Guidelines for large raised panel doors

[joe milana]

When raised panel cabinet doors start getting big, at what point do you decide to strengthen the design? ie. adding mullion and making a two panel door, widening the stiles and rails, etc. Is there a general guidline, or do you just make it "look strong"?

I have a large cabinet with two raised panel doors, 21 1/2"w x 41 1/4"h. Construction is 15/16" hard maple. Stiles/rails would be 2 1/2" to match existing cabinets. Even with haunched M/T joints, that design seems a bit weak for such a large door.

[Mike Nguyen]

Hi Joe,
This was what I did when I made the raised panel doors for my master bedroom closet.187215
Mike

[Trevor Remster]

A fairly large cabinet door, but not excessive. Some will argue for 2 panels, and that might be ideal. Many designs would look awkward with the 2 panels though, so in those situations you just have to roll the dice. Will it come apart? Likely not. Will it warp some? Probably. If this is an overlay door then I would just go for it. It probably won't warp so much that you can't fudge the adjustments around to compensate. If it is an inset door, then I'd add the middle rail because any warping will be noticeable.

[joe milana]

Hi Joe,
This was what I did when I made the raised panel doors for my master bedroom closet.187215
Mike

Mike, in your situation, the design looks appropriate. Very nice!


A fairly large cabinet door, but not excessive. Some will argue for 2 panels, and that might be ideal. Many designs would look awkward with the 2 panels though, so in those situations you just have to roll the dice. Will it come apart? Likely not. Will it warp some? Probably. If this is an overlay door then I would just go for it. It probably won't warp so much that you can't fudge the adjustments around to compensate. If it is an inset door, then I'd add the middle rail because any warping will be noticeable.

Trevor, you are correct, two panels would look akward in my situation. This cabinet will sit on top of a pre-existing base cabinet, creating the look of a built in hutch. I want the upper and lower doors to line up. I'm thinking maybe keep the stiles at 2 1/2" and widening the rails for added strength (like a passage door).

[J.R. Rutter]

If you can produce a flat raised panel, then I wouldn't worry too much about the size. You could bump the rail width up a bit if you want, or do arched tops to get bigger joint area while keeping the look "light". We do doors this size all the time with minimal problems.

[Jon Dieterlen]

The real issue with large solid wood panel doors, is the total amount of dimension change in the panel. If a 8" wide panel changes dimension +/- 1/8" over the course of a year, then a 16" panel will change +/- 1/4".

I don't like to make doors that will result in a panel more than 16" wide or so. The panel will become too loose in the winter. Unstained lines tend to appear around the edges of the panel.

If you have a good cope stick cutter set with a 1/2" tenon, it'll be plenty strong without a mid-rail.

Jon

[Chip Lindley]

With a door 21-1/2" wide, using 2-1/2" stiles and 1/2" panel groove, the panel total width would be 17-1/2" That is not overly large!

In order to prevent door failure, consider defying convention and glue the hinge-side of the panel into the stile groove. Of course, the top, bottom and opposite side of the panel would float in it's groove with room to expand. With the panel glued into the hinge-side, no racking or sag could develop as long as the (3) hinges held the door in place.

In addition to the cope joints at the door frame corners, long dowels could be added to bolster strength.