How to make curved cabinet doors?

[SawBuck]

My sister-in-law has asked me to make this sink vanity with curved doors. I've never made curved doors before, but I'm excited about the chance to learn. Can you folks give me some tips?

Thanks!
-Lonnie

 

[DaveO]

For the doors you show in the picture it's not too difficult. Your stiles are straight, with possibly a slight bevel on their edges to help line everything up. The rails are curved and that can be accomplished by either BS'ing the curve out of thicker stock or laminating on a bent form.
The panels are probably constructed out of bendable plywood (all the plys running the same direction) that is then veneered. Or shop built ply that is laid up over a bending form.
It would be very helpful to have a vacuum veneer press system for this work.
Another thought would be to out-source your doors to a company that already has the extra tooling to make them. If you don't tell anyone they will never know :icon_thum

Dave

 

[Travis Porter]

Plus one to what Dave said.:gar-Bi

For the doors you show in the picture it's not too difficult. Your stiles are straight, with possibly a slight bevel on their edges to help line everything up. The rails are curved and that can be accomplished by either bandsaw'ing the curve out of thicker stock or laminating on a bent form.
The panels are probably constructed out of bendable plywood (all the plys running the same direction) that is then veneered. Or shop built ply that is laid up over a bending form.
It would be very helpful to have a vacuum veneer press system for this work.
Another thought would be to out-source your doors to a company that already has the extra tooling to make them. If you don't tell anyone they will never know :icon_thum

Dave

 

[striker]

I have limited experience making curved doors basically from making the cabinet pictured below. I actually made three of those cabinets which leads to my first comment …don’t show the first one to loved ones or you’ll find yourself making three!

Adding the curve complicates the construction considerably so be prepared to spend some time on the door construction itself. Its been some time since I made the cabinets so the exact details escape me now. Your doors are somewhat larger and your approach may differ than mine anyway. Being relatively small doors I elected to bandsaw the frame rails to shape and cooper (glued strips together in radius shape then fair to final shape) the panel. Your larger doors may be better suited to gluing up a bent laminate for the rails and using bendable ply as Dave suggested. In any event, I would suggest start by drawing it out full scale and working out the construction details. Depending on the equipment you have available, you’ll have to build a few templates and fixtures to hold your stock adequately. MDF comes in handy for that.

Well, I hope there's a tidbit of help in there somewhere for you. Good luck

Stephen



http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/667/medium/W_NITE_STAND.jpg

 

[woodguy1975]

I've done some curved work. As the other guys say if the curve isn't much you can get buy with bandsawing. If it is more than you can saw out you have to bend the styles. If want to do a raised panel you can cooper the panel and raise it with a vertical raiser. If you want flat panel doors, I'd suggest laminating bending ply with veneer if you can find it. If you can't you can always cooper and just rabbet the back of the panel to fit the groove in the doors. It will take some trial and error due to spring back if you have to bend and are doing overlay doors to match a curved front. In the case of a curved door it is easier to do inlay doors. One form bends the cabinet frames and the door styles. Just bend and adjust your design slightly to get the cabinet to come together. MDF, wax, and lots of clamps (or a vacuum bag system) are your friends. Always remember to wax your forms!!! I've come very close even with wax to having rockers permanently stuck in my form.

Good luck. Bent wood work is very rewarding.

 

[Mike Davis]

If the doors are not too big you can heat standard 1/4 inch Baltic Birch plywood in the oven and when it is just almost too hot to touch lay it with the long edges on 2x4s and lay a weight in the center or clamp it in a form if you want to go to that much trouble.

When it cools it will retain that shape. You may have to over bend a little depending on how much the wood you use relaxes or springs back.

I know this works, I have done it on a small curved top trunk.

That picture was made about 16 years after I built it, so I know it will hold up well.

 

[Dan Bowman]

You might find something here: http://www.aitwood.com/

Check the pdf catalog under Millwork

 

[araldite]

It just so happens the current issue of Fine woodworking has an article titled "Curved Panels Made Easy" With a vacuum press and 7 tricks, beautiful panels are in the bag by Michael C. Fortune. If you have any interest in vacuum-bag laminating, it's a pretty good article to read if you can get a hold of the issue. He claims that this method gives the most stable finished product. I've never tried it, so I can't attest to it, but just thought you might be interested.

 

[Herebrooks]

If you don't want to buy a vacuum bag, you can resaw your panels into 1/8" veneers and glue them back together over a curved MDF or plywood form using those cheap rachet straps they sell at home depot. Feed the open end of the strap thru the ratchet slot until the hook hits the ratchet mechanism. This will give you an open end to ratchet around the bending form. Use a caul like quarter inch ply to spread the pressure evenly. Probably six straps would do it over the length you need. I hope that was clear, I didn't explain it very well. I've used this method alot when I didn't want to pull out my vacuum bag.
Bill

 

[SawBuck]

I appreciate all the great advice! It looks like I have a number of options to try.

Thanks again,
Lonnie