ZIGGYK

Hi!
I am trying to make soft maple cabinets doors for my Rv. It shuld light weight. I have rail and stiles bit set.
My problem is that I have maple playwood which is 0.208 thick and the groove after using bit is .258 . Could I use some how this playwood or it is too thin?
I have all maple wood to make raised panel but it may be too heavy(unless I use 5/8" for panel).
Most my doors are 24x12 8pcs and two 59x15. How much more weight will I get if I was using raised panel instead playwood aprox.?

Thank you for any advices
ziggy

cabinetman

You have a few easy options. You could just glue in the plywood as there isn't any movement issues with the plywood. Or, you could cut thin veneer strips maybe 1/4" or the depth of the groove and glue them to the back edge to take up the gap. Or use PSA veneer (pressure sensitive adhesive) and just stick it down on the back edge and insert the panel.

If you glue it in, place the door face down and put some slight weight on the back of the panel to force it against the front of the frame. Then you could use a color matched caulk to fill the gap in the back.

carlis stephens

A very lightweight wood that used to used a lot early on (wagon days) and has a great grain and easy to wotk with is butternut, sometimes called the white walnut. I sold what I had, all but one board and wish I had kept it all. You just dont see it in the woods anymore.

Dave (PacNW)

Don't worry about the weight of the doors. If you made all of the doors in your RV out of 1/2 stock instead of 3/4 material, you might save 7 to 10 pounds. It would better to use the 3/4 for the strength. RV cabinets take a beating just running up an down the road