WOODWEB - The Information Resource for the Woodworking Industry WOODWEB - The Information Resource for the Woodworking Industry

Whether to Caulk Painted Cabinet Doors
Materials choices, assembly methods, and finishing techniques all affect whether a door looks seamless, or not. May 15, 2014

Inset Cabinet Door Clearance
Three thirty-seconds of an inch ought to be about right... March 6, 2006

Espace libre pour porte d'armoire encastrée
Trois trente secondes de pouce devraient être à peu près correctes... 6 mars 2006

Cope and Stick Joinery with a Router
Tips on door construction using a router table and sled, and an extended discussion about outsourcing doors versus building them in house. June 28, 2007

Fine-Tuning Cutting and Sanding Operations for Inset Doors
Here's an extended discussion on how to tool up for accurate cutting of inset doors, with minimal need to sand the edges. May 26, 2011

Five-piece doors on CNC
Doing raised-panel work on a CNC router. November 26, 2001

Door Sanding Quality Issues
Here's advice on setting quality standards for cabinet door final sanding, and meeting the goals in a competitive market. April 2, 2013

Should I Specialize in Door Production?
These days, the cabinet door industry is highly competitive and has low margins. Here's a discussion of the realities of starting a door-making business. March 25, 2007


Machining raised panels
Addressing workpiece movement and tear-out problems. April 9, 2003

Fence Adjustment Issues with Cope and Stick Cutting
A discussion of jigs and methods that make cope-and-stick setup efficient and simple. September 27, 2009

Order of Operations for Cope and Stick Machining
Cabinetmakers discuss the details of routing operations for cope-and-stick joinery. December 9, 2013

Rough P-Lam Edges, Specs, and AWI Standards
A bad case of chip-out on some laminated door edges leads to an informative discussion of AWI standards and quality specifications, along with some good guesses about what caused the unacceptable chip-out. November 23, 2012

Mitered Versus Cope and Stick Door Joinery
A customer's red herring about "strength" of mitered versus square door joinery leads to a discussion of the pros and cons of different door construction joints from the cabinetmaker's point of view.June 7, 2011

Gluing door veneer
Systems for gluing hardwood veneer to stave-core stile and rail doors. Illustrated.. February 6, 2002

Shaper Choice and Setup for Making Raised-Panel Doors
Advice on choosing and setting up a shaper for making raised-panel doors in the shop. December 9, 2008

MDF Door Quality Debate
MDF has its critics and its defenders. Here's a worthwhile discussion of the pros and cons of MDF as a door-building material. December 28, 2014

Making Raised Panels Flat
Advice on how to joint, plane, and glue up the pieces to achieve a flat door panel. August 31, 2009

Equipment Choices for Door Fabrication
What kind of shop equipment will speed up door production, for a reasonable cost? November 13, 2009

AWI Quality Standards and Balanced Lamination
Here's a long discussion of good practice for making laminate cabinet doors, and what the Architectural Woodworking Institute's quality certification standards require. September 27, 2008

Order of Operations in Solid Wood Panel Assembly
Is it better to dress lumber before gluing up wood panels, or glue up first and then sand the whole panel? People do it both ways; here, they discuss why. December 6, 2006

Troubleshooting Cut Quality on Door Profiles
A cabinetmaker's knives are wearing out too quickly. The discussion leads into various aspects of door profile machining. September 17, 2008

Adjustable Hinge Wear and Tear and Maintenance
Cabinetmakers discuss the long-term performance of adjustable hinges, with tips on hardware choice, installation, and maintenance. February 13, 2009

Flat Panel Cabinet Doors
Using solid wood or veneered MDF for panels. April 18, 2004

Direct Drive Shaper Motors
A woodworker gathers information for designing a custom-made shaper for finish machining of door edges. August 30, 2010

Shaper Choices for Door Construction
Cabinetmakers discuss equipment selection and machining techniques for making raised-panel cope-and-stick doors. May 22, 2006

Quality Control for Square Doors
There's a lot involved in getting five-part cabinet doors to come out really square. October 9, 2006

Fitting Inset Doors to Face Frames
Pros discuss the efficiency and accuracy of various approaches to measuring, marking, cutting, and installing inset cabinet doors. January 21, 2007

Stile and Rail Sizes for Doors and Drawer Faces
A thoughtful discussion on whether and how to vary the stile and rail proportions when designing and detailing cabinets with larger doors and smaller drawer faces. July 13, 2010

Stile and Panel Material Size Optimizing in a Production Door Shop
Advice on material optimizing in production cabinet door manufacturing. May 12, 2013

Inset Cabinet Door Fitting and Tolerances
Here's a discussion about the process and quality control measures cabinetmakers employ when fitting inset cabinet doors. October 27, 2011

Fabricating Copper-Faced Cabinet Doors
Here's an in-depth discussion of materials and techniques for making doors with metal skins. December 8, 2010

Router Versus Shaper for Cabinet Doors
Stick with the router, or step up to a shaper? A pro can make good door parts with either tool. April 30, 2009

Omitting the Center Rail from a Tall Cabinet Door
A cabinetmaker considers the risks and alternatives after a designer asks him to build tall cabinet doors without center rails. February 1, 2015

Applied Mouldings on Cabinet Doors
Tips on how to achieve production-shop speed and custom-shop quality when applying mouldings to frame-and-panel cabinet doors. September 23, 2006

Arched raised panel doors
Using jigs to make arched raised panel doors. September 25, 2002

Fabricating Pyramid-Shaped Raised Panels
Advice and thoughts on how to machine a raised door panel that looks like a very low pitched hip roof. November 5, 2013

Cracking at Door Panel Corners
Cabinetmakers trace the source of a cracking problem in raised-panel doors. January 25, 2010

Finger Jointed Stave Cores for Cabinet Doors?
Man doors with 1/4-inch sawn face veneers and finger-jointed stave cores are a good product. Would the same concept work for a wood cabinet door? Discussion ensues. July 30, 2009

Should Raised Panels be Proud of the Door Frame?
The evolution of shop equipment has changed what is usual, but that doesn't make the new way standard. July 25, 2010

Addressing Cupping in Solid Wood Cabinet Doors
A veneer technique would be better. But is there a way to get wide solid wood doors to stay flat? February 17, 2011

Solid-Edged or Edge-Banded Veneer Doors
Thoughts on equipment and techniques for making veneered MDF-core doors. September 23, 2006

Wood Color Variation Defect in Out-Sourced Doors
Cabinetmakers discuss door quality issues related to wood selection in panel stock glue-ups. April 30, 2009

Machinery for Sanding Wood Veneer Doors
Drum sanders aren't precise enough for finish sanding veneer — instead, choose a high-quality random orbit sander. April 20, 2007

Optimizing Cut Quality on a Door-Making Shaper
With a specialized machine designed for profiling door parts, it can be tricky to adjust RPMs and feed rates for a good, clean cut. July 11, 2007

Equipment for Fine-Tuning the Fit of Inset Doors
Cabinetmakers talk about equipment choices for refining the edges of inset doors for a perfect fit. April 6, 2011

Minimizing Tell-Tale Un-Stained Lines around Door Panels
Seasonal wood shrinkage often leaves a noticeable unstained margin showing around the edge of a door panel. Here are thoughts on how to minimize the occurrence. March 26, 2009

