Tall built in cabinet doors

danceswithwindows

danceswithwindows
Corporate Member
I am working on a built in cabinet / wardrobe similar to the one attached. I am well along the way with the carcass and things are going well. I am using 3/4 birch plywood. The cabinetry is frameless and the hinges for the door will be full overlay.

I’m getting nervous about the doors. They will be full height ( like the ones in the photo), about 90 inches tall and 24 inches wide. Original plan was to use 3/4 plywood, but I feel like that will be too heavy now. I’m also worried that such a long door will warp and I might end up with an ugly gap or bend at the top or bottom.

Should I go with 1/2” ply, or will that further compound any warpage potential? Perhaps I am taking the wrong approach and should build some shaker style doors out of poplar and use a 1/4 ply for the interior panel?

Interested in you alls thoughts on tall cabinet doors like this.
 

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Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
There is no guaranty that what ever you build could warp or twist. Looking at the picture you posted it’s hard to tell what material was used with the doors on those units. If I had to guess it’s MDF and has at least 5 to 6 hinges. Personally I would use frame and panel construction with 7 hinges. I would spend a great deal of attention on material preparation for the frame to insure it’s stability in the long run. At 90 inches i would divide the frame into at least three sections. So that would give you four rails with three panels. You could add more if it’s more pleasing to you but three would be the least I would do. I hope this helps. and good luck with your build. By the why please share you build with us, we love to share in you success.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
I agree with Graywolf, there are no guarantees here. Truthfully I don’t know how they got away with it, but it sure looks good.

I would definitely want cross rails, and I would make them as well as the top and bottom rails a little wider than the stiles. I would also laminate the stiles rather than trusting the wood. This is a technique often used in door making, use a hard setting glue/clamp to a flat surface while drying. Odd number of plies.

IMO this is not a door you want to use standard cope and stick joinery - full mortise & tenon.

Gluing in the panels will add a lot of strength, I agree 3/4 is going to make a heavy door. and not very pretty when doing flat panels. By the same token, you want some mass or the door will feel flimsy. I use 3/8 MDF when I want that solid feel, but even that might be too heavy in these doors. I think 1/4” MDF wouke be ok.

Upper/lower sets of doors that match the height of the middle unit?
 

creasman

Jim
Staff member
Corporate Member
I have similar size doors on a cabinet I made for the garage. They're about 7' x 2'. These are made from 3/4" melamine and have remained flat, even with the heat and humidity changes. These are perfect for the garage, but probably not the material you want to use on a nicer cabinet.

I agree with the previous comments regarding construction using frame and panel. If you make them, also have a large, flat table when doing the glue up.
 

shawn

New User
shawn
Plywood will likely be warped/twisted from the start. Frame and panel is the best way of you have the means to flatten your stock and your saws are set accurately. If your joints are even slightly out of square, it will introduce twist. The nice thing about euro hinges is you can adjust for some twist. Use at least 4 high quality hinges such as Blum, Salice, Haefele. The snap on type are great. Make your styles 3" wide.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
As graywolf has said, Use alot of hinges. This also would help supporting the weight if you were to use MDF. I would also consider having someone CNC the doors if you use MDF or HDF, they will be perfectly square, all hinge boring done and could be face decorated anyway the customer may want.
 

danceswithwindows

danceswithwindows
Corporate Member
Thanks all - here is a progress photo (sorry, I'm only halfway through the doors and didn't take pictures yet). I have gone with frame and panel, 3" inch stiles and rails (3 intermediate rails), 5 Blum hinges on each door from Rockler and I am assembling them all on a large bench to try get things as flat as possible. I am only going with 1/4 panels, but gluing them into the rails and stiles to provide more rigidity hopefully. I'm out of my depth with this one but moving forward!

Appreciate everyone's advice to date!


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danceswithwindows

danceswithwindows
Corporate Member
Wanted to update you guys on the final product. See attached photos. I'm happy with how flat the final doors came out. The 5 expensive hinges on each door certainly help make it feel more stable!

Thanks for everyone's words of advice and encouragement during the build. On to the next one!
 

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waitup

Matt
Corporate Member
Looks good, and I love the useful storage added! One question though, it looks like the hinges are biased towards the bottom of the door rather than centered. Why did you decide to do that?
 

danceswithwindows

danceswithwindows
Corporate Member
Looks good, and I love the useful storage added! One question though, it looks like the hinges are biased towards the bottom of the door rather than centered. Why did you decide to do that?
The shelving on the right hand side screwed up my equal spacing and I wanted the hinge locations to all more or less match on each door. Maybe could have done a better job adjusting to those obstacles though!
 

waitup

Matt
Corporate Member
Not a critique at all. I have a couple of similar projects coming up in closets and a mudroom. I'm trying to learn all I can before I start making sawdust.
 

Craptastic

Matt
Corporate Member
Nicely executed.

Looks like you barely fit under the protruding light bulb on the right side. You beat me on that one. The same type of fixture caught me on a kitchen cabinet install just last year.

Just Get Smart missed it by that much.
 

danceswithwindows

danceswithwindows
Corporate Member
Nicely executed.

Looks like you barely fit under the protruding light bulb on the right side. You beat me on that one. The same type of fixture caught me on a kitchen cabinet install just last year.

Just Get Smart missed it by that much.

Not exactly….. I had to replace the fixture that was there with a waffle flush mount LED. Was not part of the original plan!
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Give us a message back in 6 months.

Sorrym somebody had to say it.

nice job.
Have faith, he did a great job.
We use to do cabinet doors and ship them all over the country, never had an issue with tall doors warping. We always made sure the customers take care of how they are stored, if not installed immediately after delivery.

24ABDCC5-36C2-4B67-870E-F4CCDC5E75A8.jpeg
 

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