MDF Cabinet Doors

[Ted]

Can anyone advise on thickness of MDF shaker Doors I’m making for a cupboard please .
Doors are around 400mm wide and 5ft high , should I use 18mm or 22 mm ?
Thanks

 

[John Brown]

18mm

 

[Kayen]

I would also agree with 18mm, the extra 4mm thickness adds nothing but weight.

There are several ways in which to make Shaker doors that vary from bad to good, thickness is probably the one variant that makes little difference to the final quality.

 

[LarryS.]

I've built MDF doors almost exactly the same dimensions, I did:
18mm for full door size, then laid on 12mm MDF to "fake" the shaker look
12mm for full door size, then laid on 12mm MDF to "fake" the skaher look

18mm option meant a REALLY thick frame which meant special hinges / faff. The 12mm + 12mm used standard hinges and a quarter of the faff

There are many ways to do this which Peter Millard on youtube (and of this forum) has covered in a lot of depth, i'd suggest watching a couple of those vids. Out of interest he doesn't recommend the lay on method because of the line it can create, but i've found i a bit of elbow grease on just the edge that opens outwards (and can be seen), sorts this. Alternative is you can buy paintable tape to go over it which a friend of mine has recently tried and is very pleased with the results

One BIG benefit of the 12mm + 12mm - you only need to buy one thickness of wood so for me it meant a lot less waste / left overs to try and store. But this will be driven by your overall sizes.

 

[LarryS.]

Peter's channel is a gold mine on this, so go to Youtube and type in "Peter Millard Shaker doors".

 

[Samkilby]

18mm is good, several options for making them shaker, proper panel and groove with stub tenons which is a lot more work but they do seem somehow stiffer, or “faker” with just pinned (or mitre
Mate and titebonded) on trim pieces..
at 5ft high the worry is cupping or bowing during painting, particularly if you are spraying.
This generally happens when one side gets wetted and dries, so a couple of ways to mitigate.
Hanging the door vertically for painting is great, and allows you to paint the whole thing in one go, which makes this as small of a problem as possible. It is extra effort but is always worth it.
Pre empting that they are mdf and may bow at some point, you can also let in door straighteners..
Or easiest and likely worst advice is just put more hinges than you think you need, which will at least do something to pull the door into a straight line on the carcasse side..
As always overlay doors are easier than inset
Ta

 

[LarryS.]

i forgot to say, i put 4 hinges on the 18mm + 12mm door, 3 on the 12mm + 12mm = so that approaches saves on hinges / money too

 

[Spectric]

You could use a redwood frame and just an MDF panel , I tend to use ply.

 

[Etaf]

i used 12mm MR-MDF and then added 9mm MR-MDF to make a shaker effect to a toilet cabinet & door and some panelling
so 21mm

 

[Doug71]

I would use 22mm, I think 18mm looks cheap unless it's a small door.

Same goes for the panels, 6mm is okay for small panels but I use 9mm for bigger ones as 6mm can feel a bit lightweight and flimsy.

 

[petermillard]

I switched to 22mm for shaker doors after I had issues with larger 18mm doors bowing; that extra 4mm makes all the difference, and I had no problems afterwards. If it isn’t already on your radar, then MRMDF is a much better board for not much more money. HTH P

 

[RobinBHM]

22mm with 9mm centre panel

I do 15mm tenon

I keep it std across small cabinet doors and large wardrobe doors.

 

[dephill]

22mm mrdmdf imho - feels and looks better, less liable to flex or warp.
I’ve used 22mm for solid doors 1900x400 with four hinges - no problem.

 

[Wattsjoinerybarn]

22mm MR R & S
6mm MR Panel

Keep every component flat and straight! during every bit of the process especially the glue up.
6mm panel is rigid enough when glued and keeps weight down plus also increase the depth of the shaker. I also like to add dominos but perhaps not essential.

One important thing to note and is especially a potential issue on long doors is that the glue bond on face grain mdf is not as strong as end grain so faker is weaker! Also it’s harder to keep a bigger board flat.

Each to their own I guess but this method has never shown issues for me where others have.

 

[Ted]

Can anyone advise on thickness of MDF shaker Doors I’m making for a cupboard please .
Doors are around 400mm wide and 5ft high , should I use 18mm or 22 mm ?
Thanks

Thanks for all your advice ... Im clearer on direction now .... thankyou