Tandembox drawer front construction questions

[Lewis Anderson]

I am working on the design for our kitchen cabinets and have a few questions regarding the drawer fronts. The cabinets will all be CVG douglas fir fronts with Blum Tandembox internals. The design is basically Mission style so my preference is to have inset slab drawer fronts. My concern is that the larger drawers (8" tall x 30" wide) may warp since they won't be supported by a drawer box as they would be with standard drawer construction. Am I over thinking this or is it a legitimate concern? Also would it be possible to use glued up panels so that the grain is orientated vertically?

My second line of questions is in regards to building the flat panel doors (and drawer fronts if it turns out that there will be issues with slab fronts). This will be my first project doing flat panels, I have always done raised panels. I don't have CVG fir plywood readily available locally so I am pretty much going to have to use solid wood for the panels. Based on using 3/4" rails/stiles I assume the best plan of attack is to plane the panels down to 1/2" and do a cove on the backside. Am I missing something? Is there a better/more attractive way to build these? If it makes any difference one set of doors will be fairly large (18"x60" for a pantry cabinet.)

There are a lot of firsts (CVG Fir, Tandembox, Flat Panel doors) for me on this project so I am just trying to cover any gotcha's before I undertake this.

[Sam Murdoch]

Good questions. Not having used the Tandembox system I'd be inclined to stay away from slabs and go with the frame & panel construction. The fastening of the Tandembox will be into the stiles rather than into a full board. Even with using a frame and panel you can make up your panels with vertical grain on the drawer fronts. Would look great on a bank of drawers to have all the grain continue vertically.

As for how to make frame and flat panel doors/drawers - no need for the back cove just rabbet the panel to fit a groove in the frames. 1/2" thickness is good but you can go thicker with no issues. I prefer to rabbet my panels and in this case would choose to create a flush face to the frames. The success with the pantry door (all the doors and wide drawer rails for that matter) will come with starting with thicker stock than you need and jointing everything good and flat. In this case i would start with 3/4" for the panel and the 1-1/16" stock for your frames. Even vert gr will take some shape but you can mitigate that with good prep work. I prefer a thicker door frame than 3/4" especially for a tall door.

Sam

[Chris Padilla]

I making the exact style of door, Lewis. See here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?185837-Maple-Entertainment-Center

I plan to route and capture the panel in a groove in the rails and stiles. Than means I'll have panels around 1/4" - 3/8" thick (I will resaw some figured maple) with my 3/4" maple rail/stile.

[frank shic]

lewis let me know if you have questions on how to install the drawer front to the tandem box. i just built a large bathroom vanity with 10 tandem boxes - my wife absolutely LOVES them.

[Jeff Duncan]

Personally I prefer the look of frame and panel to a flat slab on a mission style project anyway. So for me it's an easy decision.

I think the solid wood panels will work great. Yes the best way IMO is to make them 1/2" and use a panel raise or similar on the back. It makes the inside of the door look better than just a rabbet. Just my opinion though, good luck!

JeffD

[Lewis Anderson]

Thanks for the replies. You have pretty much confirmed what my gut what telling me.