Plywood panel and wood movement

[thrytis]

I'm working on a project uses a 1/4" plywood panel about 28" x 18" with plastic laminate on both sides framed with 3/4" wide red oak. Since panel won't be expanding or contracting and the wood movement on the frame will be minimal with the grain, can i just make it a tight fit and glue the panel in, or do i still need a little gap and just glue at the center of each side or use spaceballs?

Thanks!

 

[Joe Scharle]

Space balls or in my case, small dabs of bathtub caulk will keep the rattle down.

 

[DavidF]

You should be able to just glue it in if you want to. But assembly may be easier if you just make it a tight fit in thickness, but leave a fractional gap on the sides to ensure that you can close up the frame joints correctly. Wood movement shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Bas]

What David said. I usually use just a small dab of glue in the center. I'm not worried about wood movement, but if it's a snug fit and the plywood swells even a little because I'm using a lot of glue, I end up pounding that carefully sanded piece with a deadblow to force things together.... Less glue also means less cleanup.

Cheaper too

 

[Howard Acheson]

Just glue the panel in. As you said, there will be no movement of you laminate covered plywood panel. Gluing it will prevent and noise from rattling and make for a stronger door.

 

[JimD]

I don't usually glue them only because I get glue on the edge of the frame where it is hard to remove. If the fit is even decent, you should not have a rattling problem. I usually get a little glue on the panel edges when glueing the frame. That should be plenty to avoid a rattle. I've made quite a few raised and flat panel doors and I can't remember any that rattled. I do not glue raised panels - I finish the panels before assembly but they warp enough to avoid any rattling. To have a rattle, both the frame and the panel would have to stay very flat. I'm sure it happens but in my experience it has not.

Jim

 

[JimmyC]

Glue them or fit them tight, you won't have any problems, I fixed 1/4" oak ply panels in kitchen cabinet doors years ago and after 10 years I still had no problems.

Good Luck.

 

[thrytis]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I ended up putting a couple inches of glue in the center of every side. I didn't do the whole length just because it was more chance of making a mess with the glue. The width of the groove is a pretty tight fit too, so that may have been enough to keep the panel from moving too.

Even though i didn't go that way, i did like the caulk suggestion instead of spaceballs. Since the frame was only 3/4" wide, 1/4" for the panel and 3/16" for the spaceball would have put the slot over half way through the frame! The caulk wouldn't have required as much extra depth. I already had the glue out though.

 

[merrill77]

Even though i didn't go that way, i did like the caulk suggestion instead of spaceballs.

FYI, you can get silicone glue in small tubes - which are a lot more convenient for this particular application than a caulking tube.

 

[McRabbet]

I've used 1/2" "Foam Backer Rod" cut into 3/8" long disks for several sets of raised panel doors that I've made to keep the panel from rattling (used with solid wood panels which need to move). It is real cheap and is found in the weather stripping section of either Lowe's or HD.

Another equally good solution is to squeeze out several uniform 1/4" (+/-) strips of silicone caulk onto a piece of waxed paper and allow them to dry overnight. cut them into 1/2" long pellets and store in a small can -- add them to the groove as you do the glue up and they work the same way. I'd advise against using fresh silicone caulk in the groove as any that gets on the exposed wood or squeezed out will ruin your finish.