Avoiding Tear-Out in Arched-Top Cope-and-Stick Door Machining
Advice on the fine points of clean joinery for arched-top cope-and-stick cabinet doors. August 31, 2009

Efficient Door Construction
Building solid-wood cabinet doors takes time. In this thread, cabinetmakers share ideas for speeding up the process. July 6, 2005

Steps for processing cabinets
Cabinetmakers share the methods they use for processing doors and cabinet parts. July 3, 2001

Troubleshooting Sanding Swirl Marks on Five-Piece Doors
A door manufacturing shop gets advice on methods to eliminate swirl marks without laborious hand sanding. February 11, 2010

Sanding and Squaring Raised Panel Doors
It's typical to build raised-panel doors a hair over-size so that they can be squared up accurately as a final step. In this thread, cabinetmakers describe the various ways they go about it. April 18, 2011

Sanding Cabinet Doors Efficiently
Final sanding on cabinet doors can hold back productivity. Here, shop owners discuss means and methods for sanding door faces and profiles in a production environment. October 22, 2005

Outsourced Door Tolerances
Fine accuracy is achievable if a producer cares to put in the effort. September 8, 2007

Stick Profiles and Out-Feed Fences
Setting up the shaper to cut the stick pieces for cope and-stick doors. May 14, 2006

Sanding Door Edges
The group agrees that a spindle sander is a bad idea for sanding door edges; instead, here are tips on edge sanders. February 16, 2012

Milling Raised Door Panels
Should you run the pieces face up, or face down, asks a cabinetmaker? Opinions, and the reasons for them, vary. October 30, 2005

Should Cabinet Door Glass Be Tempered?
A discussion of why tempered glass is preferable in some situations, and some information about tempering and about costs. September 27, 2009

Troubleshooting Wood Movement with Outsourced Cabinet Doors
ztp Cabinetmakers advise a colleague on how to figure out what happened to a set of Maple cabinet doors — and how to manage the resulting situation. November 8, 2007

Mitered Corner Doors: Fabricate or Outsource?
Outsourcing is highly practical, but for small quantities, here are some ideas on in-shop construction. January 20, 2007

Spacer Balls for Raised-Panel Doors
A discussion of space-ball sizes, types, and purposes, along with some suggested tips and techniques. December 30, 2005

Design of Shaker-Style Panel Doors
If the face is flat but the edge is narrower than the rest of the door panel, where does the raise go? March 25, 2007

Door Finishing and Wood Movement
Thoughts on how to prevent bare wood from being exposed when door panels and frames shrink during dry seasons. November 13, 2009

Weaver Door Shaper System
A small cabinetmaker shops for a door production setup. June 17, 2013

Cabinet Door Production Rates
How many cabinet doors should a shop produce per man-hour? Depends on the set-up — advanced technology can really boost your output. July 22, 2005

Widebelt Sanding Schedule -- for Doors
Grits and removal sequences for a smooth surface. February 28, 2004

Quality of Outsourced Doors
Cabinetmakers share experiences with outsourced door quality after hearing about a shipment of doors that arrived with sanding defects. May 27, 2014

Raised-Panel Door Machine Choices
Thoughts on machinery for making door panels. May 20, 2009

Climb-Cutting for Stiles and Rails
Cabinetmakers suggest equipment and techniques for creating sharp-edged grooves with minimal tearout. May 22, 2006

Rip Widths for Raised Panel Glue-Up
A discussion of esthetic and practical aspects of ripping lumber for gluing up into cabinet door panels. November 8, 2008

Cutting Miters Precisely
Equipment and methods that help produce a better miter cut. November 15, 2011

Rare Earth Magnets as Inset Door Catches
Tips on using magnets as hidden door catches. October 27, 2009

Setting Up a Shaper for Door Parts
Advice on fences, cutters, and more for door production with a shaper. December 19, 2009

Tambour Doors for a Media Cabinet
A few thoughts on the quality issues with tambour doors, and some nice pictures of a related router jig setup. November 23, 2012

Making Door Muntins and Mullions
The complex joinery for window frames in cabinet doors can really slow the job down. Here's how some cabinetmakers approach the task. May 7, 2007

Laying Up Radius-Curve Door Panels
Cabinetmakers describe ripping, joining, and planing techniques for building barrel-stave curved door fronts. September 7, 2006

Using a Router Table for Cope and Stick Joinery
Here's a nice example of a shop-built sliding table for a router, set up to machine complex door parts on a budget, with a reasonable degree of accuracy and efficiency. June 18, 2009

Order of Operations for Making Door Stiles
When making rails and stiles for cope-and-stick doors, do you shape the ends or the long sides of the pieces first? Cabinetmakers have different ways, and for different reasons. February 9, 2006

Options for Carving on Cabinet Doors
A cabinetmaker looks for practical ways to make bas-relief carvings on wood cabinet door faces. September 23, 2006

Wood Movement: How Big a Risk?
In principle, solid wood joinery that does not allow for wood movement is a recipe for disaster. In practice, sometimes you get away with it. June 18, 2009

Door Clamping Jigs and Tricks
Shop-rigged methods for fast clamping given a limited equipment budget. June 23, 2014

Sizing Cabinet Doors to Tolerances
Layout tips for a beginner, plus advice on final sizing after assembly. October 20, 2013

Solid Wood V-Groove Cabinet Doors
Cabinetmakers consider how to address moisture-related wood movement in cabinet doors made with solid wood slats. January 13, 2009

Sunken Joints at the Glue Seam
Here's a good explanation of why glue seams in cabinet doors may appear visibly depressed. April 29, 2013

Flat Slab Cabinet Doors
Given the concern over quality of sheet goods, what's a practical way to make large, flat cabinet doors? Here's a handful of suggestions. September 7, 2006

Cabinet Door Clamping Options
From shop-built jigs to specialty clamps to clamping tables, there's a range of solutions for clamping doors when gluing up. March 25, 2007

Choosing Hinges
Press in, dowel, or Inserta? Speed and convenience are factors in the decision. April 16, 2009

Edge-Banding Issues with Laminated Doors
Minor thickness variations in shop-laid laminate doors cause the edgebander to scuff the laminate. What's the fix? May 10, 2005

MDF Doors: One-Piece Versus Two-Piece
This discussion about fabricating MDF doors includes a closer look at why MDF warps, and about the difference between premium and commodity-grade material. July 13, 2010

Shaper Set Up for Door Stiles
Cabinetmaker shows off his easily adjustable setup for quick machining of cope-and-stick door parts. August 29, 2006

Warping Plywood Cabinet Doors
Cabinetmakers agree that plywood is not suitable for making doors because of its tendency to warp. For flatness and stability, MDF-core material is a better choice. May 13, 2008

Router Overworking on Raised-Panel Door Work
Why is a router struggling on door panels? Probably because it's the wrong tool for the job. October 2, 2010

Tooling Up for Door Production
A discussion of the ideal machinery setup for efficient production of cabinet doors on a regular basis. February 26, 2007

Lumber Core Raised Panels
Considerations involved in fabricating raised-panel cabinet doors using veneer applied to lumber-core plywood. March 20, 2006

