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Thread: How to make beadboard insert shaker-style kitchen cab doors

  1. #1

    How to make beadboard insert shaker-style kitchen cab doors

    Hi Everyone! I'd reallly like to give our kitchen cabinets a facelift in the near future, and my wife is especially fond of the type of doors that have beadboard insert panels, with simple, non-arched rails and styles. I've made shaker-style doors before, for a vanity I made, but I did this by planing the insert panel to 1/2", and creating a 1/4" rabbet along the perimeter so that it would fit into the rails and styles. Hope that makes sense...
    Anyway, what's the simplest way to accomlish these doors? Can I somehow use beaded panelling for the insert? Is there a better option? How would you guys (and girls) tackle this?

    Thanks!

  2. #2

    A couple of approaches

    You can make your own beadboard panels if that's what you're asking. The quarter inch paneling you can pick up at the big box stores would leave an ugly back of the door you'd have to deal with but you could cover it with something. That approach would be fast but it also leaves a flimsy feeling door that is likely to rattle in my opinion.

    If you're gonna do a first rate job on your own cabinet doors with solid wood, I'd edge bead some 2.5 to 3 inch stock (1/2 inch thickness) on one edge and then glue up your panels. Use biscuits to make sure you get the panels to fit just right since you can't plane down the surface after you glue it. You can smooth the back but not the top. Clean up your squeezed out glue with a wet sponge before it dries unless you want to spend a lot of time sanding those joints with a tiny piece of sandpaper. You'll want to use a headless pinner (23 gauge) to secure your panel in your rails and stiles to keep it from shifting around too much. There are differing opinions about that but I've never had a problem using a pinner.

    There were two ways I saw it done in the old days. The router plane with a bead bit was a way to create a beaded panel. But I once saw a guy who made his own hand planes use a twin "V" shaped plane with a straight edge to score the surface of the panel and create small grooves that correspond to wooden hand plane with a bead shaped plane iron. A straight edge clampled to the panel would then guide the beaded plane to plow out beads that run the length of a finished panel. This would enable you to smooth plane the surface of your panel flat before the beads are run. So if you have some neander blood running through your veins, you may check out the neander forum for getting that kind of tool. I know a lot of those guys make their own such tools.
    Yes Dear, I could build that for you if I only had that new ...

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    You can certainly use pre-made bead-board (especially for painted pieces), but you may want to consider making your own so you can get the proportions correct on the panels. You can use either a router table or a table saw with a molding head to accomplish this.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
    Thanks for the input and suggestions, I really appreciate it. You're right, 1/4" or even 5/16" beaded panelling would be flimsy, I was just wondering if there was a practical way to use that in conjunction with (glued on top of?) a more solid panel.
    Ok, so if that's not a quality option, can either of you (or anyone else) give me a little more insight into creating the beaded look on the center panels? I have a router table but am probably a novice concerning techniques compared to most of you. Don't be afraid to dumb it down for me, I probably need the "extreme newbie" explanation . Thanks again!

  5. #5
    Look up Magic Molder on the web. It works with your table saw and will put beads in the middle of a slab of wood or plywood.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Haskell View Post
    Look up Magic Molder on the web. It works with your table saw and will put beads in the middle of a slab of wood or plywood.
    That's what my cabinetmaker neighbor uses to do custom beat board for cabinet panels. Excellent system, albeit not inexpensive. (But it's also extremely well balanced which increases safety as well as the quality of the cut)
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #7
    I did my daughters kitchen with craftsman style using beadboard that I made myself.

    To make the beadboard cut slots in the plywood(or solid wood) using the tablesaw. Then glue a dowel in the grove. It looks identical to beadboard. I've done it with paint or stain and it looks good.If I recall the grove is 1/4 in(used dado head). The other advantage is that you can make any spacing you want.

    Fred Mc.

  8. #8
    Thanks to all for the good ideas, I appreciate it very much!

  9. #9
    Jason,

    We just introduced router bits that make beadboard in stock from 3/8" to 3/4" thick:



    Charles M
    Freud America, Inc.

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    65,675
    Charles, that's a pretty kewel cutter setup. Thanks for letting us know about it.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #11
    Thanks Charles. I've been looking for something like that...Amazon ($94 bucks right now) will take another bite out of the paycheck.
    Glenn Clabo
    Michigan

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Northern Neck, Va
    Posts
    35
    They now have 25% off, which makes it $71.23. I just ordered a set for my kitchen project. My wife wants something similar, and I've had a hard time finding the premade beadboard that didn't look like paneling. Thanks for the great feedback in this post.

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    Location
    Bellingham, WA
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    I use the Magic Moulder to do beadboard for door and cabinet backs. I find it easier to start with a panel, then bead it, rather than making strips...
    JR

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    central iowa
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    142
    It is amazing how cheap the fake wood stuff looks in this format but yet real wood can look kind of stylish and authentic.

  15. #15
    Thanks to everyone for the great ideas and feedback, that gives me a lot of ideas to consider. I really appreciate it!

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