How to make a curved door?

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I would like to make some curved doors for a bathroom vanity project, but I'm not sure how to do this. They are just simple curved doors as shown below. I am thinking of the possibility of adding a figured veneer to the face also.

Any suggestions? I do not own a vaccuum veneer system.

-Jeffhttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/MyVanity600x450.jpg

[Tom Jones III]

One of the taunton books on either joinery or cabinet making techniques has an article on coopered doors (like a barrel). For somthing different you could use 1/4" or 1/8" plywood and laminate up several pieces gluing it into a bending form.

[Ray Moser]

You might want to check out page 32 of the October '06 issue of Wood Magazine. It has an article on kerfing plywood. That would seem to be one way to get your curved doors.

[Lars Thomas]

Jeff, Assuming you want a solid wood door . . .I would glue up the door in staves (I believe that is what they are called), with each piece cut at 6 degrees give of take. For the glue up, you can either biscuit the pieces together or use a form. If you take the biscuit route, be sure to cut the slots toward the inside of the door. Mark the profile of the door on the end grain (both ends). Go to town with a hand-plane. I would just leave the inside of the door faceted. Lars

[Jim Becker]

Coopering or kerfed/capped followed by veneer would both be good choices.

[tod evans]

jeff, coopering is one way to build a door in this style......but coopered doors move in strange ways. any good lumberyard should stock bending plywood, i keep 1/8 and 1/4 on hand so i`m not at their mercy when i need it. if you opt for bending ply you`ll need to use solid edges applied before veneering the face.....this would be the perfect time to justify a vacuum set-up;) if not the ply glues well onto a form using old intertubes to apply pressure and veneer has been hammered for years. the other solution is a curved raised panel door?.....the styles will help keep a coopered panel in line.....02 tod

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I'm assuming a coopered door is the same as a staved door? If so, would this construction be stable from seasonal changes or the high humidity environment of a bathroom?

I have kerf-cut plywood before to bend around a curved carcass. But the carcass held the shape of the kerfed panel and the kerf cuts were not visible. How would this work for a free hanging door?

Questions, questions, questions...
-Jeff

[Tom Jones III]

coopered == staved It would be as stable as any other solid panel of the same size however the direction of the movement would be a little different. I would think that you could also make a raised panel door where the panel is coopered.

I've bent 1/4" ply that had a walnut veneer over luan without kerfs. I laminated enough to make either 5/8" or 3/4" thick, glued it with yellow glue and set it in a form. When it dried it held the shape and has been like that for several years.

[John Fry]

Kerfed ply, bent lamination, or coopered solid wood, are all the good methods.

Here is a link to my website where I have "sort of" a project tutorial of a coopered front, bathroom vanity I did a couple of years ago.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/yoda/yoda_cabinet.htm

I'm currently doing a bent lam door set, I'll put up pix if you want.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Depending on the size of the door you could cooper it as many have said or you can use thin layers of wood cold molded on a form glued in place.

You can lay up an entire curved door making it solid and as thick as you like or a box with a core just like a torsion box (only in a curve).

Epoxy would help you make a weatherproof door.
Hide would help you make a delamination proof door.

[Mark Singer]

I made the following cabinet on SMC tutorial using a coopered technique....it has been very stable

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=14547&highlight=coopered

[Daniel Simon]

Italian bending plywood would be my choice.