Setting Glass into Flush Panel Doors
Attachment options for setting small pieces of glass into cabinet doors. May 24, 2010

Joinery for True Divided Light Doors
Woodworkers discuss the best way to attach muntins to door stiles and rails for true divided light cabinet door construction. June 2, 2009

Frameless Cabinet Door Dimensions and Tolerances
Of cabinet door gaps, wiggle room, millimeters, and math. June 28, 2007

Troubleshooting Twist in Cabinet Doors
Here's advice on building cabinet doors to minimize twisting caused by wood moisture content changes. January 26, 2009

Warp-Free Hardwood Doors
How do you keep large doors flat? Cabinetmakers discuss materials, construction methods, and finishing. July 21, 2005

Refinishing Failed Thermofoil Doors
Is there a reliable way to strip and paint RTF doors that are delaminating badly, or is it wiser just to buy new MDF doors and start from scratch? May 12, 2013

Three-Sided Shapers Versus Multiple Machines
For making doors, what's better: an expensive dedicated machine that cuts all the profiles, or a setup using multiple basic shapers? February 2, 2011

Using a Widebelt Sander
Cabinetmakers explain the advantages of widebelt sanders, and explain how and why they hand-sand with the random orbital sander after belt-sanding. July 5, 2006

Creating a Hand-Hewn Look on Cabinet Doors
Depending on exactly what you want, there are several ways to get a scooped-out, scalloped, rippled look on a wood surface. October 11, 2007

Ultra-Light MDF for Cabinetmaking
Cabinetmakers are succeeding with ultra-light MDF. Here's more info. February 19, 2013

Wood Versus MDF for Painted Cabinet Doors
MDF doors avoid the moisture-related movement and paint cracking issues of solid wood. March 26, 2009

Narrow Spice Rack Door Ideas
Cabinetmakers kick around ideas for detailing the door on a five-inch-wide pullout spice rack. January 11, 2008

MDF Raised Panel Doors
MDF works well for five-piece cope-and-stick raised-panel doors. Here, craftsmen contribute advice and tips. August 29, 2005

Troubleshooting Warped Cabinet Doors
but how do you prevent it? Craftsmen provide some answers. June 12, 2005

Making Beadboard Door Panels for One Job
Suggestions for how to make a small amount of beadboard for a custom cabinet door project. May 6, 2010

Mission Style Glass Panel Router Bit
Glass panel doors require a special cut on the frame stiles and rails, which calls for a custom-made router bit. March 3, 2009

Are Dowels Necessary in Cabinet Door Joints?
Dowels add strength to a cope-and-stick joint, but it's typically overkill. May 27, 2014

Fastener Choice for Applied Mouldings
It comes down to a choice: V-nails from the back side, or 23mm micro-pins from the front. August 15, 2011

Dimensioning Door Tenons and Space Balls
For raised panel doors, tenon size, mortise depth and space ball size are a small but tricky detail. September 21, 2005

1/16" Versus 1/8" Cabinet Door Reveals
Careful hinge choices will help prevent doors from interfering with each other, but if they're too close, you might still have trouble. December 27, 2010

Door Company Accuracy
Cabinet door suppliers only promise accuracy within 1/16 inch — but in reality they usually do better than that. January 26, 2008

Outsourced Cabinet Door Squareness and Size Tolerances & sizing
Should you have to trim outsourced cab doors to make them square and right-sized? January 28, 2009

Door Panel Glue-Up Workflow
Does anyone lay up door panels in long lengths and then cut down the blanks into multiple doors? October 26, 2013

Drawer Front and Door Suppliers
Cabinetmaker gets suggestions on economical sources for drawer fronts and cabinet doors. June 17, 2005

Maple and MDF for Raised Panel Doors
After considering the advantages of stability and uniformity, a cabinetmaker opts for MDF raised panels — and he's glad he did.December 2, 2011

Quality Control for Five-Piece Doors
Basic information on achieving acceptable dimensional tolerances and fit when making cope and stick raised-panel doors. January 2, 2014

TV Concealment Door Ideas
Design concepts and hardware suggestions for a moving door to cover a large TV in a built-in wall cabinet. December 27, 2010

Curing Time for Glued Door Joints
If you plane or sand door panels too soon after gluing, you might experience various defects. September 15, 2011

Raised Panel Doors - Sanding and Knife Marks
Advice on sanding and finishing issues related to moulder knife marks in raised panel door profiles. September 18, 2014

Shopping for Panel Clamps
Several different suppliers offer clamp systems that hold boards in a flat alignment while applying pressure for the edge glue joints. August 31, 2010

Moisture-Related Door Expansion
It's not surprising for doors to "grow" when humidity increases. This thread offers some insights into the problem. January 26, 2009

Sanding Shaker Door Edges
Cabinetmakers describe how they manage to get square door edges sanded while maintaining a consistent size. June 16, 2014

Making Tambour Doors
Tambour door construction basics. December 28, 2005

Applying Wood Edging to a Laminate Panel
A movement-free joint, a flush surface, and a stable finish are the technical challenges. Are they surmountable? May 12, 2013

Mill Marks on Cabinet Doors
A cabinetmaker gets help identifying a production defect in doors he bought from another shop. November 29, 2014

Edge Treatment for MDF
Is it better to edgeband MDF cabinet doors, sand and paint them, or what? June 9, 2012

Doors that Stay Open or Closed
Working with gravity to make cabinet doors lay back and be still. November 13, 2009

Speaker Cloth in Cabinet Doors
Ways to attach speaker cloth in place of a floating wood panel in entertainment center doors so that infrared remote control devices will work through the door. August 14, 2009

Cleaning Silicone from Frames
Tips on removing silicone used to set glass in a wood cabinet door, when changing the glass. March 25, 2007

Hinges for Inset Doors in Deep Openings
Working on a hinge problem for recessed doors. May 6, 2010

Fabricating Tambour
You can patch, or even make, tambour — if you know how. Cabinetmakers share the secrets in this thread. July 9, 2005

Attractive Ways to Set Glass in Cabinet Doors
Tips on glazing cabinet doors for a neat, professional, stylish look. May 6, 2010

Tear-out on raised panel corners
Eliminating corner tear-out on raised panel cabinet doors when using CNC equipment. November 7, 2000

Kerfed Slab Doors
A cabinetmaker gets advice on an uncommon customer request: slab doors with kerfs on 3-inch centers.. May 15, 2012

Raw Wood Showing at Panel Edges
Advice on preventing tell-tale raw wood from showing when door panels shrink over the dry season. December 28, 2014

Whether to Lay Up Your Own Veneered MDF
Pre-veneered panels are more economical, but there may be reasons for preferring a custom product. April 20, 2007

Right-Sizing Pocket Doors for an Entertainment Center
When ordering pocket doors from an outside shop, making a mockup out of scrap before ordering the real thing can eliminate the uncertainty. December 27, 2008

Substrate for Laminating Cabinet Doors
Plywood cores are not recommended for laminate cabinet doors (MDF, particleboard, or plywood-core MDF are better). July 26, 2010

Setting Glass into Cabinet Doors
Silicone, splines, wood stops, or glazier's points and putty? Each has its pros and cons. August 8, 2008

Lift-Up Pocket Doors for Appliance Garages
A discussion of how to design and make a cabinet door that lifts up and slides back into the cabinet like a garage door.November 5, 2013

