# 5 piece cabinet door glue-up



## JoeMurphy (Apr 9, 2013)

Hello all,

This weekend I made my first set of kitchen cabinets and made a big mistake. I made 24 5-piece doors and large drawer fronts and over tightened my clamps on many of them. Now the stiles are out of flat such that when the rails are flat on a table, the outside edge if the stile is off the table about a 1/32" or 3/64". Is there any hope of mitigating this? Remaking all of the doors is not an option as I have too much time and material into them. I either fix this or live with it. once they are installed I do not think this defect will be terribly noticeable but I will know it is there and be disappointed in my kitchen ever time I look at it. I also think it will be difficult to route the edge profile if the door is not flat. I thought I may clamp them face to face overnight? Maybe clamp them to something flat? If anyone has a tried and true trick for this I will be very grateful if you share it.

Thanks in advance,

Joe


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## JoeMurphy (Apr 9, 2013)

P.S. Now that I screwed up a bunch of material, I read up on using cauls when clamping flat glue ups and checking for flat after clamping. Next time I will not make this mistake. Live and learn I guess…...


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

You could try clamping them, not sure if that'll work, or if it will break the joint, since that's probably where the bend is. Could you just hand plane (unless you have a large drum sander) the stiles to be flush with the rest of the door? Your doors will have a slight trapezoidal shape when viewed from the top/bottom, but if it's 1/32", it probably wont be noticeable to anyone but you.


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## mnguy (Feb 4, 2009)

Maybe take them to a shop with a thickness sander and knock the "high spots" off? I suspect clamping them down flat and giving them some time to 'relax' won't work.


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## JoeMurphy (Apr 9, 2013)

Thanks, I am more worried about the low spots than the high spots. The rails are curled away from where they will rest on the cabinet so that when the doors are closed the hinge side and the opposite edge will not be touching the face frame but the flat stile will be.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

I'm confused now, can you post a picture? You say the hinge side and opposite side won't touch the frame, but the stile will…aren't the hinge side and the opposite side the stiles, with the rail spanning between them?

It may look odd, or maybe not depending on the style, but you could add a bead molding around the outside of the doors/drawers that could hide the gap.


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## JoeMurphy (Apr 9, 2013)

Ed, you are right. I typed rail where I meant stile and vice-versa.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

For future reference, and I've only made a total of 8 frame/panel doors in my time, but you should be able to assemble the doors with just a little clamping pressure to hold any tiny gaps shut while the glue dries. The strength should come from a good-fitting mortise/tenon or stub-tenon joint. If you have to really crank on it to get together, you should rework the joints a bit. I've read that in some cases, a joint that's extremely tight can cause issues with when it swells due to the glue.


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## JoeMurphy (Apr 9, 2013)

Here is a photo….










See how tight a joint you get when you use 20,000 lbs of clamping pressure?


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

I think the best way to fix this is to find someone with a drum sander. send them all through with the cupped side down (in the photo, the front of that door) to flatten the first side, then flip and flatten the second side. You shouldn't have to remove enough material to make it visually look any thinner, and hopefully you'll still meet whatever minimum thickness your hinges require.

If that's not an option, you could go the plane, scraper, or sander route, which would be more work.

The place where I get my lumber also makes moldings, railings, doors, etc. and they have a drum sander. My guess is they would run it through at a nominal fee.


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## JoeMurphy (Apr 9, 2013)

That is a good idea.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

Where are you located? Some members here might be able to point you to a good shop.


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## teejk (Jan 19, 2011)

I've never seen a perfect door frame in my life and your 1/32 is nothing IMHO. Wood moves a lot and will continue to do it.

The pix of your joints tell me that if anything, something wasn't at a perfect 90 (but looks like 89.8 or 90.2…both "spit"). IMHO that's why they sell 6 way adjustable hinges and felt bumpers for the corners. They look great.


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## JonHitThingWithRock (Sep 7, 2013)

i gotta agree with teejk, if any of my frame & panel doors were this good, I'd do a jig on my table saw


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## TaybulSawz (Oct 17, 2013)

R U sure your table top is Flat! LOL!!! I'm with these guys^^^. Finish em, Hang em and FUHGITABOUTIT!!!


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## 111 (Sep 2, 2013)

Your doors are going to sit a little off of the cabinets on the hinge side and you will probably put some small door bumpers on the other side that will hold the door off of the face. I don't think I would sweat it.


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## JoeMurphy (Apr 9, 2013)

Thanks guys! I guess I need to step back 2 feet and stop obsessing.

You know the old saying…..

"Anything worth doing is worth never finishing because you have obsessed over every detail until you have become hopelessly discouraged."


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## rrww (Aug 12, 2012)

If your using 35mm hinges you can adjust for small gaps once installed.


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## JonHitThingWithRock (Sep 7, 2013)

lol, that's a great quote


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## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

There are no high spots without the low spots… Just an observation.

I use Jorgensen clamps when I glue up doors. They have fairly tall, and always square clamping surfaces.

I only use cauls on a door that for some reason becomes unruly. (Not often)


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