shaker style- 5 piece drawer door or solid?
Epiarch Designs
12 years ago
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Epiarch Designs
12 years agobabs711
12 years agoRelated Discussions
shaker-style drawers and cup pulls
Comments (8)I asked a very similar question the other day, but not nearly as clearly as you did. I appreciate seeing everybody's pictures. Mgkinz, I don't fully understand your last post. A raised panel versus a shaker panel is more or less just a case of how much profile there is on the panel. In neither case, is the door one piece of wood. A "true" shaker-style door is actually a raised panel turned backwards, with the raised side facing in. A slab door or drawer, however, is a solid piece of wood. Plywood is generally more stable (and heavier) than solid wood, so if I had a choice of materials for a flat panel, I might very well prefer plywood. I would prefer a reverse raised panel to plywood, however, since I think it is more authentic. On the subject of drawer fronts, my KD recommended five-piece drawer fronts because they are less prone to racking/twisting then slabs, especially on the big drawers....See Morebin pulls on 5 piece drawer fronts? any pics?
Comments (2)I put mine on the upper rail, so, not where you have in mind. I didn't want to jam up my fingers trying to open the drawers, but I also just wanted them higher. Oh, and I have four drawer fronts that are glass inside the stiles and rails so those obviously had to go higher. I can take a pic if you want, but I don't think that's what you are after, am I right?!...See More3-piece shaker drawer fronts?
Comments (11)great input, thanks. I have a lot of drawers, so with slab I was concerned that it might look kind of unfinished, or like a slab front kitchen. I have both stacks of drawers and drawers on top of cabinet doors. The cab people ensured that the stiles would line up on drawers over doors. You're absolutely right about letting the grain of the walnut shine through uninterrupted. This 3-piece looks either kind of dated or kind of craftsman, which my house is not. It's 1904 and while we're not bending over backwards to preserve, I do like things to look not TOO out of time/place. I'm having the same style but painted in the adjacent dining area, and that might be a different consideration as there won't be the wood grain to show off. On a side note: man, these walnut cab doors are ge-orgeous....See MoreSolid Wood Cabinet door vs 5 Piece Cabinet Door
Comments (3)Two things you need to know about solid wood. 1. Wood moves. You cannot stop it but you must allow for it. It is anisotropic. I tell people it's analogous to people putting on weight. If I put on 50 lbs, I would not get much taller. Wood expands (and contracts) minimally in length (along the grain) with absorption (and desorption ) of moisture. It will expand and contract more in two directions, (a) radially, from the center of the tree out and (b) tangentially, along the growth rings, i.e., around the circumference. For most woods, the tangential is approximately double the radial. This is why if you see some dried firewood, you'll usually see a pie-piece shaped crack/void. It's also why plain-sawn wood can cup. If I put on 50 lb, I'd probably put on a significant "beer belly" (front to back) and a little bit less of "muffin top." (side to side) This is why you would never put a solid door inset into a cabinet. In the dry season, it'd have a big gap and in the wet season you may not be able to get it open. As to whether or not it might warp, it depends on how the wood is chosen and what the grain pattern is like. Quarter-sawn wood will have maximal expansion in thickness and minimal in width and less tendency to warp, other things being equal. 2, Wood has planes of weakness and planes of strength. Did you ever see martial arts hit a piece of wood and have it break? Did you ever notice that the grain is running up and down and not between the hands supporting it? Otherwise, they could probably never break it. The wood is weakest up and down the tree. In your second scenario, the grain will be running perpendicular to the rails (horizontal pieces) and if that's only a couple inches wide, it will be very weak. Compound that with the expansion issue above and this is not an option I would ever choose. That is why the "5 piece" AKA frame and panel, is the most common construction method. The rails and stiles have maximum strength and minimal cross grain expansion. If the panel is plywood or some engineered wood, it will have minimal expansion. If it's solid wood (AKA raised panel) then its expansion and contraction is within the stiles' grooves. Solid wood doors often have internal expansion joints and battens on the back to retain them. Engineered woods do not have these issues. Sometimes a sheet, say MDF, is routed out to look like a raised panel, but it's really still just a sheet of MDF. If the corners are rounded and not square, that's the tip-off. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/WoodMovement.pdf https://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/09/03/moisture-content-wood-movement/...See Morecoco4444
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