substrate for veneered cabinet doors

[Erik Christensen]

I am building some cabinet doors that will have a shaker style flat center panel. I do not have a local source for 1/4" A1 plain sawed cherry plywood so I ordered some nice curly cherry veneer and plan to make the panels myself. The question is what to use as a substrate - apparently 1/4" MDF sheets are also not something available locally. What the local BORG does have is 3/16" hardboard. Anyone with any experience/knowledge of the suitability of using hardboard as a veneer substrate and/or as a door panel I would like to hear about it.

thanks

[Jeff Duncan]

1/4" mdf is about as common as anything, I recommend making a few more phone calls as I pretty much guarantee you can find it in your general area. Oh and do yourself a favor and skip the Borg stores and find a sheet goods supplier that sells quality products....make your life and your work much more enjoyable;)

JeffD

[Jamie Buxton]

If by Borg, you mean Lowes/HomeDepot/Menards, they should all have quarter inch plywood of some species. It will work as a veneer substrate.

[Peter Quinn]

I wouldn't use 1/4" finished thickness, I'd shoot for 3/8", wrap the edges of the substrate in solid cherry, do a back cut, veneer the whole thing. Gives a far more substantial feel to the doors for just a bit of additional work and wood. 1/4" panels feel cheep , but once you have veneered them in cherry they won't be, so I figure make them more solid. I use large cove cutter and run the cove to the back on flat panels. As to where to get it... I simply can't believe they don't sell MDf in every thickness imaginable in San Diego, so find out where cabinet shops get there goods, skip the Borg.

[Erik Christensen]

guys - thanks for all your replies - have yet to hear of anyone who has used hardboard as a veneer substrate - seems like it is not that different than MDF for this use other than the surface finish but I have not had any issues with yellow glue and hardboard before although my experience is limited

Jamie - I had considered plywood, even BB, but for what this veneer costs I want a perfectly flat substrate and despite carefull sanding that leaves out even the best of plys

Peter - yah I have concerns over the lightweight panel making the doors feel flimsy/cheap. They won't be with 2" solid cherry rails/styles and a glued center panel but would lack the 'heft' of my previous set of doors with 1/2" panels that were backcut to be flush on the interior. I decided to try something different on this set as the 1/2" ply backcut dado does show on the interior of the panel and getting an even gap on all 4 edges during glueup was an unsuccessful PITA. Plus my normal hardwood supplier does not have 1/2" cherry in A1 plain sawed - hence this detour. I like the idea of a heavier panel with backcut but with my tooling doing that right would be a ton of extra effort - joint/plane/rip edge band stock, glue 2 opposite sides, trim, glue final 2 sides, trim again, rout edge band flush with surface - all 4 edges both sides, veneer, trim to final dimension then backcut. That vs veneer & trim to final dimension. Were this a solo project under no schedule pressure I might attempt it but I am afraid I am going to have to settle for quick this time around - I am in the midst of a full house remodel and have months of work stacked up.

FYI - this is for 8 doors on 3 bathroom vanities but is also a test run for the next task which doing the dame for an entire set of kitchen cabinets. I may try to find somebody locally who has 4x8 sheets of 1/4" MDF - the only thing locally i can find is 2x4 sections that are several times the price of an equivalent full sheet.

[J.R. Rutter]

I would skip the edge wrapping and back cut and just cut some rabbets on the table saw to leave < 1/16" gap visible around the back. That way you don't have to be perfect on panel size and no one will ever notice that it isn't solid wood down in that gap. 3/8" thick substrate would work fine for this. For just a few doors, I don't even bother with a dado blade, just run a kerf around the edges from the back, then run the face against the table saw fence with the blade raised a bit to finish them.

As for finding 1/4" mdf, you could try calling a couple of cabinet shops. I've ordered stuff like this for local people for a small markup. Offer them cash...

[Darren Duchi]

I would look into pro-core plywood. Actually has 2 layers of hardboard with Doug fir in between it all. Not cheap but high quality. I think it is made by TP or Timber Products.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Erik, to answer your question directly, I have veneered to hardboard, but I preface my remarks with the disclaimer that veneering is not my gig. I've only done it twice on a borrowed veneer press. I used maple veneer on both sides of 1/4" hardboard. The veneer bonded very well and smoothly but my inexperience showed through when I had to butt two pieces together. They didn't hold and there is a gap. I don't know if part of the problem can be attrbuted the smoothness of the substrate or if the entire failure is on me.

[Jerry Miner]

I do not have a local source for 1/4" A1 plain sawed cherry plywood. 1/4" MDF sheets are also not something available locally.

If you are in the San Diego area (as your profile suggests) you can Google "hardwood lumber San Diego" and find suppliers of both hardwood ply and mdf. I'm sure all the local cabinet shops are able to find these products. Stop looking in Home Depot and try a REAL lumber store!