Advice for Frame and Panel Kitchen Cabinet Doors

[Andy Sowers]

Hi all

I'm relatively new woodworker who has been lurking here for several years. In the past, I've completed small-to-medium furniture pieces as I build up my woodworking tool collection. SMC is a great resource, thanks to everyone for that.

I'm about to embark upon my biggest project yet...our kitchen (fortunately its pretty small). But before I take that on, I plan on remodeling two small bathrooms first in order to work out any kinks.

One of the biggest challenges I seek some advice on is the frame and panel cabinet doors. I'm worried about possible warpage over time. Specifically, for those of you who do this for a living, do you generally use riftsawn or quartersawn stock for the rails/stiles or do you just rip these from wider flatsawn boards which happen to have grain which is almost rift? My wife hasn't settled yet on the wood species but its most likey going to be either hard maple or cherry... neither of these species have I been able to find locally here in riftsawn or quarter-sawn (maybe this answers the question?)

Finally, are there any recommendations for good book references for pulling off this kitchen remodel. I'm not looking to do this professionally, I just want to make sure that I don't screw anything up.

Thanks

Andy

[Mike Hoyt]

Hi Andy, I just completed a bunch of maple doors for a kitchen refacing project and I had no problem using flat sawn maple. they have remained very flat. Of the 16 doors i did, only two of them had a tiny bit of twist which did not affect the install as I used concealed hinges which had plenty of adjustment built into them to correct the irregularity in those two doors. That being said maple can be prone to movement but you can reduce the chance of that with well dried and acclimated lumber. As far as cherry goes I have only seen that in flatsawn as well. I love cherry and would highly recomend it for a kitchen redo. Hope this helps!
Mike

[J.R. Rutter]

I own a cabinet door shop. We do try to use QS or rift grain for rails and stiles, especially unusually long stiles. But we have found that how a board reacts to sawing is a better indicator of whether or not it will stay flat. You can flatten a bowed, warped, or twisted board, but these are more likely to react to moisture changes later. Start with flat stock and you should be OK. Chop down pieces that take off due to internal stress when ripped. Good luck!

[Peter Quinn]

I work in a cabinet/millwork shop making doors (passage, entry,cabinet). I try to use rift saw material when possible for stiles, less of a concern for rails which are typically much shorter and whose movement is less problematic. Also, I find the look of vertical grain material for styles to be as important as stability. Where two doors meet it is often easier and more pleasing to use vertical grain material then to color and grain match flat sawn material. It makes a less 'busy' look to my eye.

In species where quarter sawn material is not readily available I look for material three times the width of my rough width for stiles and rails (cabinet doors only here). For example a typical stile in my shop is 2 1/2" flat to flat, 3/8" profile, for a total of 2 7/8", add 1/2" for rough width before flattening for 3 3/8". I look for flat sawn material in this case in the 10"-12" width range depending on how straight the best edge is. Split in three such boards will typically make two stiles from the outside cuts and two rails from the center rip. The stiles are mostly rift sawn, the rails are flat sawn. Further, I tend to make doors which occur in sequence from a single long board when possible, or several well matched boards.

I second J.R.'s comments about a boards stability when ripping. If a board goes smooth when ripping it stands a chance at stability. If a board reacts radically when split in three, it probably won't act much better when hanging in the air from two small hinges. Buy extra stock and weed out the squirlley stuff for secondary wood or blocking.

[Chris McDowell]

I"ll third what J.R. and Peter said. There is no substitute for good stock in door making.

[Andy Sowers]

Thanks all, sounds like very good advice! I'll do just that.

Andy