Kitchen Door Panels

[Mike Goetzke]

I'm ready to start on my 30 doors for our kitchen. I'm using rough sawn lumber. Rough, my boards are around 4-1/2" to 8" wide. I did some searching and found some say to cut the boards to around 3"-4" wide and others say to leave them as wide a possible. I'd Like some feedback on this but are there any other rules of the trade like not having a seam in the middle...etc.?


Thanks,

Mike

[Gilbert Vega]

When I did the raised panels in my kitchen I tried to keep them as wide as I could. The only time I would rip a board was to match color. I used quarter sawn oak so grain wasn't much of a problem. I only had 26 doors to build and reduced the wood panels needed by using art glass for 11 of the doors. Good luck on your project.

[Paul Girouard]

The rules are based on what type / species of lumber, how dry it is , what type of cut , flat sawn , rift, VG / quarter sawn. When you say rough sawn do you mean it will remain R/S as a finish product? And IF it's R/S is it air dryer , kiln dry , local cut wood??


Generally cabinets are made of dry lumber and generally the panels , frames are planed smooth , so your R/S wording raises some question for me.

[Mike Goetzke]

The rules are based on what type / species of lumber, how dry it is , what type of cut , flat sawn , rift, VG / quarter sawn. When you say rough sawn do you mean it will remain R/S as a finish product? And IF it's R/S is it air dryer , kiln dry , local cut wood??


Generally cabinets are made of dry lumber and generally the panels , frames are planed smooth , so your R/S wording raises some question for me.

Sorry - I should have given better description. I mill most of my lumber. This wood will be milled smooth. It is European steamed beech. It is dry but is stored in my garage shop. So I plan to mill it to expose the raw wood and then let it set for a few days before final sizing.Besides the doors we are including many drawers in the kitchen. I was planning on using single piece planks for the drawer fronts. In my original post I mentioned I selected enough BF of wood for the panels that range from 4-7". But, I do have several boards that are over 10". Many better than 12" and one is even 18" wide. I bought this wood from a local woodworker that purchased it from Europe. It was dried. All the boards are 82 to 83" long and are very clean. It is a mix of rift sawn and flat. I have made all my face frames and frame/panel end caps with it. Now I'm wondering if I should use the wide boards full width for the door panels (well I may need small pieces added). I have an 8" jointer and 15" planer.

Here is a pic of a few boards:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/mbg/Projects/Kitchen/Cabinets/IMG_1773.jpg

Frame/Panel Cabinet endcap:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/mbg/Projects/Kitchen/Cabinets/IMG_1568.jpg

Large end cap for tall unfinished pantry cabinet:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/mbg/Projects/Kitchen/Cabinets/IMG_2064.jpg

Upper with end cap attached:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/mbg/Projects/Kitchen/Cabinets/Hanging/IMG_1588.jpg

Mike

[frank shic]

looking good so far! that pantry door must've taken some work!

[Paul Girouard]

OK with well dried Beech you can keep them wide , I'd say try to use the same board , or similar colored /grain together to reduce the chances of color differences in the same panel.

You have one board with a lot more figure in it, IF you had enough of those , and they where wide enough to use for the top drawer , I'd use those for the top drawer drawer fronts , keeping track of them so you had a grain match end to end to end across the top drawers. Of course this assumes the top drawers will be "slabs" not raised panels in small-ish frames.

If that isn't the case I'd save those figured / mottled looking boards for another accent project in the kitchen area or a different room, maybe a vanity , end table etc. But I'd keep those type boards out of the kitchen project , unless they could be a theme / highlight / accent part of the kitchen.

[Chip Lindley]

I would go for what looks best in laying up your door panels. Use wider boards for the broadest panels; narrow boards for skinny doors. After you mill the boards and let them acclimate for a reasonable period, match boards that look best together. Try to keep lighter and darker wood at opposite ends of the kitchen, as the gradient will barely be noticed that way. As mentioned, if you have enough of that curly wood, your drawer fronts would look great done with that in consecutive order.

BTW, your beech panels constructed thus far look Great!

[Mike Goetzke]

looking good so far! that pantry door must've taken some work!

Thanks Frank - it's actually an end panel for that tall cabinet. It was like building 6 doors? I had to move quick during glue-up. I have learned from experience to dry fit and work through the assembly steps ahead of time.

Mike

[Mike Goetzke]

I milled the lumber for the first 10 doors yesterday to about 0.850" thick. I stacked it and have two fans blowing on it. I want these doors to stay flat! I plan to face join again and plane to thickness after acclimation. I measured the moisture of the freshly cut lumber and it's about 9-10%. I also checked against a couple of milled boards that have been sitting in the shop exposed to the air for several months and they are around 7-8%. I have seen many recommendations for acceptable moisture content - some say <10% and some say 7-9%. Any other recommendations?

(side note: ahhh - I'm actually seeing burnishing marks on the CI tops of my tools working this project.:D)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/mbg/Projects/Kitchen/Cabinets/IMG_2072.jpg