Making Mission Style Cabinet Doors

[Julie Moriarty]

My 25+ year old kitchen cabinet doors (white Formica with oak trim top and bottom :eek:) have finally worn out their welcome, about a decade ago. It seems Mission Style is all the rage today so I thought I'd go with that.

All the cabinet doors I've made so far I've done with CMT router bit sets and they have all withstood the test of time. All rails and stiles start at 2-7/16" wide and once routed create a 2" wide effective width. That makes measuring a lot easier.

CMT has a Mission set that I don't particularly like for making Mission Style doors.
http://www.cmtutensili.com/media/files/472_1126_ds_800.625.jpghttp://www.cmtutensili.com/media/immagini/919_z_800.626_1_fz.jpg

It looks like they only require 1/4" plywood panel for the center panel. Every cabinet door I've handles with 1/4" panel has seemed very cheap. What I was thinking was cutting the 1/4" dado into the rail and stile and then cutting a 1/4" rabbet into the back of a 1/2" piece of wood or plywood for the center panel. I think I'd also cut the dado deeper where the rail and stile meet and maybe cut a shoulder for additional strength.

What I was wondering:

Should I rough cut the rails and stiles 2" or should I go wider? If so, what width?
I was thinking mahogany for the rails & stiles and figured maple for the panels. Does anyone make 1/2' plywood with decent figure in the maple veneer? Or should I stick with solid wood to get that appearance of depth?
The drawers will only be 6" high. If I go larger than 2" for the rails and stiles on the doors, should I keep the same size for the drawers, leaving a very narrow panel in the middle, or should I make the drawer rails & stiles narrower?

[Richard Shaefer]

I never liked using router bits to make shaker frames. A good table saw with a dado blade can do juse as well at turning out the cut stock. The cheeks and shoulders of the tenons can be cut with a decent crosscut sled and tenoning jig.

don't go more than 1 3/4" wide on the frame, it'll look too heavy. 1 1/2" or 1 5/8" looks "right" to the eye. Most cabinet doors without an overlay (I hate overlay doors) are 4/4 stoc (3/4" thick). You know it by muscle memory, as does everyone else who's less than 60 years old. Use 5/4 stock, it's an instant feel of quality for very little cost that everyone recognizes. It also lets you use 1/2" thick plywood, which also adds a feel of heft and solidity to the door. I have built cabinet doors both with solid and plywood infil panels, and I will never use solid again. The plywood is more dimensionally stable, you can glue it in place, and the quality of the grain on a premium sheet of plywood is better than most flatsawn lumber you'd use. Keep in mind a good sheet of plywood is costly. I've paid upwards of $140 for a sheet of quartersawn oak plywood or quilted cherry.

Don't be afraid to either use narrower fraems on the drawers, 1 1/4" would be fine, or jsut make them silid stock, which is also in keeping with traditional shaker.

This is a door I whipped up out of scrap wood for a tool cabinet I'm making. 5/4 stock and 1 5/8" rails and styles. The muntins between the birdseye maple upper panels are a little wider than I'd usually do, but I had to make the wider to make up for the narrow width of the mape scrap I had.

250516

[Jeff Monson]

I like 2" rails for mission doors, I go 2 1/4" for profiled doors
Mahogany and maple are a nice combination, I'd stay away from solid wood for the panels. You may have to veneer 1/2" birch ply for figured maple, I can find 1/2" maple ply, but fiured maple may be tough. Easy to find in veneer though.
I'd stick with 2" for the drawers also to keep a consistent look.

[Erik Christensen]

I have a matched set of shaper cutters that lets me vary the thickness of the rail/style dado and match that to the end cut on the rail. I use 4/4 stock for the frame and 1/2" ply for the panel. I cut a rabbit on all 4 sides of the panel so the panel tongue matches my rail/style dado and the interior of the door is flush between frame & panel. Management wants full overlay doors (not my preference) and I think 5/4 stock makes the door look bulky (to me - YMMV) but a 4/4 frame with a glued 1/2" panel is plenty burly even for over sized doors.

