First Cabinet Door

[ragswl4]

While some may find this easy, I was sweating bullets every step of the way while making my first door. In the end, it was easier than I thought it would be. It even turned out square and flat thanks to a jointer alignment. Wood is Goncalo Alves (AKA TigerWood or Brazilian Koa). No finish applied yet. 55 more to go.

[jziegler]

Looking good.

Fancier than the doors that I've made (I did a whole kitchen with flat panels).

I like the wood, I've only seen it as flooring around here.

Jim

[footprintsinconc]

that is a nice piece. when i did my first, i was really doubtful myself and scared of the big router bit, but after a few raised panels, the rest went easy but took a lot of time.

you said that you didnt apply a finish yet, are you going to stain it? if you are going to stain then, then you should stain the raised panel BEFORE you put the door togather. if you stain it afterwards, you cannot get the stain to the edges of the raised panel and when the panel moves around in the frame, it may expose the area that didnt get the stain. i had that problem and when through a lot of remedial work to get the stain in to those areas. thougth i'd warn you just in case you stain the doors.

the 2nd mistake that i made on two of my doors was, the clamp must have not been aligned with center of the thickness of the door, so that stiles curled up an 1/8" of an inch. so take your time to make sure that the clamping force is applied in the center of the door (thickness wise) to ensure the stiles dont curl up or down depending on where the clamping force is applied.

enjoy making the rest of the doors.

regards,

[ragswl4]

Thanks for the advice on the clamping. I'll make sure to do it as you suggested. As for staining, not going to do that as the wood is beautiful in its natural state (IMHO). I will be finishing with an oil product. Not sure which one yet, may mix my own. I will also topcoat with poly or ......? Not sure just yet. This wood darkens naturally over time, I think the UV causes that. 400 board feet being delivered tomorrow so going into production of the doors pretty quick.

I found that using scrap wood to make dimension pieces for all the parts has been time well spent. No more measuring for the panel, frame parts and face frames. Did the same for the standard carcases. Also set up blocks for all the routed pieces. I'd suggest this for anyone who is going to make more than just a few doors.

Its turned from work to fun at this point.

[Ken Massingale]

Beautiful wood and you did it justice, Bill.
One question, 55 MORE????

[ejs1097]

You're off to a good start, Looks great. 55 more doors? hope you have as much fun on 56 as you did with #1.

[ragswl4]

Yeah, 55 more. New house has an 18'x20' kitchen (LOML likes small houses with big rooms) Actually many of the panels will be used on the ends of cabinet runs, the 5'x4' island (sides) and the 9' pennisula/breakfast bar. Now that all my tools are tuned up and jigs made I think I can turn them out pretty fast. Just got our plans approved to build the house so got lots of time to make the rest along with the cabinet carcases (12 of those build so far). Thanks for the comments and interest.

[John Hunter]

Very nice.

[lcm1947]

Beautiful door you got there rags. Looks like a excellent job and it being the first time. WoW! You should be proud.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Nice job. Building a door is a major step in the WWing venture. You did an excellent job. BTW, you also made an excellent choice in wood! Can't even imagine what that cost per bf, but of course out in CA theres probably not a lot of difference between it and cherry.

[footprintsinconc]

definately agree with you going with natural finish. you cant beat that amazing natural look of the wood that you are using.

when you said that you mix your own, what did you mean?

regards,

[Pappy]

Fantastic wood and a great job on the door!

[lrogers]

That's a good looking door. I made some cabinet doors for a friends travel trailer and that was one of the hardest projects I ever did. EVERYTHING that could go wrong did go wrong. They looked good in the end, but i really had to work at it. All that makes me appreciate your work even more!

[ragswl4]

Mix My Own Finish

I am using two books to guide me in making my cabinets, recommended by folks here on the forum (Thanks). Books by Danny Poulx and Udo Schmidt. Both are good in different ways and I'm glad I got both. In Udo's book he mentions that he makes his own finish from equal parts of mineral spirits, boiled linseed oil and oil based (alkyd) varnish. For a faster dry time he recommends replacing the mineral spirits with naptha. The finish can be sprayed, brushed or wiped on, according to him.

My first thought was to go with Danish Oil then topcoat with poly but I am rethinking that now. Of course I have plenty of scrap pieces so I will try a number of finishes first, then decide.

I think Jeffery wondered about the cost of the wood. $2700 for 350 board feet delivered to my door in SoCal from North Carolina. Not cheap but less expensive than commercial cabinets, especially if I asked for this wood. I am retired so I have plenty of shop time to do this.

[mater]

Very nice work. It looks good.