Raised panels material question

[Terry Clark]

I'm to the point in my project where I need to make cabinet doors and would like to have raised panels. The cabinet is made of oak plywood and solid oak for the face frame. I plan to use solid oak for the rails and stiles but use curious about the panels. I assume gluing up oak boards to create a panel big enough to be cut to size and run thru my router table would be the best approach. Are there other alternatives for the panel material?

For example, for the top of the cabinet I plan to edge a piece of oak plywood with solid oak. Has this method been used to create a raised panel since you would have solid material to cut into instead of the plywood?

Thanks!

Terry

[Gene Howe]

Terry,

Are all your doors the same size?
How wide do you want the fillet to be?
Will you use cope and stick method?

IMHO, solid panels are the way to go. Certainly less time consuming.

[Steve Mellott]

Terry:

If you want raised panel doors to go with the oak cabinet, I think the panels will have to be solid oak. When you rout the edges of the panel to give it the raised look, the routed edge will extend approximatel 1 and 1/2 inches from the panel edge towards the center of the panel. That entire 1 and 1/2 inch perimeter will have to be solid wood. If you use oak veneered plywood, you will see the plies where you rout the edges.

There are alternative ways to make cabinet doors that would not require you to use solid oak, but they would not be raised panel doors. For example, you could make flat panel doors (with rails and stiles), using oak veneered plywood as the panels. Or, you could use a flat piece of oak veneered plywood and rim it with a decorative oak molding (no rails or stiles).

Sommerfield will be presenting a cabinet making demonstration at the January 23-25 Atlanta Woodworking Show if you want to wait that long.

Steve

[Joe Chritz]

You can make raised panels on a table saw or with hand tools as well as a router set or shaper.

If you want a raised panel (truly raised above the level of the rails) then go with a 3/4" set. For flush front go with a 5/8" stock set. You will have to use solid wood unless you want wood looking plastic and have a very expensive thermofoil machine.

For flat panels I will either use a raised panel flipped "backward" at about 5/8" thick, a rabbited 1/2 plywood panel or 1/4 plywood. My order of preference is in that order also. Although using plywood in a 5 piece door has some advantages because you can glue it in place.

Joe

[Thomas Bennett]

If you have not purchased your panel raising bit for your router ,I suggest using a vertical panel raising bit, as opposed to the horizontal. Make a router table with an adjustable plywood fence. It's much safer, in my opinion.

[Jim Kountz]

If you have not purchased your panel raising bit for your router ,I suggest using a vertical panel raising bit, as opposed to the horizontal. Make a router table with an adjustable plywood fence. It's much safer, in my opinion.

Oh boy be careful saying that, I said that once and just about had my head taken off for it. Seems like you and I are in the minority about the vertical bits. I love them and wouldnt use anything else on straight panels.

[Terry Clark]

Thanks for the advise everyone. I really appreciate it. Gluing up a set of panels seems to be my best option, which leads to my next question. I've seen router bits that cut "glue" joints. As I understand these would expose more wood surface to bond with the glue. Is this really necessary or can I simply glue edge to edge?

[J.R. Rutter]

If you can make nice smooth, straight edges - either on the table saw or jointer, then you don't need a glue joint cutter.

[Mark Boyette]

I would suggest biscuit jointing the boards together. If you were to use a glue joint bit there is the possibility of the joint showing when you cut or rout for the raised panel. bascially cutting into the profile. Imagine the joint line shifting as if follows the raised panel (angle or ogee portion). There is also possibility of a glue line or void in there somewhere.
If you dowel or biscuit just keep it in off the edge by a 3" or so.
Mark

[Brian Peters]

If you have not purchased your panel raising bit for your router ,I suggest using a vertical panel raising bit, as opposed to the horizontal. Make a router table with an adjustable plywood fence. It's much safer, in my opinion.

Vertical raised panel bits are terrible.. I suppose the only advantage is that they have less swing and you can run them on a less than par router in a table.. but other than that they invite chatter and movement amongst other thing. Safer probably, but safest is on a shaper with a feeder. :cool:

[Brian Peters]

Thanks for the advise everyone. I really appreciate it. Gluing up a set of panels seems to be my best option, which leads to my next question. I've seen router bits that cut "glue" joints. As I understand these would expose more wood surface to bond with the glue. Is this really necessary or can I simply glue edge to edge?

Glue edge to edge, will be fine.

[Jim Kountz]

Vertical raised panel bits are terrible.. I suppose the only advantage is that they have less swing and you can run them on a less than par router in a table.. but other than that they invite chatter and movement amongst other thing. Safer probably, but safest is on a shaper with a feeder. :cool:

Hey Thomas, was just a matter of time eh?

If you're getting chatter Brian you're doing something wrong, I use these things all the time and I dont experience that at all. Mine leave a glass smooth finish that requires little to no sanding at all.

[Frank Drew]

Terry,

If I was going to run the work flat (horizontally), I'd want to use a shaper since you're swinging a fair sized cutter head to cut a raised panel. I've never used a vertical panel raising bit but in principle it seems more suitable if you're going to be using a router, due to the smaller sized motor.

If you really want to get fancy, and avoid glue joints in your panels if you don't have nice wide stock, you could veneer the panels, perhaps with a showy blistered oak, or quartered oak, or a burl....

For a substrate MDF would be ideal; you could apply mitered oak edging all around before veneering the panel (on both sides), planning on the veneer overlapping the edging/MDF joint by just a little bit AFTER you've raised and fielded the panel. Since the joint will be under the veneer, it won't be obvious that the panel isn't solid, and if you've chosen your veneer well the finished doors will look about a million percent better than if the panels were made up of two or three or more narrow boards. IMO.

The back side veneer doesn't have to be fancy, just close to the same thickness and density as your face veneer. And of course any applied edging has to be planed or sanded precisely flush with the substrate surface so that the joint doesn't telegraph through the veneer.

[Brian Peters]

Hey Thomas, was just a matter of time eh?

If you're getting chatter Brian you're doing something wrong, I use these things all the time and I dont experience that at all. Mine leave a glass smooth finish that requires little to no sanding at all.

Sweet. Sanding is no fun. :mad:

[Terry Clark]

Frank, that's a very interesting method. Thanks.