[Tom Hargrove]

Like Richard, I prefer a dado blade over a router to cut the grooves. Much faster, less mess, and it is easier to custom size the groove to match the panel material you are using. However, if you have a shaper like Eric does, that is also a good way to do it.

The panels in our kitchen and vanity cabinet doors are constructed with a rabbet on the back side to give them some heft, but are solid wood. If you can find nice plywood, that may be good alternative. If you are going the plywood route, I would be inclined to add a nice veneer to the show side. Clearly, it is much more work, but the cabinets will really pop. There are several vendors in the Chicago area that handle better grades/quality of plywood; either as a stock item or as a special order. But be forewarned that nice hardwood plywood, at least in the Chicago area, is not cheap.

[Julie Moriarty]

The doors will be overlay. Otherwise they would look funny as they are replacing existing overlay doors. It will also give me a chance to hide as much of the existing frame as possible. The existing frame is red oak. I'm not quite sure what I'll do with that but have considered painting them black and putting an ebpny bead against the rail/stile to highlight the panel. I could also lay a mahogany veneer on the frame.

I just talked to the lumber supplier. Any thoughts of figured maple plywood were dashed when I got the quote. Solid is about 1/3 the price. But I'm open to other types of wood for the panel. On their website, in 1/2" ply w/ MDF core, they have cherry, birch and walnut in A1 grade. Walnut would be too dark. I'd have to see the cherry and birch.

The doors and drawers with have soft closers for the hardware, to bring that into the 21st century. :D

[Mike Hollis]

What about using QWSO for the doors/panels? Might make it easier to match up to the red oak carcasses?

[Rod Sheridan]

What about using QWSO for the doors/panels? Might make it easier to match up to the red oak carcasses?

It will also be an excellent choice for A&C style doors.............Rod.

[scott vroom]

We're just finishing a kitchen remodel for which we built shaker style cabinets. All rails/stiles/door panels/drawer fronts are solid rift sawn white oak.

Rails and stiles we used MLCS Katana bit set #18837, characterized by the beveled reveal. Rails are 2-7/8, stiles 2-3/8 wide, rail/stile reveal 5/16". http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/katana_bits1.htm

Door panels are solid rift sawn white oak (good stability) milled to 9/16 thick and profiled with the raised portion of the panel facing the cabinet interior, using this Lee Valley bit: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=45095&cat=1,46168,46168,69435,46178&ap=1 I pay $5/bf for 4/4 RSWO compared with $125 for a 4x8 sheet of 1/2" RSWO plywood.....minor cost differential and, IMO, solid panels are more visually appealing than plywood and have fewer finishing problems.

Drawer fronts are solid RSWO slabs with slightly eased edges.

I'll post a few pics later.

[Julie Moriarty]

Well, I bought the mahogany for the rails & stiles and 1/4" A4 rift sawn red oak plywood for the panels. The only A1 panels they had were MDF cored.

The largest panel will be about 18" wide by 20" high. I have (3) 24" wide doors and I'm splitting each into (2) 12" wide doors but splitting anything less than 24" wide just wouldn't look right. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed the largest panels won't give when pressure is applied to the center. I think it will look great but I'm just not a fan of plywood panels.

[Jim O'Dell]

OK Scott, where are those pictures??? I'd love to see them. Jim.


We're just finishing a kitchen remodel for which we built shaker style cabinets. All rails/stiles/door panels/drawer fronts are solid rift sawn white oak.

Rails and stiles we used MLCS Katana bit set #18837, characterized by the beveled reveal. Rails are 2-7/8, stiles 2-3/8 wide, rail/stile reveal 5/16". http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/katana_bits1.htm

Door panels are solid rift sawn white oak (good stability) milled to 9/16 thick and profiled with the raised portion of the panel facing the cabinet interior, using this Lee Valley bit: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=45095&cat=1,46168,46168,69435,46178&ap=1 I pay $5/bf for 4/4 RSWO compared with $125 for a 4x8 sheet of 1/2" RSWO plywood.....minor cost differential and, IMO, solid panels are more visually appealing than plywood and have fewer finishing problems.

Drawer fronts are solid RSWO slabs with slightly eased edges.

I'll post a few pics later.