Looking for some advice re: making kitchen cabinet doors

Johann George

I am considering refacing some kitchen cabinets and am looking for some advice. I'm thinking about making doors out of a wood that, when finished, will be light in color (not painted). Here are my questions:

1. What style of doors would provide a nice clean look and turn out nice without a lot of hassle to make? Some hassle is o.k., but not a tremendous amount.

2. What quality of wood should I buy and what would be a typical supplier? I'm assuming the big box stores don't carry the quality of wood needed. I'm most concerned with finding a supplier for the panels.

3. When shopping for materials, is there a recommended grade of materials I should be pursuing?

4. I have a horizontal table (which I made, but have not yet used) and a regular router table. Which would you recommend using on the panels?

5. What thickness of materials should I use? One kitchen has doors approximately 3/4" thick, the other somewhat less.

I would appreciate any feedback you can provide regarding these questions or any other advice you can provide.

John

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jmg1017

Johann, here is what I did for my kitchen cabinet refacing; I used solid cherry and made new cabinet doors and drawer fronts. I used a 5 piece door and drawer, that is four pieces mitred with purpleheart splines and solid raised panels. The raised section faces inside to be architectually correct.
The construction is pretty straightforward. I used a vertical raised panel bit and an 8" tall aux fence on my router table for the panel profile. The panels are 5/8" planed down from 3/4. The 5/8" dimension works perfectly with a 1/8" setback for the panel and 3/4" rails and stiles of the frames.
No stain, just boiled linseed oil and shellac, finishing with wax and 0000 steel wool.

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Johann George

jmg,

I appreciate the info. Nice looking job. That's one style that shouldn't be too difficult to make and it has a nice clean look.

John

Bogydave

Hi John
I got my tips & tricks fro BJ3
Router Forums - View Single Post - Raised panel bit/vs router hp

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derek willis

Made these last year out of solid European Oak.

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Gene Howe

Derek,
Those are really nice. Every other set I've made has been raised panel, but the plans for my own kitchen (Mission Style) called for flat panels. I prefer making the raised panels. Lot less work than planing all those flats down to 1/4" .

Johann,
Cope and stick is far easier than 45'ed corners. IMO
Gene

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derek willis

Gene,
How about if you used a rail and stile cutter and 1/4"veneered ply or mdf for the panels, that works very well and easy to do.

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Derek

Gene Howe

Wife and I considered that until I showed her how great the panels looked when resawn and book matched. Like I said, lots-o-work. Fun, though. I wouldn't consider it for a commission job unless there was a pot of gold in the contract.

Gene

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xplorx4

Derek and JMG 1017, that is some great work, any one would be proud to have those in their home.

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derek willis

Thanks, Jerry, glad you approve.
Unfortunately they were not for me, but for my sister's kitchen, an update on an installation I did some 24 years ago, 22 doors and 8 drawer fronts, god! were they heavy!!

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