Raised Panel question

[Jordan Lane]

How much should I allow for movement for a raised panel for a door where the panel is roughly15 1/2 by 16/12..... 1/8 , 1/4 or what? Should I use balls to prevent rattle?? thanks in advance for your help ;) it is a painted cabinet door btw.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

No replys? I'll give it a shot. This is what I read in a book, and what I did. About 1/4" gap, so total 1/2" smaller than the rails/stiles. As far as rattle, the book said to put a small amount of glue in the center of the top and bottom to hold the panel in the center. Can't say if that really works, since my doors are still on the floor, and don't rattle.:o

[Ben Hatcher]

The bit set that I bought calls for adding 1/8" to the width and 1/16" to the length.

[Joe Chritz]

Space balls are the bomb for assembling doors. I generally leave a bit more than 1/8th per side. This compresses the space balls a bit under half and leaves plenty of room for movement.

The balls also take care of any rattle.

There is an online resource called the shrinkulator that you can use to calculate panel changes based on MC or humidity.

Joe

[Neal Clayton]

the first benefit of the balls is to ensure a perfect center during assembly. that's where you run into the most movement problems later, if the panel isn't centered when assembled, it'll want to move toward the path of lesser resistance later, and often take some finish with it.

1/8 all the way around is what i've always used, although edge to edge is more prone to move than end to end. end to end should remain fairly stable.

[Brent Ring]

the first benefit of the balls is to ensure a perfect center during assembly. that's where you run into the most movement problems later, if the panel isn't centered when assembled, it'll want to move toward the path of lesser resistance later, and often take some finish with it.

1/8 all the way around is what i've always used, although edge to edge is more prone to move than end to end. end to end should remain fairly stable.

+1 here - and I love the spaceballs as well.

[Chip Lindley]

Jordan, the fact is, most will see wood shrinkage rather than expansion over the life of the panel. Panels would need be in a very humid environment to expand and cause damage.

I make panels dimensioned exactly to fit inside the rail/stile groove, then rip 1/8" off each side. Since wood movement is primarily cross-grain, I leave the panel full height to fit in its groove. This gives a solid reference to help keep doors square during assembly, and stay solid after hanging.

Most shaper cutter sets provide for 3/8" or 1/2" depth of the panel groove. Some router sets only provide 1/4"; very little to work with. So, keeping panels centered is a must. I'm too cheap to buy *space balls*. I cut off bits of bargain neoprene tubing to stuff in the groove--1 per side.

[Peter Quinn]

Jordan, the fact is, most will see wood shrinkage rather than expansion over the life of the panel. Panels would need be in a very humid environment to expand side enough to cause damage .

I live in New England, home of swamp humid summers and lip cracking dry winters. Make your panels in the winter, they WILL.grow in the summer, make them in the summer and they will SHRINK in the winter. Even Mdf will move enough to cause bubbles around the door frame/panel edge on paint grade. Make them too tight and you can break the joints.DAMHIK Make them too loose, and the panels almost fall out. DAMHIK There are formulas to figure exactly how much space to leave based on RH at the time of construction
, the woods MC, and your regional environment. FWW has an article written in the last few years on the subject for details.

I go with 3/16" gap on each edge, or 3/8" gap over all, and .250" space balls. I was told that is the compression space balls require ideally on assembly. But if you are making doors in summer, you might want to tighten that gap to 1/8" per side, and in winter go with a heavy 3/16" gap, at least in my neck of the woods. This is one of those core questions for which there is no simple answer, just long formulas, hyperbol, and opinions like mine! I guess that,s all a part of that good old fashion "experience", for which there seems to be no substitute.

[Chuck Isaacson]

If you are painting the panels, why dont you use plywood or MDF? There you dont have to worry about movement as much.