Material Selection for Kitchen Cabinet Doors

[scott galyon]

I'm wanting to build some new cabinet doors for my kitchen cabinets. My wife wants to paint our cabinets white and wants cabinet doors with flat panels.

Is Poplar a decent choice to make the rails and stiles from? I figure to use 3/4" stock and use a tongue and groove bit to cut a centered 1/4" slot for the flat panels.

Is 1/4" MDF that I can purchase at Lowes or Home Depot satisfactory for the flat panels?

Also, I may want to build some similar doors for some bathroom cabinets. They will need to be stained, though. Where can I get wood veneered MDF or 1/4" plywood that can be stained and that is truly 1/4" thick? I noticed the 1/4" Birch and Oak plywood at HD and Lowes is more like 1/8" thick and wouldn't be a good choice for a true 1/4" slot.

Thanks, Scott

[Matt Meiser]

I used cherry veneer MDF for a kitchen and was very happy with the results. The 1/4" MDF I've gotten at Home Depot seemed to be very good quality but they only sell 2x4 sheets here. The veneered stuff came from a specialty supplier and was actually over 1/4". Amana makes an adjustable bit set that worked great.

[James Phillips]

Poplar takes paint well. I do not like using MDF. Would not be that much more $$ just to do all poplar. You can resaw 4/4 and get 3/8 stock that you can route a lip on to fit in you slots (if you want flat panel put the routed profile inside).

[Peter Quinn]

Poplar is a reasonable choice, soft maple is a significant upgrade IMO. The maple is more stable, wears a bit better, both paint about the same. Sometimes MC (mixed color) soft maple can be had at a discount, sometimes #1 common can be used to make clear grade cuttings for paint grade products at a significant savings. Depends on what you have available locally. The 1/4" MDF at my local borg actually measures 3/16"! No, it is not metric, it is labeled clearly 1/4", and is exactly 3/16" thick. Huh? So check that locally. I used MDF for some quick doors in my own kitchen. Once painted the panels stayed stable, the frames moved a bit, and little "bubbles" appeared right where the panel enters the groove. Not great to paint the panels inlike I did.

You can use baltic birch for the panels for added strength and slightly less weight but a whole lot more money. Depends on the budget. You can get 1/4" panels with a cabinet grade veneer and mdf core from most cabinet grade plywood suppliers, and by this I mean professional serious suppliers, not the borg, tho you may be able to order the necessary goods through the contractor services at your local borg. Make sure to specify AA or A1 if you need a show face on both sides. Some 1/4" sheets are made for backs, which have only 1 show face, and the other side can be quite alarmingly ugly!

If you go with solid wood panels, I make them 5/8" and use a cove as a back cut, then run the cove to the back of the door. Thin solid panels have a tendency to crack and break easily. It make the door feel more substantial in use as well. The same idea can be used with 1/2" or 3/8" MDF also for a bit more substantial feeling door.

[Matthew Bradburn]

I made flat panel doors for my kitchen with poplar frames and 1/4" MDF panels. The panels are glued in, and I gave them a shellacking (sp?) before painting with water-based primer to prevent the MDF fibers from going fuzzy. I'm happy with them after more than 5 years. I've been using the Freud Industrial flat panel router bit set, there are shims you can use to adjust the width of the groove for different panel thicknesses, although it doesn't go thin enough for the thinnest of "quarter-inch" plywood.

[scott galyon]

Thanks for all the information gentlemen. You've given me some good ideas for moving forward.

I found a really nice adjustable mission style tongue and groove bit set made by Amana but it's a little too pricey - Amana RC-4022. Amana also makes these:

http://www.amanatool.com/routerbits/...uter-bits.html

What slot depth do you recommend - 3/8" or 1/2" - for a 1/4" slot?

Any other tongue and groove bits anyone can recommend (ie Freud, Rockler, etc.)?

Thanks, again.

[scott galyon]

Matthew,

Did you use the Freud 99-036 Adjustable Tongue and Groove Bit Set? That's one I'm looking at.

Did you shellac just the edges of the MDF where it was cut or did you do the entire face of each panel?

Thanks, Scott

[Matthew Bradburn]

That's right, the 99-036! I'm happy with it although I could use more adjustment on the small side for wafer-thin plywood.

I think we want to shellac the entire face of the mdf, it doesn't have a directional grain and there are wood fibers every which way, which get bumpy when exposed to water. So I recommend shellacking the whole thing though I'm no expert but it seems to work for me.

[John Packwood]

You can use a table saw to make grooves for your panels. Use bridal joints for the stiles and rails as the panel groove will also be the mortise. Be sure to use feather boards to keep everything going through the saw straight. If you want an inexpensive tenoning jig the Woodsmith store in Des Moines IA just had a show on PBS showing how to make a simple one. They said there is a free video on their web site to do this.

Or you can just use a straight router bit to do this if you can find one the right diameter. Or use a thicker panel and rip it thinner on edge to fit the router groove. The book The Accurate Table Saw has a lot of ways to do these things and build the jigs to do a good job and keep your fingers.

A ripping blade instead of an ATB combo blade will give you a flat bottom groove. If you have a dado set you can use one of the outside blades for the flat bottom.

While I have a router and use it I prefer the table saw when ever I can use it especially as a good carbide saw blade outlasts any router bit when I use it. YMMV

[Matthew Bradburn]

As an aside, when using these tongue-and-groove router bit sets, watch out for tearout when cutting the grooves for the panels. Consider doing a light climb-cut with the groove cutter before going back to cut the grooves at full depth. When doing the cope cuts, consider scoring the faces of the rails with a marking gage.

[Rob Price]

when using undersized plywood panels, I either cut the groove with two passes on the table saw to get a nice tight fit (you can also use stub tenon joinery this way for the rails and stiles). Using scraps, you can set the fence up where the blade is just off center. Two passes, rotating the piece end for end, will give you a perfectly centered groove. Or use rubber space balls to keep the panel from rattling (can also use a dab of silicone caulk- let it dry first) or just glue the panel in the groove so it won't rattle. I did make some raised panel doors using MDF for the panels because it was cheap. The raised area got fuzzy with paint. If you're not routing it, the face should stay pretty smooth. I can get true 1/4 MDF at my local harwood stores.

One thing that has been great for me- get to know someone at a local cabinet shop- they may be willing to let you get plywood through them which will open up the possibilities of what you have available to you.

[Curt Harms]

..............
Consider doing a light climb-cut with the groove cutter before going back to cut the grooves at full depth. When doing the cope cuts, consider scoring the faces of the rails with a marking gage.

I've cut wide stock to length then cope the ends first before ripping to width. You can rip off any entry or exit irregularities. This yields very clean cope cuts, I've had a problem with exit tearout in red oak even using a scrap follower. Just another way to skin the cat.