# finishing raised panel doors?



## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Hello, 

I am currently refacing the kitchen cabinets that we have, and making new raised panel doors and drawer fronts for them. My wife has stated that she wanted to paint everything, so I have used pine for the frames, and Mdf for the panels. I have everything cut, routed, and ready for assembly. :thumbsup:

My question is..... should I prepaint the "floating" panels before assembly? My reasoning is that with expansion and contraction of the pine frames, will the panel at some point show a gap if I don't pre paint them? If this were a stained project, would you pre stain the floating panel?:huh:

Also, I am planning on using the Space balls from rockler (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2020&filter=space balls) when I assemble the doors. Has anyone used these? If so, how did you like them?:huh:

I am planning on spraying the doors with an HVLP sprayer.

thanks in advance for your help.

Fabian


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would finish the panel before installing. The space balls work pretty good to keep the panel secure.












 









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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

your gonna need to prime b4 painting. i would tint your primer the color of your top coat, and just prime everything b4 assembly. then paint after assembled. to much paint on the panel can cause shifting of the paint if the panel shifts.


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## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

Being that you used mdf for the panels, you won't get much movement. 
Prime before assembly then caulk the seam before you paint.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

*That is what I thought I would have to do*

Thanks guys for your help... that is pretty much what I thought but I was hoping I could do it a little quicker by pre-assembling the doors.

Fabian


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## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

You could get away with not priming before assembly. Prime after assembly but before caulking the seam. I just try to never leave bare wood anywhere just because of moisture issues but since this is interior and you are caulking the seam, it probably wouldn't matter.

Jack and cabinetman might be able to tell you if this is a good idea or not since like I said I just automatically cover all surfaces but in this case it might not really be necessary.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

I initially was planning on paint prior to assembly, but with my wife giving me the full court press, I was hoping to quicken the process up. I will just have to tell her "I told you so," :huh: and reassure her that good quality work takes time.:yes:


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