Thread: Want to change raised panel cabinet doors to flat/slab panel.

Hi Okeroa

some options for you

easiest way is to build / buy new doors. If you do the colour will be consistent between the door panels and styles/rails. The old doors could be repurposed, rather than sent to land fill.

the raised panels can be cut out of the existing doors using a router to cut off the inside lip of the groove the panels sit in. You will most likely need to build a jig to guide and control the router so that you don't take too much off either the doors or panels. The raised panels can then be reversed and reinserted -- but you will need to retain them with a battens pinned to the inside of the door styles and rails. The end result will look very Jerry built on the inside of the doors. Also, because the outside of the doors have 25+ years of wear and light exposure, it's possible that there will be a very noticeable colour difference between the door frames and panels.

replacing the raised panels with solid wood or veneered flat panels has similar issues as above with colour matching and retaining the new panels.


another consideration is the condition of other kitchen components -- work surfaces, drawer runners, door hinges, carcasses and shelves -- after 25+ years of use. Perhaps, it's time for a whole new set of kitchen cabinets. The major material costs in a kitchen are the work surfaces, drawer runners, hinges, handles, etc. Plus the labour to install it all. In comparison the carcass boxes are relatively cheap.

I agree with Ian. The plan you have while feasible, is false economy.

Regards,

Rob

Hi Ian thank you very much for your detailed reply. The kitchen has been renovated and I have complete new corian bench tops etc ( I should have stated this in original post - my apologies ) I lightened the cabinet doors myself ( took me many many hours to strip back and lighten with one coat and then two coats ) in the hope of saving the solid oak cabinet doors from landfill. I really appreciate your advice on options available to me. I am not a woodworker however I have an interest in timber/wood and a preference to work of old and try to resist just going with ' trends '. If they weren't solid timber this would be a no brainer. Unfortunately the doors can not be re-worked any where else in the house

Hello Rob, my question isn't about $$ it is about saving cabinet doors from landfill.

The kitchen is fully renovated with exception of backsplash however despite my work on cabinet facings architect and husband feel the cabinet doors need to go.

Please see attached images of nearly completed renovated kitchen doors / kitchen. I quite like their newish state ( in these images the oak is still looking quite honey colour ) however it doesn't complete the house ' look ' well. We have even shaved the handles - complete surface sliced off to reveal lighter colour so handles not so obvious. Despite my efforts though it would appear that that 80's kitchen in a mid century modern house doesn't work and still screams 80s - according to others

2015-12-04_09.10.47.jpg2015-12-04_09.09.27.jpg

Thank you again for the advice.

Regards
Oaks

It seems a shame to me to cover those solid timber doors, but I can understand the dynamics of competing opinions during renovations. There's a thread on here about a recent architect directed renovation in Sydney that made a beautiful solid Crows Ash benchtop and used plywood for flat doors, so timber doesn't necessarily scream 80s in everyone's eye.

At least your doors don't have archtops and are clear and nicely matched grain. Would it be possible to route the field down to a level that would make them look more Shakerish? Another option for just saving the doors from landfill might be to fix a thin sheet of marine ply over the existing door front and apply a paint finish of choice?

Hi Oaks

I'm sure if you asked on here, more than one of the regular posters from Perth would happily save the doors from land fill and repurpose them into something else. Unfortunately, the people I might suggest are all based in Sydney.

I think giving the wood to someone else is a better option than trying to shave down the raised field.
Shaving is doable, but ...
you need to know what you are doing, especially how to support a router in the middle of the panel, which cutters to select, and how to clean up after routing. If you are not partially already geared up as a woodworker, it will be a reasonably expensive exercise with no guarantee hubby and architect will OK the finished product.


I must be showing my age, the current doors like quite acceptable to me.

Thanks heaps Fuzzie. And you are quite right about the arch tops because I don't think I could live with that. I/We do like timber it's just the detailing - really it's just the raised panel that presents too much detail & this is why I didn't turn to painting the cabinets as we do like timber and timber look. And to be fair the cabinet doors were/are in great condition.

Will certainly re-look at covering with marine ply and then applying a protective coat. This idea has the most appeal to me. Or live with them as they are and just ignore the architect and my husband too - heck it's not like it's the first time

Be careful with adding ply over the top; normal cabinet hinges will generally only handle 21-22mm thick doors, any thicker and the hinge side of the door will bind against the one next to it when you try to open it.

You'll also be breaking the golden rule of "Always do the same thing to both sides of a panel". Having ply only on one side might cause you a lot of grief with the doors cupping/warping with changes in weather/season.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Would it be possible to route the field down to a level that would make them look more Shakerish? Another option for just saving the doors from landfill might be to fix a thin sheet of marine ply over the existing door front and apply a paint finish of choice?

Originally Posted by Okeroa

Will certainly re-look at covering with marine ply and then applying a protective coat. This idea has the most appeal to me. Or live with them as they are and just ignore the architect and my husband too - heck it's not like it's the first time

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Be careful with adding ply over the top; normal cabinet hinges will generally only handle 21-22mm thick doors, any thicker and the hinge side of the door will bind against the one next to it when you try to open it.

You'll also be breaking the golden rule of "Always do the same thing to both sides of a panel". Having ply only on one side might cause you a lot of grief with the doors cupping/warping with changes in weather/season.

Hi Oaks

please don't go down the "ply panel on top" route. If you do you might as well throw the existing doors away and buy new ones made of MDF.

Interesting ... we have the same door fronts in Tassie Oak and I had planned to build new doors with flat panels.

An idea occurs to me. Doable, but perhaps more work than you may want ...

Build a router sled to run on the frame. Using a straight, rabetting bit, plane away the area that is the raised panel until it is a flat panel. Finish with card scrapers.

This leaves behind a flat but recessed panel, but it saves all the existing doors and saves construction, new timber, etc.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Apparently I too am old! I admire your commitment to not 'throw out' these beautiful doors. Would it possibly look better/more modern if the fielded panel had a square edge? This could be achieved using a handheld/table mounted router with an appropriate bit. Could end up being quite a bit of work and not as easy as it sounds, but you would certainly have my admiration if you took the job on and achieved a 'win'.

Cheers,
David

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Interesting ... we have the same door fronts in Tassie Oak and I had planned to build new doors with flat panels.

An idea occurs to me. Doable, but perhaps more work than you may want ...

Build a router sled to run on the frame. Using a straight, rabetting bit, plane away the area that is the raised panel until it is a flat panel. Finish with card scrapers.

This leaves behind a flat but recessed panel, but it saves all the existing doors and saves construction, new timber, etc.

Regards from Perth

Derek

as you say, Derek, it's doable.

Changes I'd make to your suggestion is to use a bit designed to cut a flat bottomed recess, such as a
dish or tray bit -- carb-i-tool item TD 716 1/2 -- http://envirocatalogue.com.au/Carbit...uter_Bit/#18/z or a
dado and planer bit -- CMT item 852.503.11 -- http://www.cmtutensili.com/show_items.asp?pars=RB~852~2

bits that size require a variable speed router -- but I'd be inclined to use two routers one with a small radius cutter for the corners, the other with a large radius cutter for the bulk of the work. That way both cutters could be permanently set to the required depth of cut.

I'd then follow up with two sanders -- a third sheet one for the bulk of the work and a detail sander for the edges and corners .

If like Oaks you are not a woodworker, gearing up to make a rigid router sled, obtaining a router (or two), a rigid work surface, a sander and possibly a dust extractor is not an inexpensive exercise. The costs of the cutters is trivial by comparison.