Personally I’d go 5inch+ for the top rail and 10inch+ for the bottom rail. There is a lot of load on the top joints, must be properly wedged M&T joints and thoroughly glued (in a nice warm environment to ensure full curing of the glue inside the joint, the cold we’re having at the moment makes...
veneer both sides to avoid unbalancing the panel. You can buy constructional thickness veneers (1-3mm thick) if you can’t cut them yourself, speak to DF Richards veneers in that case.
We always try to avoid veneering items for bathroom environments as the conditions are pretty grim for veneers...
Depends on the intended finish etc but generally we would form that shape using a convex former and layers of flexi ply or thin mdf, then apply a solid lipping to the front face edge (and back edge if seen) then veneer over it, using a vacuum bag press preferably. If you don’t have that...
We shut our factory yesterday and furloughed all the staff, the vast majority of our clients responded to our notification email by saying their sites were either closed or closing so I think the rest of the construction industry will follow suit soon. We’ve had a mixed response from our...
Commercially it’s generally just sanded up to circa 400 grit as going much beyond that makes it easily marked and the marks are more noticeable. Ultimately you can sand/polish it to whatever grit you like. It machines easier than you expect and I wouldn’t bother with any of the special router...
Another recommendation for fusion 360, for home use I don’t think it can be beaten. Free, Intuitive and loads of training videos on YouTube. We use inventor professionally as we need the additional functionality for the work we do but it’s a lot more expensive and I doubt you need the extra...
As the others have said try a different merchant as you should be able to select some decent straight lengths of par redwood or similar without much hassle. Alternatively buy it from a merchant that machines as well and ask them to par it to 25x25mm for you and check it’s straight when you...
It really depends what you’re intending to do with the machine. A cnc is more versatile and able to do things the spindle moulder can’t but as other have alluded to, the small scale inexpensive cnc’s are not really designed for anything more than light duty mdf machining if you study the reviews...
Just to add another layer of complication to the mix, you could do a rail and stile veneer layon which would look like your original joinery design but in veneer with concealed lippings. Alternatively orientate the veneer in an unusual way to give more visual interest to the doors, a sunburst...
We used west system epoxy recently with brass powder for a lettering infill we were producing a sample of for a client. The epoxy was a nice easy pouring consistency and with some black pigment in should give you a good result judging by our tests. Incidentally our client decided on lasercut...
Others on here recommended Avon plywood and having used them recently for a small job we needed to outsource, I couldn’t fault them. Very good to deal with
With the combination of cad and cnc, this has been superseded in commercial workshops. The ability to draw an item of joinery fully in 3D then export the cutting list and parts directly from the model, then upload them into the beam saw and/or cnc for cutting/machining makes a dramatic...
Loose tongue joint to strengthen the mitres and stopped housing joint for the shelf to avoid it showing as housed at the face. Or cheat and make it however you like then veneer the face edges last to give the mitred appearance