There are many ways of making shaker cabinet doors which have been developed over time. A shaker door is a type of cabinet door designed with a flat central panel surrounded by a rectangular frame. They don’t commonly contain decorative details and are usually known for their simplicity and high-quality craftsmanship, characteristics that originated from the Shaker religious movements in the 18th century.
The following article focuses on how to select and build a shaker cabinet door for your project. Additionally, the article identifies common manufacturing problems and solutions, and recommends design software capable of modelling shaker doors.
Manufacturing shaker doors
With the development of the shaker door, there have been many different methods of manufacture adopted by joiners. These allow for different styles and construction methodology, depending on the desired finish, material, and available equipment and machinery.
Manufacturing styles for making a shaker cabinet door include:
- MDF panel with a central pocket tooling
- Central panel with external styles
- Vinyl wrapped MDF panel
- Fixed frame glued over a separate back panel
Below we will focus on each of these shaker door manufacturing styles.
MDF panel with central pocket tooling and polyurethane
A common method of manufacturing shaker doors is using MDF material, such as an 18mm MDF melamine panel, and pocketing an inner rectangle to create the illusion of a central panel surrounded by styles.
This method can be completed with a hand router or a CNC machine, allowing most manufacturers to make this style of door. The door is commonly finished with a polyurethane paint, and processed for project installation.
So if you’re thinking how to build a shaker cabinet door as efficiently as possible, this is a good option only requiring one material. The downfall of this method is the timely finishing required to cover the MDF material.
Central panel with external styles
A more traditional way of making shaker style cabinet doors is by using different materials and components, specifically by splitting a door into styles and a central panel.
Joining the styles and centre panels is commonly completed using mortise and tenon joints or biscuit joints. These are then glued, clamped and finished, ready for processing and installation.
This manufacturing method commonly uses solid timber. With solid timber a clear coat is more acceptable than clear coating manufactured board. This can also be decorated with mouldings or other decorative finishes.
Using multiple components increases manufacturing time, especially if they need to be glued together. A way to increase manufacturing speed is through using a Kreg fitting.
Vinyl wrapped MDF panel
Similar to the MDF panel with central pocketing, shaker doors can be made with a vinyl finish. This sees doors manufactured in the same way, but thermo-laminated instead of painted.
The benefits include improved manufacturing time and commonly lower costs if the manufacturing capabilities are available for this type of door and finish. Negatively, vinyl doesn’t typically have the same life expectancy as a painted finish.
Fix a frame over a larger back panel
This method sees a frame manufactured which acts as styles, all fixed over a larger back panel. This involves a frame glued to an MDF sheet (or similar material), creating the perception of a shaker door. This is a fast manufacturing process that requires minimal equipment, although it won’t create the same aesthetic as other methods.
The door can be manufactured with most materials and completed with a range of finishes such as paint, varnish, or vinyl.
Common problems with shaker doors
Common problems when making shaker doors include:
Hinge placement
Styles need to be manufactured to a minimum width that allows for hinge boring. Miscalculating this could see hinges drilled through the face of the door.
Bowing material
Cutting a shaker door from MDF material and recessing an inner pocket can see materials bow, especially on larger panels. This can result from stresses being placed upon the exposed, thinner panel post manufacture.
To reduce this problem, store panels appropriately in a dry and safe place and finish the doors before they can be influenced by varying weather conditions.
Components moving separately
When splitting styles and a central panel into different components, and possibly using different materials, components can move, bow, swell, or shrink at separate rates due to varying material properties. To minimise these problems it is recommended to use the same material from similar cuts, and to finish properly and professionally with a high quality finish.
How PolyBoard can help
PolyBoard is a software for cabinet design that allows for complete cabinet door customization. PolyBoard fully accommodates shaker door design to manufacturing, whether with a single panel door or splitting a door into multiple components and materials.
The images below highlight PolyBoard kitchen and bedroom projects featuring shaker doors.
The following close-ups of two doors in wireframe show the structure of a frame and panel assembly vs an inner tooling configuration.
Additionally, all customized cabinet doors in PolyBoard can be saved in a personalized library and re-used as required, with the complete generation of manufacturing documents and any required machining files for your CNC.
Contact us if you would like to book a demo with a member of our technical team.#
