Cupboard doors

[Senator]

I have to make a large floor to ceiling cupboard with several shaker stile doors hung inset on a face frame with brass butts.
I do not want them to move to much or twist at all, the whole cupboard will be painted. I am going to use Douglas Fir rather than Joinery Redwood as I think it will be far more stable. What are all your thoughts on this?
Using MR MDf is not really ideal as chopping in and fitting brass butts in to edges is not a good idea in my opinion. Plus edge lipping could be an option I suppose.

 

[RobinBHM]

I think I would choose a hardwood rather than Doug fir, maybe tulipwood, or if you want some grain to show through the paint then ash would be a good choice, both similar price to doug fir.

 

[dzj]

If grain won't be showing through the paint, I would go for MDF panels. More stable than wood and you can glue them
to the frame for some extra stability.

 

[Senator]

What is against using Douglas Fir RobinBHM?
I should have said that I would use MDf for the panels and Douglas Fir for stiles and rails then the brass butts will be fitted to solid wood rather than MDf.
Tulip wood is not very dense and cannot resist knocks that well in my opinion.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

My 2d's worth:

- IMHO in terms of dimensional stability, there's not much difference between good quality redwood and Dougy Fir.
- There's probably not that much difference in stability between softwood and temperate hardwoods like oak, ash etc.
- I think if you want stability, then go for sapele or some other dull-looking tropical hardwood, or go for engineered material like ply/MDF or perhaps Accoya

Maybe a combination of materials? e.g redwood/sapele frames with MDF panels or what-have-you?

Cheers, W2S

PS I have some hundred-year-old cupboard doors (and windows!) made our of redwood and they're just fine

 

[No skills]

As someone with limited experience I would like to know what really constitutes a good quality piece of pine/redwood. Minimal knots yes, the way the piece is sawn yes, obvious twist and cup - but what's else? How close should the growth rings be? Is there other things to look for?

 

[RobinBHM]

Douglas fir is a great timber, but it has prominent banding between spring and summer growth which may telegraph through paintwork. I find the timber can have resin pockets which can be a pain to cut around.

I believe doug fir and tulip have similar densities, although I agrees tulip can be a bit soft.

Alternative, more dense hardwoods could be sapele, utile, beech all close grained. Ash is a good choice if you want the grain to show.

Nothing wrong with unsorted softwood, but moisture content could be a bit high and careful selection would be needed to ensure stability.

 

[Senator]

Good comments Robin, if it was your job what would you use to be confident of no comebacks due to doors twisting?
I am leaning towards using Tulip now. Redwood's moisture content is a bit worrying I think. According to Trada Douglas movement is small, Tulip is medium. Not sure about other hardwoods.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

... know what really constitutes a good quality piece of pine/redwood...

Straight grain, even and tight growth rings, indicative of slow, even growth. Symmetrical along the central axis (no reaction wood - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_wood). But every piece of wood is different and sometimes even the best-looking bits can hold surprises!

Another point I didn't mention is the importance of good design in allowing for/minimising the effect of movement.

Cheers, W2S