Troubleshooting Bowed Hollow-Core Doors
A set of custom door panels made with plywood glued over honeycomb came out with a half-inch hump. What could have gone wrong? March 1, 2006

Keeping solid doors flat
Techniques for preventing warpage of solid wood cabinet doors. June 14, 2000

Dimensions for Glass-Paneled Cabinet Doors
A discussion of glass door design for structural strength and good looks. August 17, 2009

Tempered Glass for Cabinet Doors?
Safety glass is typical for commercial cabinetry. Residential, not so much. April 29, 2012

Door Ideas for Wide-Screen TV Cabinets
Examples of bi-fold and tri-fold doors give an idea of looks that work. December 14, 2009

Reinforcing Cope-and-Stick Joinery
Do cope-and-stick door joints require reinforcement from dowels or tenons? September 15, 2011

Shaper Jigs for Small Door Panels
Cabinetmakers describe ways to hold and guide small panels through the shaper. October 13, 2008

Cabinet Doors Twisting in the Clamp
A cabinetmaker tries to understand why door parts twist out of alignment during the assembly process. January 11, 2008

Securing Glass in True Divided-Light Doors
Tips on how to attach glass into mulled door frames. August 15, 2006

Door stiles bow after assembly
Possible causes and solutions for door stiles that bow after the door is assembled. September 26, 2000

MDF Selection for Veneered Cabinet Doors
A little basic info about medium density fiberboard. October 26, 2011

Warpage in maple door panels
Despite a careful glue-up, a woodworker gets warpage in door panels. June 14, 2000

Mitered Doors in a Production Shop
Quick tips on the top issues involved in making mitered raised-panel doors in volume. October 2, 2007

Machining Arched Top Rails for Doors
Advice on shaper techniques for curved top rails, in order to avoid breaking the pointed tip of the sharp corners. November 23, 2012

Whether to Bevel the Edge of Cabinet Doors
When would it be wise to taper the back side of a cabinet door to permit closing and opening without binding? June 12, 2014

Allowing for Panel Movement when Finishing Doors
If you assemble five-piece doors before finishing, seasonal drying shrinkage can expose unfinished wood. Here's how some finishers address the issue. March 26, 2007

Jigless routing of MDF panels
Finding a low-cost method for making raised-panel doors out of MDF. January 3, 2001

Waste Factor in Doormaking
You gotta make sawdust to make cabinets. But how much sawdust? Here are some views on the ballpark numbers. February 12, 2009

Strong Joints for Mitered Doors
Cabinetmakers discuss corrugated miter fasteners, through splines, pocket screws, dovetail bowties, and other ways to strengthen miter joints. November 20, 2005

Machining Convex Raised Panels
Woodworkers describe a curved shaper jig for machining the edges of a concave panel. July 11, 2007

Applied mouldings on raised-panel doors
Ideas for applying mouldings to raised panel doors without affecting panel movement. September 26, 2000

Cabinet Doors for Coastal Climates
How do you make a cabinet door that will stay stable through wide seasonal humidity changes? August 19, 2008

Setting Glass in Laminate or Melamine Doors
Cabinetmakers describe how they insert glass into laminate and melamine cabinet doors. December 2, 2011

In search of flat doors
Even slightly inaccurate machining can produce frame-and-panel doors which are less than flat. June 6, 2001

Attaching a Mirror to a Plastic Laminate Door
Suggestions for adhesives and construction when mounting a mirror on a p-lam cabinet door. August 29, 2014

Rattan Door Panels
Advice on fastening rattan into cabinet doors. December 11, 2012

Warping in a Large Laminated-MDF Door
Waterbased glue caused this MDF layup to warp in service. March 4, 2009

Minimum Clamping Time for Doors
How long should you keep doors in the clamps? May 15, 2012

Square Corners for a Let-In Door Panel Rout
Ideas for squaring a door-back rabbet with less chiseling labor. June 18, 2005

Hand-Planing Wood-Veneer Doors
How thick should the veneer be for hand-planed reproduction slab doors made with veneer over a wood-composite core? January 20, 2007

Raised Panel Door Glue-Ups: Rip First or Not?
For an 18-inch-wide door panel, is it worth ripping 10-inch-wide Mahogany down to narrower widths before gluing up, or not? July 29, 2012

Finger-Joint Miter Joinery
Thoughts on a finicky joinery detail. February 27, 2015

Lightweight Door Core Options
Suggestions for core material for lightweight veneered cabinet doors. July 28, 2006

Installing Fabric into Speaker Doors
Cabinetmakers suggest ways to fasten the cloth into doors on a cabinet that will house speakers. November 23, 2012

Shaping the Top Rails for Half-Arch-Top Shaker Panel Doors
Tips on laying out and fabricating a tricky door part. March 25, 2008

Constructing a Large Inset Cabinet Door
An oversize plywood slab is likely to warp, but there are alternatives. December 30, 2005

Investing in an RF gluer
Is it worth it? Pros share opinions. May 10, 2005

Oversize Cupboard Doors
Suggestions for trouble-free construction of wide, tall raised-panel cabinet doors. February 17, 2006

Machining Muntins for Glass Doors
Advice on making small pieces for a glass cabinet door. April 18, 2011

Cupping of MDF Doors
Depending on the nature of the particular MDF stock, machining one side may relieve surface stress and cause the finished piece to deform. December 27, 2008

Finger Pull Detail for Laminate Doors
Painting the cove detail to match the laminate is more reliable than fitting laminate to the profile. July 12, 2012

Edge Sanding Doors
Quick tips for efficient smoothing to remove saw marks from door edges. October 26, 2011

Euro Hinge Positioning and Door Edges
Euro hinges have to be mounted very close to door edges. But here's a workaround that adds some flexibiity for face frame construction. May 13, 2013

Limiting Door Swing
Rawhide makes a nice site-installed restraint to keep doors from opening too wide. August 30, 2010

Raised Panel Thickness
Three-quarter-inch, eleven-sixteenths-inch, or five-eighths inch? May 10, 2005

Touch Latches and Inset Doors
Quick tips on making a touch latch work with an inset cabinet door. December 27, 2006

Stainless Steel Cabinet Doors
Where do stainless steel cabinet doors come from? January 26, 2009

Allowing for Expansion in Door Panels
Tips on sizing raised door panels to allow for wood movement. February 26, 2007

Vertical Lift Door Hardware
Tips for installing a cabinet door that pulls out and then raises up. December 7, 2008

Making Speaker Cloth Doors
Tips on stretching and attaching speaker cloth to door frames. November 15, 2011

Sealed Cabinet Doors
Ideas for sealing cabinet doors for airtightness. December 28, 2005

Screen Spline and Space Balls
Quick tip: screen spline makes a good substitute when you can't find the right diameter space balls. March 20, 2006

Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Doors
Here's a detailed and lively discussion among cabinetmakers and door specialists about the key issues in outsourcing doors, including schedules, quality, efficiency, cost, and making good on mistakes. October 26, 2007

Brainstorming a Modified Door Frame Joint
Is there a quicker and easier way to machine the joints for a raised-panel stile-and-rail cabinet door? Here's a handful of possibly useful ideas. May 22, 2007

