Kitchen Cabinet Door Panels

[Mike Goetzke]

Is there a general rule of thumb for the width of the individual boards used in an edge joined panel? (I have an 8" jointer.)

(I have searched and found too many answers :confused:. Some say as wide as your jointer, some say to make them all 2-1/2" wide, and some say 3-4" wide. Making them all the same with seems aesthetically boring. I'm also want flat panels that won't warp. I'm using rough sawn lumber and it's all 5" or wider with a majority in the 5-8" width.)

Thanks,

Mike

[frank shic]

if your one of those big factories like kraftmaid churning out tons of cabinets all day long, you'll try to avoid wasting wood by reusing cutoffs and gluing them back together to make a new door panel. one of the great advantages of making doors yourself is the ability to control the width of the staves (individual pieces of wood that make up the panel). so in your case, i'd just joint all the way up to 8" and BE VERY GRATEFUL because i just have a little 6" jointer lol ;)

[Karl Brogger]

I vary it with the width of the panel to make the most of my material.

If I need a 12-3/8" wide panel I'll probably dig through the pile until I get a board that I can get three 4-1/8" parts out of. Like a 5" board so I don't have much of a drop. I try to glue up my panels close to the finished width, and I cut the parts 1" long so I've got something to make up for my extremely sloppy glue ups.

As a general rule I try to keep the parts less than 6" and more than 3-1/2".

[Chris Barnett]

Once you decide the width of panels to use in your glueups, next decision will be....do I ignore color and put light next to dark, or match the joint colors and make one panel light, and the next dark, but wait, what will that look like in the kitchen....perhaps all doors on the north side will be light and south side, dark, or course unless the only light is from the north then....just don't paint them if you love wood :D .

[J.R. Rutter]

Whatever width works for your stock and personal taste is fine as long as it is dried properly.

[Frank Drew]

In my ideal world, all panels would be single boards (I usually like well-centered flat-sawn for looks), unless there's a good design reason for multiple boards (e.g. a striped effect using QS material, whatever); and all the wood for a project would come from the same tree.

I did say "ideal" world.

In any case, I like fewer, wider, well-matched boards for glueups; as few as possible. And FWIW, you can effectively face joint 15+" boards on an 8" jointer.

[johnny means]

I go for thirds, but my only absolute rule is no seams in the center.

[Chip Lindley]

The purists have their criteria for panel expectations. This is possible for furniture pieces, but not practical for a whole kitchen or library full of cabinets.

I took the advice given in FWW years ago to limit panel boards to around 4 inches. AND, to alternate the growth rings as "smile" "frown" "smile" frown". This evens out the chances of warpage that might later ruin a finished door. I spend lots of time matching grain and color of glue-ups. It pays off in a very pleasing look, instead of "just a bunch of boards" glued up as a panel. I try to strike a balance between a pleasing look and minimizing waste of nice hardwood.

[Mike Goetzke]

In my ideal world, all panels would be single boards (I usually like well-centered flat-sawn for looks), unless there's a good design reason for multiple boards (e.g. a striped effect using QS material, whatever); and all the wood for a project would come from the same tree.

I did say "ideal" world.

In any case, I like fewer, wider, well-matched boards for glueups; as few as possible. And FWIW, you can effectively face joint 15+" boards on an 8" jointer.


The purists have their criteria for panel expectations. This is possible for furniture pieces, but not practical for a whole kitchen or library full of cabinets.

I took the advice given in FWW years ago to limit panel boards to around 4 inches. AND, to alternate the growth rings as "smile" "frown" "smile" frown". This evens out the chances of warpage that might later ruin a finished door. I spend lots of time matching grain and color of glue-ups. It pays off in a very pleasing look, instead of "just a bunch of boards" glued up as a panel. I try to strike a balance between a pleasing look and minimizing waste of nice hardwood.


Thanks for all the replies - seems like it's up to the woodworker. I do have some nice wide panels - maybe up to 18" but I'm too chicken to make my panels from one piece. The FWW advice seems to strike a happy median and not to allow a seam in the center would be nice too. My wife is looking for a country look so mixing the boards a bit will be nice also.

Thanks,

Mike