Thoughts on making a wardrobe

[sprog1]

Hi everyone. I want to make a free standing wardrobe with raised panel doors & raised panel sides.
My problem is if I make the sides framed with raised panel, the inside IE. top, bottom & shelf will expand & contract, but the sides will not.
How can I get around that without having anything split?
Thanks

 

[bjm]

Make the top and bottom as a framed panel with a rebated panel that sits flush (rather than fielded) so it can move. The shelves will just free-float on shelf pins - they will only move across the grain and can be fixed at the back or front (if needed?)

 

[Hornbeam]

It depends upon how you want the finished wardrobe to look.
For the top if you want to use solid will this sit within a frame in which case you must allow for movement or will it sit on top of a frame in which case you can fit with slotted screws or buttons etc. Alternatively you could use veneered ply/mdf and then it can be glued in all round.
For the shelf. How attached to the sides. A solid panel must be allowed to move . What is the arrangement for attaching to the sides
Ian

 

[sprog1]

Thanks to both Brian & Ian for your advice I don't want to use ply or MDF, it will all be solid Para, Rubber Wood
I must admit, I've never thought of making the top & bottom framed.
The only other way I can think of, is to make all the carcass, top Bottom & sides solid, has they should all move at the same rate, then putting separate end panels on.
I suppose doing it that way I would have to elongate the screw hole holding the end panel so that the carcass can
move without ripping the end panel apart. Is that correct?
Can you think of any problems doing it that way?
Thanks again for your replies

 

[bjm]

Edited to correct terminology.

So long as the grain runs the same way on each panel there will be no issues with movement when you join the panels - it will all move as one. You would only have problems if you join a long-grain to a cross-grain (an end grain) - in that scenario you would have to accomodate the differential movement. A bigger point, though, would be that it would look wrong!

I would stick with the frame and panel approach though. What you are suggest ing will make it look too heavy in my opinion?

 

[Cabinetman]

I was going to try and be funny re-rubber wood but, no. What bjm said sums it up.

 

[bjm]

I was going to try and be funny re-rubber wood ...

I edited that bit out !!

 

[Benchwayze]

I need to make a wardrobe too. I've been considering solid oak, blocked boards, 18mm thickness. It seems to me they shouldn't move very much because they are just egge jointed with narrow strips of oak. Plus they would match the furniture I bought last year in an emergency. This furniture was also made from blocked boards; what we used to call block-board; although that was softwood, usually veneered on one side.

John

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I built this one 10 years ago ...

The build was the first I began posting to my website, and there are several chapters with details ...

Scroll down to Armoire Project: Furniture

Regards from Perth

Derek