# Cabinet door prototypes, need finishing options (paint).



## Nickbee (Nov 9, 2007)

When my best friends found out I took up woodworking as a serious hobby a few months ago they said “Hey, you can make us new cabinet doors!” I said, “Of course!” So knowing they have a smaller kitchen and not too many cabinets I figured what the heck. Their cabinets are now painted white along with their current “slab” doors (which were covered in fo-wood shelf paper when they purchased the home):



















BTW, we plan to replace the 3 multi sized drawers with 4 equally sized drawers.

So the plan now is to make some simple “mission” style doors that they can finish with some kind of glazed or distressed paint to the doors and cases. This is where I come in. Here are the prototype doors (one large cabinet door and one drawer face):





























The rail / stiles are poplar 1x2s and the panels are ¼” birch ply. The ply panels were primed on all 6 sides before assembly. The panels are floating with about 1/8” wiggle room all around. I stuffed some foam weather stripping in the groves to keep the panel from moving after glue up. I also pegged the tenons from behind with ¼” dowels. I know this is not necessary but I figured it’s good insurance. Also we are making the switch to European type hinges. I put a slight chamfer on the face edge as a final touch. 

The home owners will be taking care of priming / finishing the doors and cases. Any suggestions for an easy finish that will look great would be appreciated. I know they were considering some kind of glaze two toned finish. Also any suggestions / criticisms are welcome on the door design / construction. I suggested they look into General Finish’s Glaze finishes:

http://www.generalfinishes.com/tips/waterbase-finishing-tips/milkpaint-samples.htm


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## Nickbee (Nov 9, 2007)

Here are a few pics of how they went together:

The router work:














































And some dry mock ups:


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Nickbee

Looking good, BUT you may have a hard time using the European type hinges, it will be touch and go ,the frame should 2 7/16" min. the norm...the pocket hole is 1 3/8" in dia. and they off the edge by 3/16 to 1/4" the norm and then you have the two screws holding them in place,,,that puts the edge of the hinge right at 1 5/8" in from the edge of the door,, then you have the slot to hold the panel in place,,it looks like a 7/16" deep slot,,,,like I said it will be close...the pocket holes should be fine it's the screws that hold them in place...right on the edge of the slot if not right into it...if you used a 1/2" deep slot..

Just a small note about the hinge types,,,note the place for the mounting screws,,,you will see in the picture I posted the screws are on the inside edge of the door frame ,this type will NOT let you round over or ? on the front side of the door frame without taking some of the pocket out but it can be done but it's trickey also ..but with a very small round over bit.
On the other type you must take care not to hit the mounting holes screws.

The norn,, the screws are very short so to say don't sub. in any screws,use the ones that come with hinges .
I have found out the ones that work the best for me are the ones you tap in the hole ( with metal screws and a plastic anchor) about 5/16" to 3/8" over all...

do they now have face frames on the cabinets ?, are you using 1/2" overlay ?



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## Nickbee (Nov 9, 2007)

Hey BJ!!!

1st off you have an amazing eye. The tenons / groves where suppose to be 3/8” deep but I forgot to fine tune my fence setting so they end up being about 7/16! But that's why these are prototypes 

Back to the hinges. After testing a sample hinge on scrape I realized the standard 35mm Euro hinge is NOT going to work. 










These are face frame cases and I wanted the largest overlay possible to make the doors as large as possible. The samples I picked up from Home Depot are 1 3/8” overlay. But like you can see the 1.5” wide rails /stiles are not going to cut it. 

Rocker has hinges that use a 26mm cup but not for face frames:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5265&filter=26mm hing

Ferrari makes them with a 26mm cup but the max overlay is way too small (9/16’):
http://www.ferrariamerica.com/.\publicsito\sottoprodotti\pdf\E71.pdf

I might have to switch to wider stiles / rails to stick with standard hardware. But an issue there is a few doors are VERY narrow. In those cases I guess I would have to just use a solid piece of wood.... Any ideas would be great.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Nickbee

I think you'er on the right track with the smaller ones (25mm) they now make a new one called press in,, no mounting screws,snap in type...25mm and the 35mm one..I have not found them on the net yet...but wider frame would do the trick...

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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Nick, I have often remarked on Bj's amazing powers of observation, it wouldn't surprise me if the local police force use his services from time to time!


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## Nickbee (Nov 9, 2007)

Harry, Bj's eye is almost freaky!!! But I can appreciate it! 

OK after consulting with the home owners I think we are going to ditch the idea of the Eruo hinges. The 1.5” wide stock is WAY too narrow to use cup hinges. And the drawer faces are only going to be about 5.75” high. The ¾” x 1.5” stock just looks right for them. If we go to wider stock the panel is going to get too small. Also there is ease of material involved. 1x2s don’t need any additional work to use. 

So, looking at some kind of standard hinge for face frames and with some overhang what would you guys recommend? Adjustability would be nice since I don’t think all the cases are perfect. It would be nice to be able to fine tune the alignment of the doors. Any ideas?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Nickbee

They make all kinds ,you may want to check out the links below I'm sure you will find the type you want and can use 

http://www.hardwaresource.com/Store_ViewCatLevel3.asp?Cat=344&OrderID=

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/index.aspx?c=2


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Nickbee said:


> Harry, Bj's eye is almost freaky!!! But I can appreciate it!
> 
> OK after consulting with the home owners I think we are going to ditch the idea of the Eruo hinges. The 1.5” wide stock is WAY too narrow to use cup hinges. And the drawer faces are only going to be about 5.75” high. The ¾” x 1.5” stock just looks right for them. If we go to wider stock the panel is going to get too small. Also there is ease of material involved. 1x2s don’t need any additional work to use.
> 
> So, looking at some kind of standard hinge for face frames and with some overhang what would you guys recommend? Adjustability would be nice since I don’t think all the cases are perfect. It would be nice to be able to fine tune the alignment of the doors. Any ideas?


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## Nickbee (Nov 9, 2007)

Thanks Bj,, I like these:

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=48642&cat=3,41241

I'll see what my buddy thinks....


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Nickbee

They should work fine, but the case/face frame must be dead on ,hard to adjust.
They do make the same thing with slots that may work better for you.. if the case/frame is not true...1/16" off at the hinge will be 1/4" to 3/8" at the edge of the door...you can always use a cardboard shim...under the hinge 

You may want to think about this type/ for overlay doors,Self Closing,note the slots...in the leaf....
http://www.hardwaresource.com/Store_ViewProducts.asp?Cat=1065
http://www.hardwaresource.com/Store_ViewCatLevel3.asp?Cat=22&OrderID=

http://www.hardwaresource.com/uploads/Overlay Info Sheet.jpg
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Nickbee said:


> Thanks Bj,, I like these:
> 
> http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=48642&cat=3,41241
> 
> I'll see what my buddy thinks....


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## Nickbee (Nov 9, 2007)

Today’s update.

We are going to try these hinges:

http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/G...ive/SubCatID/Half Wrap, Self Closing, Overlay

Self closing ½” overlay in wrought iron. Thanks again for pointing us in the right direction. 

I have some 1/64" ply I can use for shims if need be.


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