Panel for kitchen cabinet doors

[todd]

I'm in the process of building kitchen cabinets. I'm at the stage of building doors and have a problem. I'm using a frame and panel design for the door. The panel was intended to be 1/4" maple plywood. The rail and stile cutter set I have cuts a groove expecting 7/32" (actual thickness) plywood. This will come as a surprise to very few people, but the 1/4" ply is well short of 7/32". I can think of some ways to keep the panel from rattling around, but I'm curious about how other people deal with this problem.

todd

[tom]

They make those "Space balls". Slip a couple in on each side of the panel. Tom

[Patriarch]

"todd" wrote in news:dYWdnYlauYiMUVDenZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Window screen spline comes to mind. So does a spot or two of yellow glue, judiciously applied.

Have fun with your project.

Patriarch

[Swingman]

An old cabinetmaker's trick is/was twine/string stuffed inside, and all around, the panel groove.

[todd]

I was under the impression that the Space Balls were designed to take up space around the perimeter of the panel to keep it from rattling up and down and sideways. I'm thinking more along the lines of in and out, if that makes any sense.

todd

[Amused]

There is a large cabinet plant in my town.

They use a small, spongy, highly compressible, inserts in the dados. They look like neoprene rubber weather stripping pieces to me. (I don't know that they are actually neoprene, but for a very small project, I'd probably look for a small neoprene "rope" and just cut the inserts about an inch long.) The inserts keep the panels centered, but still allow expansion and contraction. They insert the things about every 12-18 inches.

I'm guessing, if I knew what the were called, you could probably order a bag of them, online.

[Swingman]

A solution, whichever you decide upon, generally solves both problems.

[dadiOH]

You could glue in small wood wedges on the back side, cut off flush. If you dislike whatever empty space shows use tapered splines rather than wedges.

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[Leon]

Space balls will keep the panel centered however you still have the problem of the panel moving front to back and you see a gap at the front. Cut thin long shims to slide into the slot behind the panel.

[Swingman]

If you've ever used properly sized twine, it will also keep the panel from moving front to back ... I know, I didn't believe it either. ;)

That said, I've also used plane shavings for shims on the backside, and as far as I know they are still doing the job years later.

[OldSalt]

I use a brad nailer on all raised and flat panel doors. After centering the panel I put one brad top and bottem center and two or three on the stiles. Position the nailer on the panel and againest the stile with an outward angle of about 45 degrees. Works good and lasts a long time. Keeps panel in place and even the solid panels can move since the brads are at an angle. For the last 15 years I have not seen a brad work lose or a panel crack.

[Leuf]

How bout a strip of veneer glued on the backside of the dado?

-Leuf

[Mike]

Todd, "Rattling" will not be the only problem. Because the panel is too thin, in addition to "rattling", there will be a visible gap between the panels and the stiles, and this will look sloppy. The solution I've used is to run a bead of quarter-round around the inside perimeter of the door, gluing only to the door frame, not the panel itself.

In a class I took with CH Becksvoort, making a Shaker clock, we used

1/8"x3/16" quarter-round around the door panel. This works very well in that when you install it, you can press the panel against the back, thus taking up any slack. The panel will not rattle at all and looks absolutely perfect.

However, having quarter-round around the inside of each panel will change the look, so that's always something to consider.

Mike

todd wrote: