[ESwierenga]

I am in the process of making cabinets for our kitchen. All that is left to do is make the doors and the drawer fronts. I am thinking I will do slab drawer fronts and shaker style doors. The tallest doors I am planning are roughly 44".

I have seen some discussion online about the best materials to use as the inset panels to avoid warping, but one material I haven't found addressed in this way is glass.
Could putting glass in these tall doors help to keep it straight?

Is it generally the edges that cause door warp, the inner panel, or a combination? I am sure there can be plenty of ways for a door to get wonky, but do you know which usually causes the problems?

If the edges warp, would they stress the glass enough to break? Or would the rigid glass kind of keep things sane.

I'm not even sure I'd want glass on this cabinet, but I figured you all would be able to help me think through whether this should even be an option.

 

[Nealtw]

The warp is caused by moisture most of the time. You want dry lumber to start with but even when dry the center will be wetter than the outside. Any machining sanding or anything want to be equal on both sides and then you will have little trouble with warping. There is no panel that will keep any door straight.

 

[joed]

Glass will not prevent warping. Glass itself will not warp so that would eliminate any warp caused by the center panel though.

 

[Nealtw]

Glass will bend until it won't bend, then it breaks.

 

[joed]

It might bend but it won't warp on its own.

 

[SeniorSitizen]

Choose frame lumber as close to quarter sawed as possible and if dried down to 6-8 % moisture for drier moisture states or a dry climate, about 10 % moisture content for more humid areas and you'll be fine.

 

[interiordesign2]

I agree with Joe glass won't prevent the material from warping.

 

[Two Knots]

Re: Cabinet Door

What kind of wood are you using?
Here's what we did, be aware we're not pro's :smile:

We have shaker doors. We purchased ( rough sawn)
quarter sawn white oak. We made our panels by re-sawing
down the rough wood,( with a table saw)
then glued the wood together, then
planed it, then sanded -- it to get the panels the same thickness.

The panels float in the frame. They are not glued in as the
others mentioned wood swells and shrinks with the moisture.

wood shrinks more in the end wood.

Now, if you don't have the equipment to do this, you
can buy 4 X 8 sheets of vaneer wood ( I'm not sure
if it's 1/8" or 1/4" thick) It is stable and won't shrink.
You can use this for your (floating) panels.

 

[ryansdiydad]

I made these about 2 years ago out of poplar and birch ply... no real issues so far..

 

[Two Knots]

That looks very nice. Please share that nice color creamy paint
that you used.
Poplar paints up beautifully. Difficult to get a nice stain job IMHO.
We've made several things from poplar, only one project was
a disaster.

 

[ryansdiydad]

I redid all the first floor window/door trim and baseboards with poplar and just kept with it for the cabinets.. the color is Benjamin Moore cotton balls... I think it was one of the trim colors that Benjamin Moore recommended to go with their revere pewter paint..