Balanced Laminating Over Melamine
Here's a detailed discussion about whether it's okay to apply laminate over just one face of a melamine door, and about various other ways to achieve the same product. October 12, 2012

Balanced Construction of Plastic Laminate Doors
Experience shows that balancing P-lam doors can prevent the occasional case of warping. Here are thoughts on how to lay up balanced P-lam panels. February 12, 2010

Poplar Versus Maple for Hand-Painted Cabinetry
Cabinetmakers discuss whether a high-end cabinet job should use Maple or Cabinet for doors. December 8, 2010

Bleeding Space-Ball Blues
Space balls have been known to exude a mysterious fluid that can show up in the finish of a raised panel door, leading to possible heart palpitations. (Not really, but it is disturbing.) February 20, 2008

Plywood Thickness Variation and Slot Cutting
Cutting slots for Shaker doors gets problematic when "quarter-inch" plywood is really more like 3/16" thick. In this thread, cabinetmakers discuss how they adjust to actual plywood thickness. November 12, 2005

Building Wide Glass Cabinet Doors
Advice on construction details and hinge choices for wide glass doors. July 10, 2007

Pin Nailer Choices for Door Construction
Cabinetmakers discuss the good points of different pin nailers for building doors. September 16, 2013

Beaded Stile and Rail Cabinet Door Details
Advice (with pictures) on creating a bead detail on the inside edge of a cope-and-stick cabinet door. March 3, 2009

How to Secure Floating Panels
Using spaceballs versus pinning panels at top and bottom center points. January 22, 2006

Best Equipment for Perfect Door Frame Miters
Shop owners describe their setup for making miter cuts for cabinet door frames. October 20, 2013

Hand Clamping for Mitered Doors
What's a simple shop setup for assembling mitered cabinet doors? Pros supply a beginner with tips and suggestions. July 25, 2005

Baltic Birch for Slab Doors and Fronts
Is Baltic Birch stable enough to use for cabinet doors? April 15, 2013

Practicality of CNC-Cut MDF Doors
With opaque finish, MDF doors are hard to tell apart from wood raised-panel doors. Here are some cabinetmaker experiences and photos. February 18, 2011

Beaded Face-Frame Double Door Debate
A discussion of how to detail the point where beaded double doors meet in the center. March 3, 2009

Panel Gluing and Clamping
To keep staves in a panel from slipping as they set, use moderate amounts of glue and clamping pressure. May 20, 2006

Best Ripping Width to Avoid Cupping
A discussion of the workable range of widths for ripped lumber intended for gluing up into panels. February 16, 2014

Hinge Solutions for an Obstructed Cabinet Door
Recommendations for a situation where a windowsill will stop a cabinet door from opening freely. April 19, 2015

Beads on Door Frames: Machine or Apply?
Cabinetmakers discuss the options for making beaded door frames. December 27, 2010

Bi-Fold Pocket Door Examples
A couple of looks at cabinets with bi-fold doors that can slide back into the cabinet when opened. January 19, 2011

Preventing Hinge Attachment Failure in Commercial Cabinet Doors
Was it an ineffective fastening method, a weakness in the door material, or both? Cabinetmakers troubleshoot. March 9, 2008

Plywood Versus Solid Wood for Recessed Panel Cabinet Doors
A discussion of door construction material and methods. November 29, 2014

Plywood Thickness and Cabinet Doors
Nominal quarter-inch plywood can really be 5 millimeters thick. Here are thoughts on accounting for edge thickness when machining the door frame groove.July 6, 2011

Hinge Boring Dust Collection
Custom design of a dust collection system for a hinge boring machine. January 25, 2005

Hinge Size and Frame Dimensions for Full-Overlay Face Frame Cabinets
Wider frames need bigger hinges; there's choice with regard to both. April 16, 2009

Production sanding of raised-panel profiles
Woodworkers offer tips on sanding a large quantity of raised panel profiles. September 26, 2000

How to Saw Curved Panels
Advice on cutting up bowed panel stock for making curved cabinet doors. February 13, 2009

Bamboo Cabinet Door Construction
Tips and cautions for making cab doors out of bamboo sheet goods. May 15, 2012

Hinge Insert Dowel Tightness
Troubleshooting loose hinge attachment. October 3, 2011

Beaded MDF Door Panels
Info on buying or making MDF beaded stock for cabinet door panels. October 15, 2009

Hinging for a Bifold Door Retrofit
Thoughts on hinge choice for bifold doors to be installed on a wide opening for an existing entertainment center. October 26, 2011

How Many Hinges?
This thread includes a handy chart for deciding when a door large or heavy enough to require a third or fourth hinge. August 12, 2014

Hinge-mounting machines
Hinge insertion machines are available for European as well as traditional cabinet hinges. 1998.

Beveled Edge Slab Oak Doors
A cabinetmaker describes his technique for fabricating beveled-edge doors with a solid wood edge, MDF core, and veneer faces. November 22, 2005

Blowout on Arched Rail Trailing Edge
Advice on getting a clean profile on coped arch-top door rails. May 28, 2010

Hinging Triple Cabinet Doors
Hinges that mount to cabinet tops and bottoms can handle the swing for the center door. September 3, 2011

Outsourcing Pros and Cons
Outsourcing door production is a no-brainer — except when it's not. This discussion looks at door production from both sides. July 5, 2011

Guide Blocks for a Trash Bin Pullout
Cabinetmakers work on a new idea for alignment blocks to help a trash bin slide closed with precision. April 12, 2011

Door Stops for Inset Face Frame Wall Cabinets
Here's a handful of solutions for applying door stops to inset face frame cabinet doors. February 28, 2012

Making Remote Controls Work Through Cabinet Doors
Hardware add-ons are available that allow remote-control infra-red signals through wood doors. February 6, 2007

Faire fonctionner les télécommandes à travers les portes des armoires
Des modules complémentaires sont disponibles pour permettre la commande à distance des signaux infrarouges à travers les portes en bois. 6 février 2007

Breaking Edges on Shaker Doors
Easing the edge on a door panel improves finish performance. January 3, 2014

Tooling Up to Make Doors
An extended discussion of the best investment in equipment for a cabinetmaker who wants to start making his own doors. March 26, 2010

Equipment Issues for Final Door Sanding
Cross-grain scratches from the wide-belt, then swirl marks from the random-orbit sanders — what's the solution to minimize the final hand-sanding stage? November 26, 2006

Choix de charnière pour un recouvrement plus grand
Conseils pour la conception d'armoires à cadre avec portes superposées très rapprochées sur les bords. 22 juin 2010

Dimensions des montants et des traverses pour les portes et les façades de tiroirs
Une discussion réfléchie sur l'opportunité et la manière de faire varier les proportions des montants et des traverses lors de la conception et de la réalisation de détails d'armoires avec des portes plus grandes et des tiroirs plus petits. 13 juillet 2010

Faut-il coller les panneaux aux montants et aux traverses ?
La réponse de base est non (ne collez pas les panneaux de porte aux cadres), mais certains points importants ont été soulevés dans cette discussion. 15 novembre 2011

Whether to Glue Panels to Stiles and Rails
The basic answer is no (don't glue door panels to frames), but there are some fine points raised in this discussion. November 15, 2011

