All,
I am building walnut cabinets for my kitchen and would like to use 1/4 walnut plywood for the door panels. Trouble is I can’t find any with 2 good sides, or even a B1 or 2. I thought about just building the door in the typical manner, then cutting another panel for the inside and gluing it directly to the panel that is inserted in the slot. This won’t leave me much reveal on the inside, but there is enough to cover the edges…providing my cut is accurate. Any other suggestions besides making the panels of solid wood?
Thanks…SJ
Replies
No need to make it out of solid wood. You can certainly order it online, but I don't know if you wanna wait for it, or deal with the shipping costs. What you can do is learn to make your own. If you have a bandsaw, you can make your own veneer, and veneer it to both sides of 1/4" baltic birch, which is readily available all over the country.
Before I go into the do's and don't's, reply if this is interesting to you. It's more work than just buying it, but you can create some very nice bookmatched panels that will look alot more custom than store bought plywood, and you'll be very pleased that you went to the extra effort.
Jeff
Hi Jeff...I have a cheap bandsaw only. I would rather buy the plywood than attempt to make it....what do you think of gluing the two 1/4" pieces together to get 2 good sides?..is that done?...where can I order it online?
SJ
It would help to know where you're from. That's why the member profile information should be filled out, it's helpful in helping you.
I get all my veneer plywood that I don't make myself from Owl Hardwoods in Des Plaines, Illinois. I don't know if they'll ship.
As far as glueing two together, it depends on the style of door you're making. Having a 1/2" panel floating inside a 3/4" door frame only leaves 1/8" on both sides, and that's not very strong, and I don't think it'll look very good, either. You can certainly glue plywood together, but I don't think you'll like the outcome. Your best bet is to find 1/4" plywood from a proper supplier.
Jeff
I'll fill it out...I'm in Ashland, Ohio 44805. My plan was to insert the first panel into a 1/4 (really 3/16) slot leaving a 1/4 reveal on the front...as normal....then cut and glue the other 1/4 panel directly to the backside of the front panel...but not insert into another 1/4 slot. This would leave about an 1/8 reveal around the back...only because the plywood is not exactly 1/4...Tried to attach a file drawing to this..but could not figure it out..
SJ
I know you seem to have dismissed the idea of making the panels from solid wood, but making 1/4" thick panels out of solid wood is relatively easy and a lot less work than some of the other methods you are considering.
Another advantage is that the panels are far more likely to match the appearance of the wood in the frame, matching to the frame can be a problem with plywood panels.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
Since I don't have a way to bandsaw 1" thick lumber into at least into 1/2" thick pieces...it seems a huge waste of material to plane down from 1" to 1/4 inch...unless of course I could buy it in 1/2" thick...or close to that dimension...then I would go that route...but lumber yards around here don't sell it that thin.
Yes you would need a band saw, but your earlier post suggested that you had one.
John W.
John...your response got me thinking and I continued to call around and found a lumber yard that would resaw 1" lumber into the 1/4 that I need...now I am wondering if I should trust them to take it all the way to 1/4 "...or should I have them leave me a little to joint and plane to size....of course they say they will do a nice job...but Iv'e not worked with them in the past...I'm new to the area...I have a 6" joiner and a 10" planer...and a 24" thickness sander that I built which coincidently was to have appeared in your magazine but got pulled at the last minute....thanks for you advice...
The boards, after they saw them, will need to be planed or sanded to get them smooth, so if you are going to do that, the boards will need to be cut thicker. The boards may cup a bit, so sawing to 1/2" is probably the safer approach than trying to get three boards, each only about 5/16" thick, out of a single 1" thick board.
John W.
I realize its late in the thread but I'd love to see that home-made thickness sander if you would be willing to post a picture or two.... Thanks!
Rick
No problem Astro...but I am not sure how to do it...I will have to play with it some more unless you have a quick tip for me.
SJ
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