# Door panels rattle



## RichO (Apr 29, 2009)

Hey all,

I have made hundreds of cabinet doors in my lifetime and never had a problem but the most recent batch I made has rattling panels. The groove in the rails/stiles is 1/4" but the 1/4" panel (sheet goods) is really about 1/32" thinner. I expected the rubber strips (CMT panalign) to keep the panels from rattling but such is not the case.

Anyways, the doors are already finished so the question is, what can I do? I have thought about a clear caulk on the inside but I don't want to put something down that stands out with a glossy finish on a satin finish door. Do they make a caulk that dries without a gloss? 

I know I could use some kind of shim but I am not crazy about cramming anything in there that would be visible.

Thanks for the help.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Ah, the metric stuff. I would a thin sliver of wood and stuff it into the sticking on the back side with a little glue. It doesn't have to be long strips, it can be small pieces. Another option would be some color caulk. If you wipe off the excess with a damp cloth it should only leave caulk in the gap.


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

23 ga pins. Several in various spots around the perimeter should lock the panel in.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

I dip a toothpick in glue, then slide it in the offending areas on the back. then cut it off flush. I finish afterwords and try to fill the gap w/varnish.


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## RichO (Apr 29, 2009)

Well, the first thing I tried was the 23ga pins since I have a micro pinner and to my surprise that did the trick. I only had 1" size so I had to grab some 1/2" from work to test it. I didn't think those short skinny little things would hold the panel enough to keep it from rattling against the door frame but I was wrong. It was also the quickest fix since I have about 16 of them to do.

Thanks for all the suggestions.


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

I knew it would work. And nearly invisible.

:smile:


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## Oneal-Woodworking (Apr 14, 2013)

RichO said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I have made hundreds of cabinet doors in my lifetime and never had a problem but the most recent batch I made has rattling panels. The groove in the rails/stiles is 1/4" but the 1/4" panel (sheet goods) is really about 1/32" thinner. I expected the rubber strips (CMT panalign) to keep the panels from rattling but such is not the case.
> 
> .


I did a hundred doors in the last month and know for a fact that you wont end up with a loose panel if you use spaceballs (or a similar material - I use cheap window spline stuff cut to the appropriate lengths myself ) you will NOT have any sort of rattling or otherwise 'loose' panel if you did the math right on your cut lists for your parts.

:wink2: 

The fit there is never supposed to be exact anyway if you can help it and if you are trying to move semi 'quickly'.


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## RichO (Apr 29, 2009)

I have always used the CMT panalign strips and they have always worked, but in this case the panels still rattle. I sized the panels so the rubber strips get a good squeeze when assembling the doors. The panels don't move up/down or left/right within the frame but rattle against the sides of the groove when closing the door and the vibration of the panels when sanding the doors with a ROS was so loud it hurt without hearing protection.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Another thing you could have done is put a little glue in the sticking and when the door is assembled lay them face down and put something heavy on the panel such as a paint can. 

When I made the coping and sticking set for my doors I made the groove to fit metric plywood. Looks like the tool companies would do that also instead of making it a full 1/4"


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## Oneal-Woodworking (Apr 14, 2013)

RichO said:


> I have always used the CMT panalign strips and they have always worked, but in this case the panels still rattle. I sized the panels so the rubber strips get a good squeeze when assembling the doors. The panels don't move up/down or left/right within the frame but rattle against the sides of the groove when closing the door and the vibration of the panels when sanding the doors with a ROS was so loud it hurt without hearing protection.


I have not used those particular pieces myself and did a 'google' to look them up and see what you were talking about here. 

Other than noticing how expensive they were I could not see why you had loose panels after using them unless your parts were not properly sized to begin with. 

I generally make panels 1/16th smaller on each side than 'exact' size of the hole that the panels are intended to go in but 'stuff' happens and I keep two different sizes of window screen spline stock around. (the larger stuff is for when I screw up and the smaller is for when I nail it just right...)

Either the space balls OR the larger window screen spline will 'give' fairly easily and take up free space on all sides that it can possibly mush into if the parts are sized as to where it has no choice but to go there and fill the voids.

The CMT strips that I saw in my google search seemed like they should work 'better' than any spline or balls because of their shape and how they fit the groove and how they 'should' wrap around the edges more easily to prevent the exact vibration you are talking about.


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