In the previous two posts, we’ve built a base for a custom cabinet and built the custom cabinet box. Now it’s time to build the door. For this cabinet, I’m making a basic shaker style cabinet door. This is a pretty simple process that beginner woodworkers, like myself, can do!
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Here is what you will need:
TOOLS:
SUPPLIES:
- Wood Glue
- Butcher Block
- Cabinet Hardware (pullout drawer slides with two trash bins)
- (2x) 1 x 4 x 8’s
- 1/4″ plywood
- Sandpaper
- Cabinet Door Handle
- Paint/Stain
CUT LIST:
- (2x) Rails 1 x 4 x 14 3/4″
- (2x) Stiles 1 x 4 x 30 11/16″
- Door Inset 1/4″ plywood 24 3/8 x 14 5/8″
- (1x) Butcher block countertop
Step 1:
First, we cut the stiles, which are the two vertical pieces of the door, from the 1 x 4’s. The measurements are based on the cabinet box I built in the last post. Again, this is a custom build so it is likely your measurements will be different but the principles remain the same. The stiles are the vertical pieces and they are cut exactly to length. I’m doing a full overlay cabinet door so the measurement is from the very top of the cabinet box to the bottom.
Step 2:
Cutting the rails (the horizontal pieces that fit between the stiles) are a bit trickier because we need to account for the tenons that fit into the grooves of the stiles. To get the measurement of the rails, you subtract the wide of the stiles. In my case, I’m using 1 x 4’s which are actually 3 1/2″ wide. So we take the width of the door and cabinet box which is 21″ and subtract 3 1/2″ x 2 which gives us 14″. Now is the tricky part! You need to ADD 3/4″ to the rails for when you cut the tenons. Each tenon measures 3/8″ on each side. I promise this will all make sense later.
Step 3:
Cut the door inset out of 1/4″ plywood. Measuring for this is a bit tricky as well since you need to add 1/4″ to the length and width so the inset fits into the grooves cut in the rails and stiles. I measured the opening between the rails and stiles and then added 1/4″ to both the length and width.
Step 4:
Now we need to cut the grooves in the rails and stiles to accommodate the 1/4″ plywood inset. I did this using the table saw. The grooves are cut in the middle of the 1 x 4’s at 3/8″ deep. I used these brass setup blocks to set the blade height to 3/8″ and set the fence so that the rails and stiles would hit the blade roughly in the middle. It doesn’t need to be perfect because you flip the board and run it through the saw in both directions. Once you’ve run both rails and stiles through in both directions, you need to move the fence away from the blade 1/8″ to make the groove wider. The kerf of the blade is 1/8″ so you need basically two blade widths to accommodate the 1/4″ plywood. Remember you can always go bigger, but once you cut it too big, you can’t go back. I made micro adjustments and used a scrap piece of wood to get the fit perfect before running the rails and stiles through again. It’s ok if the inset is a tad bit loose, you want it to have room to move around for expansion purposes. It should be snug but not tight.
You can see in the photo below, the small piece of wood is my scrap test piece.
Step 5:
Now that we have the grooves cut for the inset, we need to cut the tenons on both sides of the rails. Again, I did this on the table saw, setting the blade height to the bottom of the groove. Measure 3/8″ from the end for the length of the tenon and make a pencil mark. You also want to clamp a scrap piece of wood to your fence a couple inches back from the blade so you can push the rail against the scrap piece of wood to line up the blade. This way the wood you’re cutting isn’t against the fence when it gets to the blade. Instead, use the cross cut sled to guide the cuts. Slowly nibble away at the wood that needs to be removed by adjusting the rail away from the blade until the tenon is cut. Flip it over and repeat.
Step 6:
Now that all the pieces are cut, put the door together to test fit everything before gluing it up. If everything fits, glue just the rails and stiles together, the inset does not get glued in. Secure it with clamps and allow the glue to dry.
Step 7:
Once the glue is dry, the door is done and ready for hardware! I made my own drawer pull with a wooden dowel and some copper pipe fittings!
Step 8:
Cut the butcher block down to size and it’s ready to be installed!
Step 9:
I purchased trash bins with pull out drawer slides for this cabinet. Installation was easy, however, the drawer doesn’t pull out quite far enough for the back trash bin to open all the way which is frustrating. This wasn’t due to the design of the cabinet, but rather the design of the hardware. So if you buy the same hardware, just be warned that it doesn’t quite open all the way.
The last step would be to sand, paint or stain the butcher block and the cabinet door, but that will be a project for future me. For now, I’m calling it a day!
Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the next project! Coming soon I’ll be painting the tile floors, making a dining table and eventually refinishing our kitchen counters and cabinets! Lots of exciting projects coming up! I also have a YouTube tutorial for this project you can watch HERE!
Until the next project! Happy DIY-ing!
-Selene Builds Things
