Making Panel Doors Move

Using the straightforward process detailed here you can crank out great looking doors for many applications including furniture cabinets and built ins.

Making panel doors move.

Acquire a 4 ft 1 2 m x 8 ft 2 4 m sheet of 1 2 in 1 3 cm plywood. It will hold the panel but still allow it to expand and contract across its width. Updating a flat panel core door with some trim and bead board to give it a more updated look. After putting my stack dado in the table saw i cut a groove for the door s panel to float in.

The groove is a hair wider than 3 4 and 1 2 deep. Run down to your local hardware store or home. So cut the stiles to the same length as your desired door height. Cutting the main door panel 1.

In a frame and panel construction a large panel is fitted into a groove in the interior edge of a more dimensionally stable frame made of narrow. Mark the doorway. This is a beginners guide to making loose tenon raised panel cabinet doors in mdf. Frame and panel doors add class to any project but they don t have to add a lot of assembly time.

For that reason the panel is typically captured in grooves plowed along the inside edges of the stiles and rails so it can float and move. Raised panel doors are an example of frame and panel construction a method developed hundreds of years ago to combat the effects of moisture on solid wood used in cabinetry and furniture making. Then subtract the widths of both stiles from the total door width then cut the rails to that length plus 3 4 that will make more sense later. If the groove is too narrow and it probably will be on the first try nudge your saw s fence a tiny bit and repeat both cuts.

Frames use 3 4 thick stock with 1 4 panels in various materials and veneers a general purpose saw blade will do the job although. Fortunately our bedroom door was completely smooth so i didn t need to apply veneer over it our foyer door had that faux wood grain texture which i covered with veneer. Before you get to sawing gluing and sanding you ll need. Wooden door panels usually are flat or have raised center fields possibly with carvings.

Link to the craftsman door trim project. Typical construction for frame and panel doors have stiles running the full height and the rails fitting in between. The panel should slide into the groove without requiring any force but it shouldn t wiggle either. There are many ways to make raised panel cabinet doors and having tried m.