Cabinet Door Construction: Doweled Corners or Nailed Corners?
For a high-end custom product, is it worth adding dowels to the joinery for strength and reliability? January 19, 2011

Installing Rollout Shelves
Keeping rollouts clear of the hinges. March 14, 2004

Paint Cracks in Five-Piece Doors
Some cracking is pretty much inevitable when you paint five-piece wood cabinet doors. September 25, 2014

Maximum Cabinet Door Width
The industry standard is 24 inches, but cabinetmakers have reason to prefer even narrower doors. February 9, 2006

Largeur maximale de la porte de l'armoire
La norme industrielle est de 24 pouces, mais les ébénistes ont des raisons de préférer des portes encore plus étroites. 9 février 2006

Limiter l'ouverture de la porte de l'armoire
Options permettant de limiter l'ouverture des portes d'armoires vers l'extérieur afin d'éviter les collisions. 15 mai 2012

Blum hinge drilling locations
Determining the edge setback for drilling in the use of Blum hinges. March 20, 2001

Inset Door Hinge Adjustment and Stops
A discussion of ways to make inset doors close flush using Euro hinges. January 13, 2008

Setting Up to Build Cabinet Doors
Even if you usually outsource, building your own doors in special circumstances can make sense. Here's advice on machinery and tooling for that scenario. June 16, 2014

Shaper Choice for Making Door Panels
A 5 horsepower shaper gives you some extra power when you need it, but you can get by with 3 horsepower. Here's an extended discussion of the options. April 16, 2009

Hanging Cabinet Doors
The efficiency of hanging doors before or during install. January 28, 2004

Mirrored, Frameless, Full Overlay Door Details
Here's a good discussion of assembly methods, adhesive application, and hinge and catch details for a vanity door with a full-face mirror on the front. January 1, 2012

Cabinet Hinge Options
Cabinetmakers discuss the advantages of different hinge types. November 12, 2005

Door-Building Productivity
How fast can you make cabinet doors? Cabinetmakers discuss manpower, machinery, and door construction speed. July 5, 2006

Whether to Hinge-Bore Before Finishing, or After
A close vote, with comments, on when to bore doors for hinges. January 19, 2011

Door Stops for Inset Cabinet Doors
Cabinetmakers discuss door stop options and preferences. November 6, 2007

Hinge Choice for Larger Overlay
Advice on designing face frame cabinets with overlay doors that are very close together at the edges. June 22, 2010

Mounting Plates for Cabinet Hinges
A discussion of mounting hardware and hinge positioning for Blum hinges. June 17, 2013

Euro Hinges with a 1/4" Overlay
A cabinetmaker wants to switch to Euro-style hinges, but isn't sure how to work with his doors' one-quarter-inch overlay. Here's how he solves the problem. May 22, 2007

Restricting Cabinet Door Swing
Options for restricting cabinet door outswing to prevent collisions. May 15, 2012

Positioning Inset Doors with Euro Hinges
Jigs and techniques for tight-tolerance positioning. October 3, 2011

Defining "Full Overlay" on Face-Frame Cabinets
It's a Euro look on a face-frame cabinet — so who's to say what's right? Here's a look at the question from several perspectives. October 2, 2007

Cabinet Door Warping Problems
Job-site humidity can warp cabinet doors. To reduce problems, some would recommend avoiding Poplar in favor of Maple, or even MDF. October 27, 2011

Door Dimensions and Hinge Requirements
Door geometry and size can dictate the number, spacing, and capacity of the hinges needed. January 29, 2014

Solid Surfacing for Vanity Doors
Advice on fabricating practical cabinet doors using solid surface material. vAugust 8, 2008

Setting Up for Accurate Raised Panel Cutting
Here's a good set of suggestions for setting up and tuning your equipment for precise, reliable production of raised door panels. May 15, 2012

Troubleshooting Salice Soft-Close Hinges
An expert provides some insight into factors affecting the performance of soft-close hinges. March 12, 2015

Twist in Plywood Doors
Troubleshooting tips for twisty plywood doors, and advice on choosing MDF core instead. April 16, 2009

Unequally Sized Doors on a Corner Cabinet
Is it okay for the doors on a corner cabinet to be slightly different widths? Opinions here say yes. November 23, 2012

Hinge Mounting Tips and Tricks
Low-tech and high-tech ways to quickly and accurately set adjustable Euro hinges. March 3, 2009

Dummy Finial Hinges for Inset Doors
A cabinetmaker wants to use Euro hinges for the real hinge, but apply a fake half-hinge to the door surface for looks. January 13, 2009

Fitting and Mortising Butt-Hinge Doors
Quick tips on making butt hinges work in out-of-square openings. June 16, 2005

Veneer Substrate for Bathroom Vanity Doors and Drawers
Searching for a substrate that will hold hinges well and be tolerant of bathroom humidity. July 29, 2012

Hinges for Thick Cabinet Doors
Finding sources for hinging a 1.5-inch-thick inset cabinet door. January 19, 2011

Soft Close Hinge Adaptors
Adding the soft-close option to existing hinges is becoming more and more convenient. March 28, 2015

High-Quality Cherry Slab Doors
An extended discussion of the advantages of various ways to make slab doors. October 25, 2006

Quality Control in Cabinet Door Fabrication
This conversation starts with a question about adhesive choices for frame and panel door construction, but broadens out into a discussion about the acceptable incidence of defects across a range of door quality measures. December 9, 2013

Building a Curved Door from Solid Wood
A student question about solid wood door construction draws lots of responses with descriptions of various methods. January 20, 2011

Mixing African and Honduras Mahogany
A long discussion of the woodworking characteristics of various Mahogany types and substitutes, and the practicality of combining different woods in a single door. June 29, 2008

Assembling Cab Doors with a Pin Nailer
Lots of support here for the idea of using pin nailers to hold doors fixed during glue-up. September 18, 2014

Clamping Techniques for Flat Panels
Tips and tricks for gluing wood door panels up nice and flat. September 27, 2009

Cabinet Pocket Doors and Adjustable Shelves
A construction problem: how to build a cabinet with adjustable shelves, inset into a wall, with doors that open out and slide back into recesses next to the cabinet. August 30, 2010

Avoiding Glue Marks on Cope-and-Stick Doors
Here's a long discussion about how to avoid fingerprints or glue stains when sanding, gluing, assembling, and finishing raised panel doors. October 13, 2012

Material Movement with Recessed Flat Panel Doors
Cabinetmakers discuss door panel materials and attachment methods. September 22, 2005

Cabinet Doors Tips and Tricks
A start-up cabinet door manufacturer gets some advice on production methods. October 2, 2007

Glue Applicator Choices
Cabinetmakers discuss efficient, non-messy ways to apply glue to solid wood staves when making up door panel blanks. July 10, 2009

Door Gluing and Clamping Techniques
Leave the doors in the clamps while they set, or pin nail and remove? Here's a sampling of the various ways cabinetmakers make time with door assembly. December 27, 2007

Building Mitered Door Frames Using Stock Mouldings
If you buy stile and rail mouldings already milled, your only problem is the miter joinery. March 25, 2007

Mitered Door Joinery
Some cabinetmakers say mitered doors are just a bad idea, but others have tips for improving the joints. October 9, 2006

