Face frame beading advice needed

[Tim Sherwood]

I would like to add a bead to the inside edges of my cabinet face frames. I plan to use pocket screws for assembly. These will be cherry cabinets with a clear finish.
I have read several articles about how to do it. They all look pretty time consuming. So far it looks like I might as well just apply the bead as a molding. Is there a better way?

 

[Dan Bowman]

Kreg makes a system for beading a face frame, and like most Kreg products, it's high quality but not cheap. A plus is that it's designed to work with pocket hole joinery. Here's someone who made their own version of the Kreg system: http://www.familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17095

 

[TBradley190]

Face frame beads are time consuming, but are worth it if that's the look you want for that piece. Gluing on the molding afterwards will work if the cabinet openings will not be used alot, but I would think that they could run the risk of getting knocked off. If you profile the beads on first then miter all your intersections, I don't think you would have much more time in it than using the molding method. JMO I use a Incra miter gauge on the TS with the blade tilted to 45, but I'm sure their are other ways too! Good luck with it!


Tim

 

[Charles Lent]

Here's another one to look at. Sorry, I haven't tried it myself, but everything that I've bought from them has been top notch. You make the beaded stock with a beading bit and a router and then use the big wheel shaped bit on your cabinet saw like you would a dado blade, to form the notch in the bead with the 45 deg cut to allow joining another beaded piece to it.

http://www.sommerfeldtools.com/Beaded-Face-Frame-System/products/551/

Charley

 

[mkepke]

Same approach as the Kreg, less the miter jigs:

http://www.woodline.com/p-2456-2pc-beaded-frame-w-mutton.aspx

-Mark

 

[Tim Sherwood]

Thank you guys. I like the looks of the home made jig with a 45 deg. router bit. I'll try it out.

 

[tryingtokeepmyfingers]

I bought the wood-line set but if you use the wood-line directions you could use the kreg bits... kreg has more options one the size of bead.. I have not used the set yet other to make a test run with the beading bit and it looked bigger then I wanted and that's when I re looked at the kreg and saw the different radius of the beads offered