Wardrobe doors for painting

[Simonburrows]

Hi,
I need to make some long wardrobe doors for painting, the panel only needs to be 6mm ply and the frame 19x100mm softwood, I’ve had problems making these before with twist and bow, I think its because the panel isn’t rigid enough? I’m thinking to make the frames from a good quality ply instead of softwood. Has anybody had the same problem or tried making door frames with ply.
Thanks, Simon

 

[OPJ]

Welcome to the forum, Simon.

How are you planning to fit the panel in to the frame? Grooves? If it was fitted in to a rebate on the back face, you could then have a 9mm thick panel (maybe even 12mm) to go with the 18mm rails and stiles. This may not give you the desired look though...?

 

[Simonburrows]

Thanks, yea not a bad idea, it would certainly stiffen the whole thing up, I suppose a good quality birch ply would also help

 

[jasonB]

Making it all from MR (moisture resistant) MDF will be far more stable than softwood and twisty cheap ply.

Jason

 

[Simonburrows]

Mmmmm Moisture Resistant MDF I've never tried it, whats it like to work with

 

[Dave S]

Mmmmm Moisture Resistant MDF I've never tried it, whats it like to work with

The same as any other mdf in as much as it's very dusty when machined. However it is stable and if you seal the cut edges it takes a paint finished very well. Advantage of the moisture resistant stuff is that the cut edges are much cleaner.

Jason has posted several times about his method of construction for mdf frame and panel doors. I followed his method and it worked a treat for me.

Dave

 

[joiner_sim]

Welcome to the forum. How do you joint the stiles and the rails? Mortice & tennon. Is it thru-wedged and do you use haunches? Do you have a middle rail on the doors? If not, adding one will also help. r use hemlock instead of softwood, it's straight grain gives the stiles more stability.

 

[Simonburrows]

Depends on the quality of work I’m constructing as to the type of joint, I usually use router cutters for the rail and style and use the classic 5 piece kithen door set with a raised panel, which gives me a “rigid” door. But in this case it’s a very simple groove in the stile and a short stub tenon (10mm) in the rail to suit and because I’m using manufactured board for the panel it can be glued in. The mid rail is only 100mm wide so won’t make that much difference too warping and twist. I like the idea of moisture resistent MDF I think it will give me the stability I need. Although I’ve not used hemlock and will have to check on the availibility in my area (Nottingham) I suppose the cost will determine the material I use

Simon

 

[chippy1970]

I have built loads of MDF shaker style doors for customers and I even have 600 x 2300 shaker MDF doors on my own wardrobes at home with no twisting warping problems at all.

The first time I made some tall shaker style MDF doors I was worried as when they were on the bench they were very floppy but once hung using 4 blum hinges they dont bend at all now.

 

[George_N]

I'll add my vote for MDF if you're going to paint the doors. I've made the doors and drawer fronts for my kitchen out of standard, buff coloured MDF. Cut edges can be sealed with waterproof PVA glue (diluted 5 parts glue to one part water). I made frame and panel doors using 18 mm stock for the rails and stiles and 6 mm for the panel. Rather than making stub tenons, I used loose tenons made out of the same 6 mm stock I used for the panel. I reckon it is easier to groove the ends of the rails than to make tenons in MDF. My doors are all holding up well anyway.

 

[Simonburrows]

Well thanks for the advice chaps, really apreciate it, looks like its gonna be MDF, I suppose the next question is the hinges, I want to use a face frame and I normally build hardwood stuff and the door sits inside the frame but for speed I want them to lay on top of the face frame and use blum hinges but there are so many different types it’s a minefield. I can’t fit them to the side panels because of the face frame. Any advice?

Thanks, Simon

 

[jasonB]

You can buy concealed hinges that fit directly to the face of the faceframe.

http://www.woodfit.com/product_info.php ... B+-+Sprung

Jason