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dadiOH

wrote:
In planning for our kitchen remodel, my wife and i have decided to
replace our kitchen cabinet doors and refinish the existing
cabinetry.

Rockler's custom order doors are $$$$$$$, as are many others.

For about $500 I can outfit myself with the tools I need to complete
this job - rail/stile bits, raised panel bit, etc etc.

I'm a newbie at this sort of woodwork, but i have experience in trim
carpentry and feel confident that i can take my time and do a good
job with it.

I do have a few questions though. Go easy on me!

-I'm assuming I need some sort of mechanical fastener for the frame
of the cabinet door. What should I look at for this, or will a good
glue like Titebond or Gorilla work?

Just glue. And not Gorilla (or any other urethane). The rails have
tongues that fit into matching mortices on the stiles, all
accomplished with the rail/stile router bit(s).
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-This one really sounds lame... What thickness wood should I look at
for the frame and the panel? It seems, from my research, that 7/8 is
the most common frame thickness, but I can't figure out what
thickness panel to use.

Where have you see 7/8" frames for cabinet doors? The standard is
3/4. The easiest way to get that is to buy 4/4 rough and mill it to
what you want.

The rail/stile bits will normally make a 1/4" groove for the panel.
That means that panels can be any thickness from 1/4" on up as long as
there is a tongue to fit the frame grooves. They need not be flush
with either front or back of the frame. The panels could even stand
proud of the frame if that should be what you want. They could stand
proud on front and/or back though if on the back they would have to
clear the cabinet face frame.

It is always useful to have lots of clamps; however, it is unlikely
that you are going to be gluing up a dozen doors at a time. About the
most you would need for a kitchen cabinet sized door is four. If you
had eight - 1/2" pipe clamps are fine - you could glue up & clamp door
#1 then door #2. Have a cup of coffee and you can unclamp door #1 and
use those clamps for door #3 then unclamp door #2 and use those for
door #4. Have another coffee and repeat. The clamps really only need
to be on for 45 minutes or so though you shouldn't stress the doors
for 24 hours.

Actually, you wouldn't need *any* clamps per se. Affix 8 - 6-8" long
pieces of 2x4 to a piece of 3/4 ply so that an assembled frame will
fit loosely between them then use wedge pairs between .the 2x4 pieces
and frame to provide pressure to the frame. The 2x4 pieces are at
right angles to each other near but not at where the frame corners
will be so that you can manipulate the wedges. The corners of the ply
are best lopped off. You can set something like this up so you have
access to the bottom side of the frame so you can take care of any
glue squeeze out.

Back to panels. No where is it written that panels have to be solid
wood. They can be 1/4" hardwood plywood too...easy to make and
relatively inexpensive. If you should plan to paint the panels, you
could use 1/4" tempered masonite. As an alternative to paint (always
a PITA) the panels could be covered with wall paper.

--

dadiOH
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