Equipment for Beaded Face Frame Door Fabrication
Thoughts on machinery and methods for making beaded face frames for doors. July 28, 2012

Edgebanders Capable of Applying Solid Wood Edging
Info on equipment and methods for edgebanding doors with 1/8th-inch and thicker wood strips. May 13, 2013

Using a Hand-Held Radio Frequency Gluer for Door Assembly
Small hand-held RF gluing devices can speed low-volume production, but may not be the most efficient method for higher-volume production. December 31, 2013

Door-Frame Clamp Time with Fast-Tack Glue
A cabinetmaker's door-assembly process is so quick, he's worried that he may not be allowing glue enough time to set before removing clamps. September 5, 2006

Reducing Door Glue Clean-Up
Careful application of glue to cope-and-stick door joints can reduce the time spent cleaning up squeeze-out. June 29, 2008

Boring Machine Tolerances
Boring different door parts on different machines has led to some alignment problems. The solution: bore holes slightly oversize. October 2, 2007

Matching Off-Size Cabinet Pull Holes
Advice on replacing cabinet pulls when the originals are an odd dimension. November 5, 2013

Lamination Thickness for Curved Door Rails
Advice on specifying the laminations for gluing up a curved (bow front) door rail. June 16, 2014

Gap Spacing Between Full Overlay Doors
Thoughts on how far apart to space full overlay doors. January 13, 2008

Espacement des espaces entre les portes à recouvrement complet
Réflexions sur la distance à respecter entre les portes à recouvrement intégral. 13 janvier 2008

Easing the Edge of Shaker Style Doors
A light touch is all that's called for. April 6, 2007

MDF pour panneaux surélevés
Des professionnels discutent des caractéristiques des panneaux de fibres à densité moyenne pour la fabrication de portes d'armoires. 10 novembre 2006

MDF for Raised Panels
Pros discuss the characteristics of medium-density fiberboard for making cabinet doors. November 10, 2006

Emplacements de perçage des charnières Blum
Détermination du retrait du bord pour le perçage lors de l'utilisation de charnières Blum. 20 mars 2001

Door Warping Mystery
Tall veneered-MDF cabinet doors are warping badly. Why? February 20, 2008

Drying racks for cabinet doors
Purchased and shop built varieties - the designs that work the best. Illustrated. (Finishing Forum) March 23, 2003

Large Glass Display Doors
Glazing and hardware advice for big glass doors on a reproduction display case. February 6, 2007

Heavy Institutional Cabinet Doors
Considering the materials and hinging options for large replacement doors on hospital cabinets. January 20, 2007

Correcting Warp in Cabinet Doors
A cabinetmaker collects many suggestions for working the warp out of a set of oversized cabinet doors. He tries one. It fails. January 13, 2015

Euro-Style Hinges for Frace Frame Cabinets
Advice and information about hinges that work in the Euro manner but look good with overlay doors in face frame cabinets. September 3, 2014

Jigs for Hinge Plate Layout
Advice on efficient hinge boring layout when using hand drilling methods. March 28, 2015

Restricting Euro Hinge Swing
A cabinetmaker gets advice on preventing a glass door from swinging too wide and contacting an appliance. September 23, 2006

Door Choices for an Appliance Garage
A cabinetmaker explores the options for doors that will get out of the way to allow access to appliances in the cupboard. May 15, 2014

Hardware for Flip-Up Pocket Doors
Suggestions for hardware for a door that flips up and slides into a pocket. June 16, 2014

Staining with Spaceballs in Door Panel Grooves
Causes and prevention for staining related to door panel spaceballs, and a discussion of alternative products. February 16, 2014

Mirrored Medicine Cabinet Door Details
A range of suggestions (and one nice photo) for medicine cabinet door construction details. February 19, 2011

Stacking Doors That Open Together
Suggestions for dowels, pins, and other methods to connect stacked cabinet doors so they will swing as a unit. June 15, 2014

Design Ideas for a Short, Wide, Over-the-Fridge Cabinet Door
Ways to handle door design for a cabinet with oddball dimensions. December 27, 2006

How to Stop Inset Doors Flush with the Face Frame
The search for a high-quality detail for stopping inset doors. March 22, 2013

Self-Closing Non-Euro Hinges?
A quick tip on adding a soft-close option to a door with traditional butt hinges. February 27, 2015

Tambour Door Tips
More good ideas for tambour door construction. March 3, 2009

270° Hinge Swing
It takes special hinges to get a full 270° swing. September 22, 2005

Material for Oversize Cabinet Doors
Plywood is unstable and MDF weighs too much. In this thread, cabinetmakers suggest alternatives. November 11, 2005

Limiting Cabinet Door Swing
Options for restraining a door's swing so it won't bang into the next cabinet. April 29, 2012

Cabinet Catches for a Motor Home
Standard hardware suppliers have hardware that will work for cabinetry in a van conversion or motor home interior, but specialty hardware is also widely available. January 2, 2012

Hardware for a Flip-Down Door
What you need are "flap stays." November 29, 2014

Whether to Build a Big Order of Slab Doors
A long and informative discussion of the risks inherent in constructing cabinet doors as glued slabs made up of solid wood boards. November 14, 2014

Door Pricing and Outsourcing
Here is a long thread about door pricing, kicked off by a cabinetmaker who gets sticker shock from a door vendor's bid. July 25, 2010

Achieving Consistent Copes
Why is it so difficult to cut copes the same every time? October 5, 2004

Quality and Service Issues with Outsourced Cabinet Doors
A long discussion of how large-volume specialty door companies address occasional defects in the products they ship. March 6, 2008

Router Table Add-ons
With a router lift, precision fence, and some customizing, a router table can "kinda-sorta" stand in as a poor man's shaper. November 26, 2006

Low-tech panel squaring
Methods and machines for squaring that don't involve CNC equipment. April 9, 2003

Curved cabinet doors
What's the most efficient way to build radius frame-and-panel doors in-house? May 15, 2002

Machining MDF Raised Panels
Four out of four doctors agree: you can run MDF door panels in one pass on the shaper, if your cutters are sharp.January 2, 2014

Inset Door Cabinetmaking 101
Pros explain the basics about making inset door and face frame cabinets. October 8, 2005

- What makes a cabinet "custom"?
Is there a specific standard that qualifies a cabinet as custom? June 24, 2002

Jointing Door Stock Twice
Is a shop worker being too careful and creating double work? How much trouble is it worth to be extra sure that door parts are precisely milled? January 19, 2012

Door Panel Tolerances
Sloppy fit : Is the supplier at fault? August 7, 2004

Set-ups For Making Raised Panel Doors
Rigs, jigs, and customized equipment for high-volume raised panel door production. April 10, 2005

Flat Faces on Shop-Built Doors
An exchange of views on lumber handling, door assembly, tolerances, and the meaning of "high end." June 18, 2005

Organizing Cabinet Door Production
Cabinetmakers offer advice on how to set up the workflow for making doors in a three-man shop. October 13, 2008

Frameless Cabinets With Traditional Look
Achieving quality and style with framless construction. April 4, 2004

Quality and Cost for Veneered Cabinet Faces
The cost of veneered panels varies depending on the required appearance and the level of craftsmanship. May 31, 2014

Router Bits for Raised Panels
Horizontal versus vertical bits for cutting raised panels. January 28, 2004

