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Cabinet Door Issue

1K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  cabinetman 
I've had this happen with many of the doors I've made. In my case, it was because the door wasn't perfect flat to begin with. You can take it off and lay it on a perfectly flat surface (like a table saw) and see if it's flat or if it rocks.

What I did to make flatter doors:

Buy quartersawn wood if you can. Make sure you get dry wood and give it time to acclimate to your shop or house. Joint and plane it once just to square it up, then let it sit for a couple of days. Joint and plane again. After a couple more days, mill it to the final shape. I also discovered that a big part of my problem came from the way I was clamping it. Uneven clamping pressure can introduce a twist in the door that you won't see until it's hung. Switching to Bessy bar clamps helped a LOT. They keep things nice and flat. Also, make good joints so you don't need to overtighten the clamps to bring things together.
 
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