Making Linen Closet doors

[Chris Sutton]

How's it going, and thanks for having me? To start off I am not an accomplished woodworker by any means.

I have built a linen closet in my hall that is roughly 36'" tall and about 100" long and about 24" deep. The whole thing is made out of Birch ply. It has 4 doors that are 25" wide and are hung using European hinges.

My problem is that since the doors are made of ply they have warped a bit and do not sit flat against the cabinets. there is about 1/8" to 1/4" lippage on some of the doors. Now I need to make new doors and was hoping to get some advice.

What's the best material to use to make flat cabinet doors? MDF? If I go with MDF i will either paint them or veneer them. Are there any sources to get veneered panels that I can cut down then edge band? Any other thoughts?

Cheers. Chris

[Jason Whelehon]

36' tall and about 100' long and about 24' deep. The whole thing is made out of Birch ply. It has 4 doors that are 25' wide and are hung using European hinges.

I'm REALLY hoping you mean a " where you put '.

" = Inches
' = feet

If you have 25' wide doors, I can't imagine the size of the European hinges you bought!

All joking aside, that's a great project. If you don't have a raised panel making set for your router (and don't want to spend the $100-$500 to buy one) I'd suggest HIGH quality cabinet grade plywood. That birch plywood is likely NOT cabinet grade. Plywood is typically VERY stable. MDF would probably be too heavy on those hinges if you made it 1/2" or thicker.

There's nothing wrong with using your table saw to make panels from 1/2" MDF. You tip your blade about 7° or so and make the panel. Then you create a grove in your stiles and rails to accommodate the thickness of the lip you just cut into the panel.

Here's what it would look like in action:

http://www.americanwoodworker.com/us...ablesawJig.jpg

[Chris Sutton]

Dooohhhhh!!! I thought I had put " instead of '. I went back and fixed them. Haaa haaa, that would be a huge cabinet. Thanks for the tips Jason. I was wondering about the weight of the MDF on doors that size. There is a good hardwood place near me. I'll go by and check out their ply selection. That's a cool tip for making the raised panels but I want flat doors. I tend to go with the clean modern look.

Any other thoughts or tips for making cabinet doors of these size?

[Steve Clardy]

You used euro hinges. They are adjustable if you don't know.

That's why they are so great. You can adjust a warped door to a certain extent.

[Chris Sutton]

You used euro hinges. They are adjustable if you don't know.

That's why they are so great. You can adjust a warped door to a certain extent.

Yeah I have adjusted them to get the doors as good as I could but there is still lippage. I'm sure my cabinets aren't perfectly flat or square so the adjustability will still be essential when I get flat doors on there.

[Steve Clardy]

Ok. Are your doors framed, or just plywood? How thick?

[Chris Sutton]

The doors are just plywood. They are about 11/16" thick. I'm gonna see if I can post some pics.

On i side note this is a great forum. I have been spending hours in the past 2 days reading though the forums. So far I have been learning a lot.

[Frank Drew]

Chris,

A lot of commercially made flush doors are made of mdf or particle board and, in my experience, they don't hold the hinge screws very well, particularly if the doors/hinges get a fair amount of use.

Ply (we're still talking flush -- i.e. non framed -- doors here) will hold screws well but as you've discovered isn't always very stable. As for veneer, you can buy veneer face plywood (cherry, mahogany, etc.); veneer it yourself; or sub it out to one of the specialty places, but that would probably be pretty expensive per door for such a small order.

Can you talk yourself into framed doors? Or, if you don't yet have the equipment or experience to make them now, plan on replacing the current doors with framed doors at some later date?

[Chris Sutton]

Thanks for the follow up Frank. I am not necessarily opposed to frame doors if that would give me the best results. I went with shaker style cabinets in my Kitchen and am real happy with them. A shaker style door on these could look good too but is not my first choice.

Is veneered plywood more stable then regular ply?

These cabinets don't get a lot of use. Two of the doors we maybe open once per month and the other doors we open approx. twice per week.

Does anyone know of a resource for getting veneered mdf/particle board that I could cut down then edgeband? Would that be a good option or would the weight of them be an issue?

[Frank Drew]

Chris,

I don't think I gave you a completely clear answer.

Man-made sheet materials -- plywood, mdf, masonite, osb (orient-strand board), particle board -- are available in a variety of presentations, from a very plain face veneer or no face veneer to face veneer of your choice. Plywood actually just means more than one layer, and the core, between the face veneers, can be other veneers (veneer core), mdf (fiber core), solid wood strips (lumber core).

Finish grade sheet goods made with birch, walnut, cherry, and mahogany face veneers are commonly available from plywood suppliers, often in the various core materials. Other face veneers can be special ordered. And a final option is to buy sheet goods (faced or unfaced) and veneer them yourself.

So your question about the stability of veneered ply vs. regular ply doesn't really work here, since "plywood" implies a veneer of some sort on the faces. In terms of stability, I think fiber core is less likely to warp than veneer core, but since it's made from pulverized wood it doesn't have any grain strength. Also, as noted above, it doesn't hold a screw as well as either solid wood or veneer core. And, since either particle board and mdf are heavier than veneer core, the weight would add to the problems with hinges and screw holding, IMO. That said, there are millions of these Euro-hinged doors out there and they haven't all failed .

You can find a great assortment of what you're looking for (veneered panels) at just about any halfway decent sheet goods supplier.

[Chris Sutton]

Thanks for the detailed breakdown Frank, that makes things pretty clear. I guess would I should have asked is a higher grade ply, such as a walnut veneered 9 ply furniture grade ply going to flatter and more stable then your standard sheet of cheapo birch ply (7 plys I believe)? I would assume so but you know what the say about assumptions.

From doing more research it seems that combi ply that has both layers of ply and MDF is the best choice for me. Apparently you get the best of both worlds.

There is a hardwood and stone shop one block from my house and I checked their stock this morning. They have a pretty good selection and had alder and beech faced combi ply is stock. I think I will try one of those and see how it goes. My wife and I are leaning towards painting the linen cabinets white so I guess it doesn't matter between the beech and alder.

Again I appreciate everyone's help. Now I am trying to justify buying the Festool plunge circular saw and rail system that they have in stock to make my cabinet doors. My wife will be happy about that.