# Bead board cabinet door assembly



## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

I'm trying to build someone a few cabinets to save them some money and want them to match the existing ones. They have bead board doors but it's a solid door (mdf perhaps), the bead board isn't an inserted panel. 

I got a sheet of bead board plywood at lowes to make panels and originally planed to just rabbit out about a 1/2" around the inner part of the door stiles/rails. I was hoping the plywood would be flush with the stiles/rails on the back side. My worry is, would that be strong enough to keep the plywood from cupping and breaking free? Should I glue it to the stiles/rails? Or is this just not a good plan in general?

I also thought it might just be better to route out a grove in the middle of stiles/rails and let the plywood slide in like a normal panel insert. Would that be a better approach?

I have 2" stiles and rails and the bead board I think is 0.35". What's the best way to make these doors?

Thanks!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

chsdiyer said:


> I'm trying to build someone a few cabinets to save them some money and want them to match the existing ones. They have bead board doors but it's a solid door (mdf perhaps), the bead board isn't an inserted panel.
> 
> I got a sheet of bead board plywood at lowes to make panels and originally planed to just rabbit out about a 1/2" around the inner part of the door stiles/rails. I was hoping the plywood would be flush with the stiles/rails on the back side. My worry is, would that be strong enough to keep the plywood from cupping and breaking free? Should I glue it to the stiles/rails? Or is this just not a good plan in general?
> 
> ...


It would be strong enough to insert the 1/2" plywood to the back side flush with the back. I would probably glue and toenail the panel in and then put some flat trim over the seam on the back side mitered kinda like a picture frame. 

It would be ackward to use the 1/2" plywood like a regular panel with a coping and sticking set. You would have to run a panel raise on the back side and the plywood edge would show on the profile. If I was going to do that I would use solid wood tongue and groove beadboard and glue it together as a panel first.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback Steve! 

I think the plywood is actually closer to 3/8". My worry with doing the rabbited approach is that the plywood doesn't seem to lay perfectly flat. it's 39" long and about 14 1/2" wide and has a little bit of a bow length wise. Once it's glued and nailed in will the stiles and rails keep it straight or can it risk making the door twist, or warp?

I saw this image on Barker door.com which got me wondering if i should use this construction. They use a 3/8" panel as well, but not plywood.









I guess with the materials i'm using you think the rabbit approach is better?

Would making a 3/8" grove in the center of the stiles and rails be too much to take out of a 3/4" stock? that would leave about 0.2" on each side of the panel.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The stile and rail construction is a good way to make a door however if you make the panel like this out of plywood the plywood will show the layers of veneer. Also routing the edge like this out of plywood is damaging to a router bit. The glue joints on the layers of veneer tend to burn grooves into the bit even carbide. If you are OK with this then go for it. You might pick up a cheap bit and throw it away when your done. 

I think though if you make a proper frame with good joints it will hold the plywood flat. Prior to inserting the plywood if you would wet the cup side of the plywood it would flatten out so it would be flat when inserted. It's common for this type of plywood to warp. The bead design on the face has weakened that side of the plywood.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

It wouldn't matter if the plywood was in a groove, or used full thickness and let in a rabbet, with glue. Any way that plywood gets installed, it could warp one way or another regardless, or not. I would just rabbet enough step to allow the plywood to finish flat to the back side of the R&S's. You could pin nail it, but I would lay the door frame on a flat surface face down, glue the rabbet, and lay in the panel. Cut another substrate to lay along the edges and add weights to hold the panel to the rabbet. As Steve suggested you could cut a thin moulding to cover the edge where the ply meets the door frame, and make sure it won't interfere with a hinge that you select.

What is in your favor is a good door frame, and having a flat base for the glue in.


















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## bladeburner (Jun 8, 2013)

I built this last year using 3/8" beadboard glued into 3/8" slots. May work for you.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Thanks steve for the picture clarification. I was in a cloud and not quite sure what you were referring to covering with molding. I thought about filling that void with wood filler so I wasn't thinking about layers of veneer showing. The molding idea might be a nice touch. 

Thanks cabinetman. Maybe a dumb question, but would sandwiching the rabbited area between two other flat boards and clamping for pressure not work better than weights? 

That's a nice cabinet you made bladeburner. Did you use the 3/8" (pine) beadboard plywood for that? 

I think i'm leaning toward doing the rabbit approach. The doors i'm trying to match have about a 1/4" chamfer on the R&Ss inner edge leading in to the molding. So I may have to make the rabbit a little deeper than the beadboard thickness, in which case the recommended backside molding should finish it off nice. 

Thanks again for all y'alls help!!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

chsdiyer said:


> Thanks steve for the picture clarification. I was in a cloud and not quite sure what you were referring to covering with molding. I thought about filling that void with wood filler so I wasn't thinking about layers of veneer showing. The molding idea might be a nice touch.
> 
> Thanks cabinetman. Maybe a dumb question, but would sandwiching the rabbited area between two other flat boards and clamping for pressure not work better than weights?
> 
> ...


If you are going to use the stile and rail design with the plywood panel it would probably work better to just rabbet the panel so it doesn't have the hollow space under the molding.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

chsdiyer said:


> Thanks cabinetman. Maybe a dumb question, but would sandwiching the rabbited area between two other flat boards and clamping for pressure not work better than weights?


If those boards will stay flat. The theory is to keep the frame flat when gluing up. I'm envisioning you cutting two pieces of ¾" plywood...one the overall size of the frame, and the other, the size of the panel, and making a clamping sandwich that way. If the plywood pieces stay flat, you would be good to go.

















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