The Joinery Behind Exceptional Cabinetry: Why Construction Matters
When people shop for custom cabinets, they tend to focus on the wood species, paint color or door style. While these are certainly an important part of the decision making process, there's something inside the cabinet that dictates how it will stand up over time that we rarely see - joinery.
Joinery is the way the pieces of a cabinet are put together. The way the joints are constructed is what determines how strong, durable, and lasting your cabinets will be over time. At Legendary Hardwoods we are very particular about selecting the best joinery for each component in every cabinet we manufacture. Instead of cutting corners and relying solely on nails, staples or cheaper connectors, we build the "old fashioned" way with tried and true woodworking techniques used for centuries.
Let's take a look at some of the joints we use.
Dovetail Drawer Boxes
There are few joints that have the reputation and respect among cabinet makers that the dovetail does when it comes to drawers.
Dovetail joints have "tails" and "pins" that interlock together making a self-aligning and incredibly strong connection between two pieces of wood. Even after years of heavy daily use, they will not pull apart.
Why we use dovetails
They are incredibly strong, able to hold a lot of weight
They will last a lifetime
They resist drawer failure due to their inherent strength
They are a mark of a high-end cabinet
They look amazing!
Dovetail drawers actually become stronger and are much more durable because they hold together themselves without the need for screws, staples or dowels. Whether you have a heavy drawer of cookbooks, pots and pans, tools or daily necessities, a dovetail drawer will likely last your lifetime.
Cope and Stick Cabinet Doors
We construct all of our cabinet doors using cope and stick joinery, one of the best joinery methods in fine cabinet making.
Cope and stick joints involve fitting together precisely machined profiles, with a "cope" on the rail fitting into a "stick" profile cut on the stiles. This creates a large, interlocking surface area for the glue to hold to.
Cope and Stick Benefits
A very strong and perfectly aligned joint
Excellent long term durability
Provides a smooth and consistent finished look
Helps to eliminate long-term movement in the door
Both painted and stained finishes look best with this construction
Solid wood naturally expands and contracts with seasonal humidity levels. A well engineered cabinet door will account for this expansion and contraction so as not to fail. Cope and stick construction helps provide a long-lasting cabinet door by allowing for movement while still holding the joint securely.
Mortise and Tenon Vanity Construction
For our vanity construction we go even further, using traditional mortise and tenon joinery.
Often regarded as one of the strongest woodworking joints that ever existed, a mortise and tenon joint has a "tenon" that is precisely cut to fit into a "mortise" (a hole or slot). This essentially creates an incredibly sturdy frame capable of handling daily use for many years.
Why It Matters
The bathroom is exposed to temperature and moisture fluctuations daily. Cabinets in this environment must withstand moisture while also staying structurally sound.
Mortise and tenon construction provides:
Superior structural integrity
The strongest possible resistance to racking and twisting
Exceptional long term stability
Optimal performance in humid conditions
This is one reason our vanities can withstand constant moisture while maintaining their structural integrity.
Lock Miter Finished End Panels
Our finished end panels are built to the same exacting standards as the rest of the cabinet.
Instead of having either visible joints or a less structurally sound joint in the corner, we build our finished end panels using a lock miter corner.
A lock miter is a specialized joint that creates a perfect corner with a much larger surface area to which glue can bond.
Lock Miter Benefits
A clean, seamless corner
Exceptional joint strength
Excellent alignment during assembly
Attractive and refined appearance
Long-term durability
This creates an invisible seam that makes the cabinet look much more refined and custom from any angle.
Why Joinery Matters
Building a quality cabinet is an investment. Many cabinets look the same once assembled, but the way that the cabinet is put together is what really sets them apart.
The quality of joinery is a deciding factor on how long your cabinets will last, how much weight your drawers can hold, how well your doors remain square, how the cabinet withstands seasonal changes and overall stability and strength.
Cheaper, more common methods of cabinet construction may save the manufacturer time and money but often results in the failure of cabinets due to loosely joined components, weak drawers that collapse, failed doors that stick or sag and very costly repairs in the future.
Built the Traditional Way
At Legendary Hardwoods, we believe that fine craftsmanship comes down to building every cabinet the right way. Each and every one of our pieces is built using tried and true woodworking techniques. It requires more skill, precision, time and cost but the result is a cabinet that we and you can both be proud of.
When you're looking for custom cabinets, you're looking for something that will last and hold up over many years. That's why we make it a point to use robust construction methods so you don't have to worry about them failing later. Because fine furniture is built for more than just today-it's built for tomorrow.
