Making Panel Doors Move

Cabinets usually need a door or two and deciding on the style of the door can be make or break the appearance of the piece.

Making panel doors move.

There are lots of different choices and lots of different hardware considerations but one door style that makers come back to time and time again is the frame and panel door and particularly the raised panel door. This should allow about 1 8 of room for the panel to move within the frame for wood movement and some wiggle room when you glue it up. It s as simple as picking up a 4 ft 1 2 m x 8 ft 2 4 m sheet of 1 2 in 1 3 cm plywood and cutting it to correct dimensions. Updating a flat panel core door with some trim and bead board to give it a more updated look.

I cut my plywood panel down using my jig saw but a table saw or circular or miter saw works fine too depending on the size you need. 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. So on to today s entry. Typical six panel doors have a distinctive look with standard size usually measuring 32 by 80 inches.

Try making your own door. Using the straightforward process detailed here you can crank out great looking doors for many applications including furniture cabinets and built ins. Wooden door panels usually are flat or have raised center fields possibly with carvings. If you like you can use your scrap plywood to cut stiles a center panel or other accents to give your handcrafted door a little extra visual appeal.

Other panel options include glass mirror metal or even ceramic. Frame and panel doors add class to any project but they don t have to add a lot of assembly time. My present project will need four frame and panel assmeblies 3 for doors and one that will be a drawer front. Link to the craftsman door trim project.