Hi there – I am building an built-in entertainment center, which is 9 feet long, and has 4 openings on the base that are about 26″ inside (face frame to face frame). My question is this – is it too wide for one large raised panel door per opening, or should I use two? I know it’s at the upper limit for where I usually would use one door for, but I think the look might be too busy with 8 doors vs. 4. Are there any pros or cons I’m not thinking of, beyond either the weight of the door, or it’s tendency to not stay as flat at that width?
Also planning to use MDF for the panel, with poplar rails and stiles (painted finish), with hurts the weight factor butI think should increase the likelihood of the door staying flat. I think…
TIA
Replies
First of all I never use poplar to make doors. Poplar seems to be rather unstable in many situations. I would much rather use soft maple or some other stable wood if I was going to paint them. You can make the doors that width and break each door unit up into several panels with several stiles and rails to make one door. You can also make two doors which meet and are made to look like one door with a small line down the middle where they meet. You can also make two doors the same size. I dowel or mortise and tenon allmy doors and have never had one problem. It seems like the longer and wider the doors the more chance you have of twist in the doors. On large and long doors I let the wood set a long time so it can settle out after I rough mill it. I pick the very best pieces for those doors. There are many possibilities.
I think you'll be fine, Stumpy. You are not excessively wide and you won't have to worry about the panels movement. Use good hinges and make sure the door panel joinery is tight. Can you use 1/2" MDF for a little weight savings? I use two magnetic catches on large doors, self closing hinges or not. The door is shut 99% of the time.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Hi Stumpy ,
It certainly can be done . For overlay cabinet doors made of 4/4 material 22 1/2" is usually close to the max I run for a single door . I would run a split pair of doors in each opening on your entertainment center .
The larger 4 doors will effect the scale of the piece . The look of more doors to me is a more refined look , less of a utility closet door look .
I have made doors similar in size and run a split panel door with the center stile between the rails . I usually make my rails larger on doors like these for a longer glue joint .
good luck dusty
If the doors will be 26" wide, you didn't say how long they would be, nor what type of hinges you have in mind.
I use Grass hinges, so I looked up the chart they have for how many hingers per door. I am going to try to attach the .pdf file -- but unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to copy just that information. So you are getting the whole file, but the info you want is on the last page.
I disagree that poplar is unstable, and I think you could safely use whichever is most readily available (poplar or soft maple) for your stiles and rails.
You also did not mention anything about joinery. If you are set up to do real mortise/tenons, that joint would give you the best chance for stable doors.
I see from the preview that the .pdf did attach here, but I have no idea how to make it a smaller file.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
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