Cabinet doors - raised or flat panel?

[James Morton]

Ive started milling stock for my face frames, and in the hours of jointing and planing, I started thinking about the panels for the doors. I was originally planning on 1/4 inch plywood panels for the doors, but now I am concerned that I will be disappointed with the feel of the doors with a plywood panel rather than a raised panel of solid stock with the raised panel facing in (Mission style flat panels). For those of you who maybe have built both styles, have you noticed much of a difference between the feel of a plywood panel and a solid stock panel?

Thanks

Drew

[Lee Schierer]

I think raised panels give more of a quality image than flat panels do. Raised panel doors just seem more substantial. You can make pretty nice raised panels with a table saw (http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/raisedpanel.html).

[Roger Jensen]

If you make flat panels, use 1/2 inch stock and rabbet it so that the back is flush with the inside face of the door. It feels more more solid and higher quality than a 1/4 inch piece of plywood, which always feel flimsy to me. If you are going to stain I think the 1/2 plywood has better veneers than the 1/4, but that may be just my experience with cherry plywood.

Roger

[Jamie Buxton]

Let me get this straight.. you're planning that the outside face is going to be flat, right? That is, when the door is closed, there is no way to tell if the panel is plywood or solid.

If so, I'd use plywood for the panel. The big benefit of plywood is that you can glue it in. This means that there is no possibility of rattles, which is a common issue with solid-lumber panels. Gluing in the panel also means that the panel acts as a big gusset for all the corner joinery, so the door is much stronger.

[Joe Jensen]

I hate 1/4" ply panels, and now they are 6mm or even 5mm which is even less than 1/4". I'd do the 1/2" reversed raised panel.

[Sam Layton]

James, I am another one that does not like plywood panels. I am building my kitchen now. I am using solid wood flat panels, and back cutting the panels on the back side. To me the feel and look is much nicer.

Sam

[Joe Chritz]

I have built both. My kitchen has solid panels (maple) flipped backward. They are around 5/8 " thick or so. I have used 1/2 plywood, 1/4" plywood, 1/4 MDF for painted and I prefer to heft to a solid panel over 1/4" material.

Other than the feel when operating the door there is no benefit for a solid wood panel, in fact a plywood panel can be glued in place which makes a stronger door. Since a standard floating solid panel door is plenty strong it is really a non-issue anyway.

Since this appears to be your kitchen go with the solid wood, either a raised panel design or a flat panel with a rabbit. Plus, quality good two side 1/4" plywood isn't cheap by any stretch.

Are you set up to resaw? If so you can save a bit (maybe) by buying 6/4 stock and resawing it. If nothing else you can bookmatch panels for the doors which looks very classy.

I highly recommend finding someone with a wide belt and paying to have the panels sanded and also the doors once together. I have a drum sander but still pay for time on a wide belt when needed. Often it is the best $20 or $30 of the whole project.

Joe

[James Morton]

Thank you guys for your responses. I have plenty of cherry stock, so I would save some $ with not buying cherry plywood. My biggest concern was the heft of the solid door compared to the plywood door. Although, I do think just cutting a plywood panel to size would speed things up a bit. However, If I were concerned with speed, I would pay someone to do this. I am a notoriously SLOW woodworker..

Thank you again, it is nice to get some thoughts on this from others. I appreciate it.

[James Morton]

Just got information from a well known sawmill in my area that time on thier wide belt sander is $300/hr, with a 1/2 hour minimum. Ouch. Maybe Ill try some cabinet shops in the area. After glue up, I cant imagine having to run it through the sander more than a few times.

[Roger Jensen]

Just got information from a well known sawmill in my area that time on thier wide belt sander is $300/hr, with a 1/2 hour minimum. Ouch. Maybe Ill try some cabinet shops in the area. After glue up, I cant imagine having to run it through the sander more than a few times.

Just my personal opinion, but I think nice cherry plywood will have better bookmarked veneers than anything you can make yourself. Perhaps you are a better, more experienced resawer than I am, but it is more difficult and tedious than it looks. I was going to do my cabinets that way until I sliced two boards - then I went back to plywood.

Roger