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I am planning on building some kitchen cabinets with raised panel doors. I understand that due to the characteristic of wood (expansion/contraction) it is advisable to glue boards together in order to panel instead of one piece. My question is what is the maximum width for the wood used for this purpose so the movement of the wood won't be noticeable?
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Dwayne -
I don't know if there is any limit. My Bed has raised panels and they are HUGE especially by kitchen cabinet standards. But in the summer you can sometimes see small strips near the edge of the panel that are normally hidden and they are kinda dull compared to the rest of it since it either wasn't finished that far or it has been rubbed off..
The panels I did I finished the whole thing before assembly. I'll have to see if there is any noticable movement this summer.YOU DONT HAVE TO TRAIN TO BE MISERABLE. YOU HAVE TO TRAIN TO ENDURE MISERY. -
Your statement is not quite correct to me. The reason I'd glue multiple smaller pieces together is to prevent cupping (you alternate grain patterns). I don't worry aboiut this in a frame and panel door as the frame helps avoid cupping. Maybe others have a different opinion.
The expansion should be almost identical regardless of the number of boards and is related to the width. You generally leave room around the panel to allow for expansion. People use spaceballs to keep the panel from floating around. I generally tack the panel at center top and center botton with a pin nail to keep it in place (never glue the panel). Now some woods like QSWO are very stable and will not have much expansion or contraction.
What type of wood will you use?GaryComment
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The prevention of cupping is exactly what I'm referring to (I just couldn't think of the term). As I look at my curent cabinets (oak) they seem not to have boards greater an 6" in width. But I guess this could possibly be because they used a 6" jointer.DwayneComment
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I have not tested the limits with door panels but I have made once a coffee table surface glued up with 3 2x8 pine boards. After about a year the surface cupped even though the boards were alternated in their orientation and were decent quality to begin with - select grades, not construction. I have seen recomendations that boards going into panel glue-up should not be wider than 6" each.
As for how wide the whole panel can be - there are some formulas for that. It is based on the basic fact that rail in the frame expands along the grain and the panel expands accross the grain. Expansion is different. I think I saw some calculations about it explained in one of the recent magazines, don't remember now which one.Alex VComment
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I usually limit panels, desktops, etc to max of 8" when working with 4/4 wood. That works well since I have 8" jointer, lol.
One of the biggest questions here is what material are you work with? Using quarter and rift sawn woods will reduce your concern.Comment
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That's a cost-reduction design so they can use narrower, cheaper boards. You can be sure a professional cabinet shop or mass-production factory has a jointer larger than 6".
There is no forumula for max width of a slat in an edge-joined panel. As Jeffrey pointed out, quarter or rift sawn are much less prone to movement.
Glued-up panels are pretty much of a modern expedient. Early cabinet makers had access to wide boards we can only dream of today and usually made their panels out of a single board.Last edited by BrazosJake; 05-14-2007, 05:33 PM.Comment
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It is possible to calculate the expansion that the wood will experience but I have never bothered. I've made panels out of oak that were easily over 12 inches wide, maybe 16 inches. My method of sizing the panel is to start with dry wood and make the panel wide enough to engage the other side of the groove with the panel bottomed out on the other side of the frame. In other words, with a typical 3/8 groove, the panel should be about 1/2 inch wider than the opening so it can go 3/8 into one groove and 1/8 in the other.
I never worry about the orientation of growth rings. I arrange the boards to match grain as much as possible and ignore grain direction. I think this is mostly an old wives tale. A panel in a frame can't cup anyway, at least without warping the door.
I finish all panels in raised panel doors prior to assembly. I hate unfinished edges showing. I do not glue solid wood panels in the frame. I also finish the inside edge of the frame while I am doing the panel. It's a lot easier but you have to avoid putting finish where you will glue at assembly.
Size of the panel is mainly an appearance thing IMHO. A couple narrower panels in a wide door look different than one wide panel.
JimComment
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Jim is right on track with sizing and finishing. I will add that using Space Balls or the functional equiv is an excellent idea.Comment
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Thanks for all the comments. I finally remember where I heard about limiting the width. It was on a trim video where the guy was talking about the advantages of wainscotting over true raised panels for walls. He stated (just looked at it again a few minutes ago) that about 20" is when you have to start worrying about "shrinking and swelling." I don't think I will come close to that.
Oh, the wood is curly maple and I believe it was plain cut. It came from Suwannee Lumber Co outside of ATL.DwayneComment
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Nice choice, love curly maple! Maple does not exhibit a ton of seasonal movement in my experience. I think you are safe using single pieces in average sized kitchen cabinet panels.Comment
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I was beginning to think that it may not be a good choice for cabinets, because I haven't seen many done (searched the web feverishly) with it. The main uses I keep reading about are musical instruments, accent pieces, and flooring.DwayneComment
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Curly maple is very nice but will chip out easier than plainer wood. This is more of a reason to go slowly - in terms of taking small cuts not moving slowly past the cutter. Maple burns easily if you linger too long in contact with the cutter. Small quick cuts will work best.
JimComment
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