Replies

1. 
   xmike | Mar 08, 2009 10:58pm | #1

   Reading this before posting tells me that this is probably "more about elephants than you want to know", but... what the heck.

   You probably already know that cabinet doors get a lot of use/abuse, so making a large and heavy cabinet door requires extra care.

   I've found that it helps with long term stability if you make the door so that the large glass panel becomes an integral part of the door structure, rather than just sitting in it's rabbit. I do this by giving myself a 1/16" clearance between each glass edge and the side of it's rabbit, and setting the glass into the frame with a bead of clear silicon caulk, filling that space. Thus applied, the silicon tends to make the door and frame "one". Expansion does not appear to be a problem - it's a lot like gluing in a plywood panel into a frame and panel door. When I'm done and the silicon has set up fully (24 hours) the door is really stable.

   This next is probably belt-and-suspenders, but when I make glass paneled cabinet doors this size, I make them with my cope and stick router bits, and then strengthen the joints with fairly large floating tenons. I use the 1/3 thickness rule for the tenon thickness and extend each tenon about 1-1/8" into each mortise. I make the mortises after I've made the cope and stick cuts. I'd probably make the tenons 2" long, but I haven't been able to find a 1/4" router bit with that long of a cutting edge, and the 1-1/8" seems to be working fine.

   Finally, when hanging these doors, I was surprised to discover that Blum's 170 degree hinges have a larger mounting plate adjacent to the installation hole than the 90 degree hinges I had experience with. That's probably in the Blum literature, somewhere, but I missed it. In my case, I discovered this when I built a full sized mockup of my door and discovered that I needed a wider stile to properly mount the hinge and glass without the hinge-plate overlapping the glass in it's rabbit. Now that would have been a bummer to discover as I was hanging the doors to my finished cabinet.

1. 
   willyx2 | Mar 09, 2009 01:48am | #4

   Thanks MIke, will consider the lock in with the silicone-does makes sense like a panel door
   will consider the blums after all

2. 
   finekiwi | Mar 08, 2009 11:53pm | #2

   Why don't you use a nice brass piano hinge all the way down the style? Then it doesn't matter how wide your style is. If you want your door to be overlayed it still can be done with a piano hinge. Take a look at knives hinges. Not knowing what your cabinet looks like I can't give any more suggestions.

   Andy Kearney

3. 
   willyx2 | Mar 09, 2009 01:46am | #3

   Thanks dusty, based on your experience i was worried about nothing.
   thanx again
   willy

1. 
   oldusty | Mar 09, 2009 02:08am | #5

        It is well worth the research and development time it takes to learn new and more methods of work .

                     The door on this china cab was like 19 " X about 54"

                     my glass guy's silicone the glass in , under or over like glaze .

               I prefer the tiny bead under the edge .

                            dusty , no worry