Door Clamping Options
Nice discussions on setups for clamping cabinet doors in a small shop. February 12, 2009

Flat Panel Door Material
for the job? February 25, 2005

Doors: Outsourcing vs. in-house
Exploring issues of quality control, efficiency and profitability. November 7, 2001

Door-Sample Carrying Case Ideas
Woodworkers discuss ways to haul a few sample doors around for showing clients. April 20, 2008

Stop Options for Inset Doors
There's more than one way to stop a door. August 29, 2005

Gluing Steel to MDF
Cabinetmakers ponder the pitfalls that may lurk in a proposal to glue 1/8" steel to MDF for cabinet doors. October 19, 2013

Raised-Panel Ends on Upper Cabs
Fast and classy construction. March 14, 2004

Machining Mullions for Glass Doors
Advice and a step-by-step how-to for making those pesky mullions. May 14, 2006

A Small Power Feeder for a Router?
It can improve control and precision, especially for climb-cutting. February 25, 2005

Running Small Raised Panels on the Shaper
Advice on accessories, methods, and jigs to safely machine small pieces on a powerful shaper. March 26, 2010

Radius Cabinet Fronts
Advice on making (or outsourcing) radius-front cabinets. July 30, 2009

Applying Glue to Coped Ends of Door Rails
Cabinetmakers discuss glue applicator technologies. July 10, 2009

Alternating growth rings in panels
The debate between alternating growth rings and matching grain. September 25, 2002

Cabinet Doors: Outsource Or Build?
It's hard to beat the cost of outsourcing. April 10, 2005

Door Stops for Cabinets
Ways to hold inset cabinet doors flush to the face, when closed. March 20, 2006

Woven Cherry Door Panels
Thin slats woven together into a door panel is a cool idea, but kiln-dried wood is too brittle. Green wood may work. November 10, 2006

Antique Barn-Board Cabinets
A high-end home with cabinets made from weathered old barn siding? Craftsmen suggest ways to marry rustic and fine. June 12, 2005

Clamping Techniques for Consistently Flat Panel Glue-Ups
Jigs and simple methods for maintaing flatness in solid wood panel glue-ups. October 19, 2014

Wide Glass Doors
Cabinetmakers consider glazing options for large doors, including tempered glass, polycarbonate, and plexiglass. December 28, 2005

Springback and Accuracy with Radius Glue-Ups
Advice on making glued-up radius pieces conform to a precise, accurate curve — and stay that way. May 11, 2011

Capabilities of a Pocket Hole Machine
When drilling a screw hole in a stile, how close to the edge can you get? May 10, 2005

Waiting Period Before Sanding Doors after Glue-Up
Wood porosity and moisture content can influence the time needed for a cure in PVA glued joints before sanding a door. October 16, 2013

Counterweights for a Folding Door
Thoughts on how to balance the weight of a heavy folding door with vertical action. October 2, 2010

To glue or not to glue
Is glue necessary in frame assembly for raised panel doors? January 31, 2001

Mirrored Medicine Cabinet Doors
Cabinetmakers discuss the details of mirrored bath cabinet doors. November 12, 2005

Door/drawer gaps in Euro-style cabinets
Americans need to apply the looser European standards to door and drawer gaps to avoid frustration when ordering these parts from other manufacturers. October 18, 2000

Reducing Shaper RPMs
Advice on stepping down a shaper's drive motor to accommodate a sanding wheel. March 27, 2012

Applied Mouldings for Frame-and-Panel Doors
Tips on how to make and apply "bolection" moldings for the joint between door frame and panel. November 10, 2005

Flipper Door Hardware for Passage Door
Advice on choosing hardware for built-in doors that open and slide back into a recess. December 28, 2014

Space Between Cabinet Doors
Cabinetmakers weigh in on the proper gap between doors. November 11, 2005

Spice Racks on Doors
Tips for building spice racks into door backs. May 14, 2006

ITEMIZER - From R & R Drummond, Inc.
Use your computer to generate efficient layouts for cutting sheet material into desired sizes (a link to a demo download is provided)1998

Building Beaded Face Frames
Making beadmould application more efficient. January 14, 2004

Hybrid Euro/Traditional Wall Unit Details
A cabinetmaker gathers ideas for a European style wall unit - with a face frame. March 17, 2005

How to Make a Full Radius Arch Top Cab Door
From laying up blanks to cutting, here are some tips on making arched top door stiles. November 2, 2010

P-lam Cabinet Door Backs
Construction considerations when backing cabinet doors with plastic laminate to match cabinet interiors. March 20, 2006

Pinned Mortise and Tenon
Orienting the grain in pins on shaker-style doors, according to tradition. December 26, 2004

Blum's Process 32™ Manual (PDF)
October 15, 2003

Bonding wood to glass
Recommended glues and tapes for bonding wood to glass. January 24, 2001

Biscuits Or Butt Joints
High-quality, high-speed cabinet joinery techniques. October 20, 2004

Cabinet Door Shop Set-Up Necessities
Specializing in cabinet doors isn't a business you can easily jump into. Here's a lively discussion about "barriers to entry" — the minimum scale required for success, and the equipment you'll need to compete. December 14, 2009

Glazing and Distressing: Productivity, Quality, and Pricing
Cabinetmakers and finishers share views on how to estimate and cost out the work involved in distressing and glazing cabinet doors. May 13, 2013

Euro Upper Corner Cabinets
Here's an advanced discussion of design and construction details for frameless corner cabinets, focusing mostly on the operation and appearance of doors. June 16, 2014

Efficient Drilling for Hinge Placement
Cabinetmakers discuss how to streamline door drilling for Euro-style hinges. March 1, 2006

Alignment of Face Frames
The decision on making face frames flush versus leaving a reveal. February 10, 2004

Where Doors and Panels Meet
How various cabinetmakers deal with the relationsihp between overlay doors and the adjacent edges of finished end panels. January 24, 2005

Coping beaded face frames
Efficient methods, plus hinge suggestions for face-frame cabinetry. January 3, 2003

Door Hinges for a Frameless Upper Corner Cabinet
Cabinetmakers explain how to hang the door in a frameless corner cabinet. August 15, 2006

Hinge Types and Door Overlay
A cabinetmaker wants closely spaced doors on face-frame cabinets, and gets advice on specialty hinges that can help him achieve that result. December 30, 2005

Gluing Teak to Plywood
Advice on surface prep and adhesive choice for glue-up of teak and plywood doors on a boat. October 13, 2010

False Mullions for Glass Cabinet Doors
Mullions laid over full-size glass doors are a tricky detail. Here are some tips on shaping, joining and attaching the pieces. December 30, 2005

Collage de teck sur contreplaqué
Conseils sur la préparation des surfaces et le choix de la colle pour le collage des portes en teck et contreplaqué sur un bateau. 13 octobre 2010

Melamine Carcasses
Can melamine interiors be considered high end? April 18, 2004

Designing for Large Pocket Doors
Choosing quality hardware for TV entertainment center. March 14, 2004

Doors for a Wide Entertainment Center
Designing doors to hide an extra-wide TV. May 10, 2005

Attaching Removable False Fronts
Suggestions include clips, magnets, ball catches, and more. May 14, 2006

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