinges on.
did you cover up the outside pocket holes with the shaker style boarders?
Did you find Rockler had the best prices for doors…say vs Barker? The cabinets/doors look amazing btw.
thanks buddy, I knew most of it, but you clarified a couple of things. Now I’ve got my workshop cabinets to build, then the kitchen, followed by my wifey’s hobby room….