Bedroom wardrobe doors advice please

[fobos8]

Hi all

I need to make a load of doors for some fitted wardrobe carcases. The doors will be nothing fancy, two rails, two stiles and a piece of obscured glass in the middle. The timber will be painted white. They'll be 2.3m high, 400mm wide. The bottom rail will 150 wide and the top rail and stiles will be 75mm wide. All will be around 21mm thick. There will be no profile on the timber just square and simple with a groove for the glass to go in.

Which timber should I use? All the softwood I get in Jersey is full of knots so should I use a cheap hardwood.

When should I paint the timber? The glass will be fitted when the door is assembled/glued up. Should I paint the door pieces before glue up or should I paint the whole thing after glue up. I want to achieve a professional finish without ANY paint getting on the glass. How do I do that?

Thanks in advance, Andrew

 

[Graham Orm]

Sounds like a perfect job for MDF to me (assuming they will be sliding and not swinging).

 

[jasonB]

22mm MDF OK for hinged too but have the glass retained by a bead or solid backing so you can paint first or replace broken glass.

 

[Graham Orm]

22mm MDF OK for hinged too but have the glass retained by a bead or solid backing so you can paint first or replace broken glass.

How would you joint the MDF on a fully glazed hinged door of those sizes Jason? I'd be nervous about it staying together with all that weight.

 

[Mar_mite]

I think the easiest way of doing it would be to cut a piece of 18mm the size of the door and plant on 6mm to make it look like stiles and rails, then fix a mirror into the panel with a few blobs of silicone. Just don't use to much glue to fix the plant on mdf, it can have a tendency to bow the door when the glue dries.

 

[Chrispy]

Or you could use a single piece of mdf and just cut a hole in it add a rebate for the glass easy.

 

[twothumbs]

Do remember that glass is heavy. Also the glass should be laminated or toughened. Laminated is easier to obtain. Others can conform or otherwise. I would back the planted stiles, etc to retain as much strength as possible. Best wsihes to you.

 

[Graham Orm]

Do remember that glass is heavy. Also the glass should be laminated or toughened. Laminated is easier to obtain. Others can conform or otherwise. I would back the planted stiles, etc to retain as much strength as possible. Best wsihes to you.

Lammy is much heavier than toughened. I'd go for toughened.............but to be honest, I wouldn't make hinged, glazed doors that big at all.

 

[petermillard]

Glass is heavy, but not *that* heavy - roughly three times the weight of MDF at the same thickness i.e. 6mm glass weighs the same as 18mm MDF (~15kg/sq m) or about twice as much as 9mm MDF. And it comes in different thicknesses, so you can reduce the weight by a third if you use 4mm instead of 6mm.

So now you have a 4mm panel, sandblasted and toughened (or with an applied frosted film) that weighs roughly 10Kg / sq m, vs a 9mm MDF panel at roughly 7.5 kg/ sq m; on a door that size, the panel is just over half a square meter, so the glass (and therefore the whole door) would weigh what, 1.5 kg more, max, than if you'd used 22mm MDF with a 9mm panel??

On that basis I'd have no issues making a door of that size using my normal construction methods i.e. Dominos, loose tenons, stub tenons, whatever. My only concern with a panel that size would be the door flexing; I think I'd be inclined to put a centre rail in, personally. And hinges would be Blum concealed with soft closers, of course

Cheers, Pete.

 

[fobos8]

thanks for the answers guys....

Planted on rails and stiles on and MDF board is a good idea but my dad (who the wardrobes are for) would like the door to like like a glazed door from the inside and outside.

Cutting the whole door from a single piece of MDF as suggested might work, cutting a hole for the glass and adding a rebate. However I'm worried that this construction might not be stiff enough. 4 inch MDF skirting boards are very bendy so I'm sure the door would be as well.

Why is nobody suggesting using timber with tenons? surely this would be the best bet for a solid, stiff construction?

or is wood so........... last century??

 

[AndyT]

OK, decent straight timber with well-fitting mortice and tenon joints will make you a fine door. Paint it before installing the glass which should be beaded into a rebate.
But the answers so far are largely from a professional, commercial point of view and I guess they assume a customer who is unwilling to pay more than they have to.
Could you give us a bit more about the circumstances on this one. Is it a commercially priced job or a family favour? Do you have the skill to do M&TS?

 

[Mar_mite]

Tulip wood is the best timber. Run a rebate around all the inside faces. Use the rebate to mark out your mortises and tenons, remembering to allow for long and short shoulders on the tenon. To fit the rebate. You may have to use a rebated, 'wrap around' bead to hold the glass in, depending on how much room is left.

 

[jasonB]

22mm MDF OK for hinged too but have the glass retained by a bead or solid backing so you can paint first or replace broken glass.

How would you joint the MDF on a fully glazed hinged door of those sizes Jason? I'd be nervous about it staying together with all that weight.

I'd use my usual loose tongues, cut a double rebate, the first to take the glass, the second wider one to take a 6mm backing which can be screwed on all round with 16mm CSK screws. The backing serves two purposes, 1. it triangulates the door and stops it from sagging, 2. it stops the hinge side style from bowing.

I use the same method on glazed sliding doors so the handle style does not flex when the door is pulled

 

[Graham Orm]

22mm MDF OK for hinged too but have the glass retained by a bead or solid backing so you can paint first or replace broken glass.

How would you joint the MDF on a fully glazed hinged door of those sizes Jason? I'd be nervous about it staying together with all that weight.

I'd use my usual loose tongues, cut a double rebate, the first to take the glass, the second wider one to take a 6mm backing which can be screwed on all round with 16mm CSK screws. The backing serves two purposes, 1. it triangulates the door and stops it from sagging, 2. it stops the hinge side style from bowing.

I use the same method on glazed sliding doors so the handle style does not flex when the door is pulled

Good thinking Jason, that would work! There's always a way! :wink:

 

[fobos8]

that looks like a really smooth finish on those cabinets Jason.

Are they handpainted or sprayed? Which paint are you using?

Andrew

 

[jasonB]

Applied with 4" roller and layed off with a 2" brush.

I think the cream ones were oil based eggshell and the white waterbase eggshell, both Dulux Trade.

J

 

[fobos8]

Applied with 4" roller and layed off with a 2" brush.

I think the cream ones were oil based eggshell and the white waterbase eggshell, both Dulux Trade.

good to know that you can achieve a good finish with spraying

thanks, Andrew