Cabinet door panel out of 1/2" Plywood, can this be done?

[bdeditch]

Just wondering if anyone has made cabinet doors like this. Since it is next to impossible to find true 1/4 " Oak plywood, just been finding

3/16th stuff, would it be possible to get 1/2 " Oak plywood and using a raised panel router bit, trim the BACK of the plywood to get 1/4 " thick and use this for a front panel of the cabinet door. Please remember that the cut out will be on the back of the door, I know someone is going to say that I should use 3/4" Oak hardwood, glue together and then use the raised panel bit, just don't need the added expense of that.

[Lyndell Thompson]

I am going to try something like this later this year. I have a stack of baltic birch in 12" x 48" (x60") lengths, and I am going to build a wall closet in our bedroom. I bought plywood edging bits from LeeValley for the edge treatment. I am still working on what to do with middle of the doors as there will be a horizontal and vertical line (biscuit joinery) to hide. Maybe we will both get the answers we need. Thanks for asking. Good Luck Lyndell

[DJ Delorie]

Remind me not to shop where you shop. My 1/4" oak ply is usually within a few thou of 0.250 inches.

OTOH I just did a set of drawers with 1/2 oak ply (for strength) by rabbeting the edge to fit in a 1/4" slot. So far so good.

[Teamcasa]

Sure - it will work but making sure you hide the back cut line. Why not just get a new plywood supplier? My local shop has beautiful Oak 1/4" in both ply and MDF laminated.

Dave

[lwasserm]

Why not just use the 3/16 or 7/32 stuff that you do have available? If you do decide to use the 1/2 inch ply, instead of using the router, it would probably be easier and certainly quicker to just rabbet the egdes on a tablesaw.

[bdeditch]

[DADGAD]

Norm just did exactly that on his fireplace mantel project. He took just enough off a 1/2 inch sheet to fit snug in a 1/4 inch groove.

---> Ed

[jessek]

Just wondering if anyone has made cabinet doors like this. Since it is next to impossible to find true 1/4 " Oak plywood, just been finding

3/16th stuff, would it be possible to get 1/2 " Oak plywood and using a

raised panel router bit, trim the BACK of the plywood to get 1/4 " thick and use this for a front panel of the cabinet door. Please remember that the cut out will be on the back of the door, I know someone is going to say that I should use 3/4" Oak hardwood, glue together and then use the raised panel bit, just don't need the added expense of that.

_______________________________________________

Yep. It works great. It not only makes the stock a predictable size, but the shoulder can mask any variation in the dado if you use a router instead of a dado stack for the job.

I've gotta wonder, though- what's the raised panel bit for? That's going to look awfully funny if you run plywood through it, unless you're talking about something a bit different than what I'm thinking of. A regular straight bit should work fine on the plywood to get it down to 1/4"

[Wilson]