Buy vs Build Cabinet Doors

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:28 pm

Anybody purchased cabinet doors rather than build your own? Who did you use? Thanks for your thoughts.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:51 pm

Cabinet doors are intimidating until you actually start making them.
Invest in the router bits and you will see they really aren't that hard to make.

As far as buying them Rockler was a good prospect.

However I was able to build mine using maple(wife loved the grain) stain them to look like Pecan (wife loves the color of pecan) and buy the router bits and still save enough money to say wow! And I would and have done it again and again.

Also go to your local cabinet shops almost anyone of them will probably make cabinet doors for you. Offer to be their slave for the day and you might get the door cheap plus learn how they do it.

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:44 pm

Thanks Ed. I'm thinking of making a very simple shaker style door in walnut. It seems none of the door manufactures offer it but I could be convinced to buy the doors if the price was right and walnut was available. Of course then I'd miss all the fun of building them. I'll just apply a clear coat over the walnut doors. It should be a good match the rest of my late 70's dark woodwork.

Did you reface your cabinet boxes also when you replaced the doors? It's great that your wife likes the pecan finish!

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 10:49 pm

tomsalwasser wrote:Thanks Ed. I'm thinking of making a very simple shaker style door in walnut. It seems none of the door manufactures offer it but I could be convinced to buy the doors if the price was right and walnut was available. Of course then I'd miss all the fun of building them. I'll just apply a clear coat over the walnut doors. It should be a good match the rest of my late 70's dark woodwork.

Did you reface your cabinet boxes also when you replaced the doors? It's great that your wife likes the pecan finish!

Actually on that job I built the cabinets and all. I was real worried about the stiles and rails cuts but the matched set of router bits made it almost idiot proof. The panel raising bit I was real worried about but it was simple also.

Now I make cabinet doors without a lot of thought.

Initial adjustment can be a little trial and error but after I got it where I wanted I cut some gauges (scraps with the correct profile) that I now use to set the bit real close and then it is just a tweak or two before it is perfect. The whole process even with out the set up gauges takes less time than it does telling about it. Once set up you can cut a ton of rails and stiles and never have to touch an adjustment. They are built so you have a great mating surface to put the corners together with.

All you have to do is make sure you have the rails the same length and stiles the same length. You will end up with perfect doors with 90 degree corners.

When you cut the glue up profile make sure you use a backer board since you are cutting across grain and you can blow the back out. It is simple.

berry · Post by **berry** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 8:47 am

Go ahead and make them. With a Shaker style you don't have a raised panel to work with. You can use 1/4" walnut (hardwood) plywood, mdf core. Youngblood Lumber, here in the Cities sells nice stuff. It'll be a great project.

Happy New Year!

anmius · Post by **anmius** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:32 am

I too suggest you make them. I just finished a total kitchen remodel and I made all of the doors and drawers on my Shopsmith. I used stub tenon and groove joinery with matching plywood panels for the "Shaker" look and they were relatively easy to make (with the right jigs) and look great.

If you don't know about this type of joinery, just Google it and there will be more information about it than you can stand.

stevespix · Post by **stevespix** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:01 pm

I bought mine the last time I built cabinets because of the time factor involved. The door maker in my area is such high quality and gets them out so quick, I can't do it myself for what he charges. My wife wanted to get them in quick. If time isn't a factor I would build them myself.

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:04 pm

Thanks Steve. Where did you get your doors? I see lots of options online but it would help me narrow down the list based on feedback like yours.

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:11 am

berry wrote:Go ahead and make them. With a Shaker style you don't have a raised panel to work with. You can use 1/4" walnut (hardwood) plywood, mdf core. Youngblood Lumber, here in the Cities sells nice stuff. It'll be a great project.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year you too berry, and to all my Shopsmith cousins out there.

I'll probably make the doors since none of the online door manufacturers seem to offer walnut. I want to use solid walnut with a clear coat of some sort. I will be refacing my late 70's vintage kitchen cabinets and was looking at buying the doors to git 'er dun a little faster. Great tip on the mdf core walnut veneer plywood from Youngbloods. I will use that for the side panels and door panels. I plan to use solid 1/4" walnut for the cabinet faces instead of glue on veneer.

stevespix · Post by **stevespix** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:20 pm

Check with a local cabinet shop because most of them now buy their doors. Specialization has taken over it seems. I built my laundery room cabinets to match my kitchens out of hickory. I took one of the doors with me to the door maker with the sizes I wanted and a week later they were done. All I had to do was finish them and mount the hardware. I was at the end of my remodel and wanted to get done. I had 13 doors made and it cost me about $600, I couldn't do that myself for that. Happy New Year!