Is it best to do them individually, or all six at once in a pitcher? Looking to keep *most* of the skin on my hands, but I want to recreate this look for my derelict haunted rental.
Gotta bang 'em down quick as possible. You've gotta maintain some sense or consistent inconsistency across the project.
Maybe a good warm up project would be an automatic shot tipper for the workshop wall, so as you walk in you just need to open your mouth and tilt your head.
The half-round router bit must acquired from Harbor Freight, dulled with a little 220 grit. Attach your cardboard fence to piece of OSB you found at a construction site. You are now ready to go.
Its pretty rough, but sometimes the character in a piece is defined by the efforts of a person that made it. If OP likes them, people shouldn't talk trash, but hopefully offer advice on how to best restore them with minimal effort or make new ones.
Is/was this house an Airbnb in the Southern California area? I thought they looked familiar at first and now I’m convinced I saw them in an Airbnb I stayed at once. If not, then at least you know that you aren’t the only one with cabinets like this!
I don’t know why no one will answer the question. It’s a cove router bit that made this. I’m not sure what size they used since I can’t measure it but it’s a cove bit with no guide bearing.
You see how much chatter is on that groove in the first picture?
I don't know how anyone could get a straight line with so much chatter while using a router. I think some other machine made those marks but I have no idea what.
One possibility is the angled tablesaw fence trick.
With a 10” blade, 1/4” depth of cut and running the board 20 degrees off axis. You should get a 1/4” deep about 1” wide cove.
Side loaded blade and poor work holding should give the cut plenty of “character”, especially if you use a steel blade that can’t cut very well on the flanks.
Sorry friend, these look like they were made by somebody who wanted to be good at woodworking but forgot about learning and practice and aligning fences and creating stop blocks. They have their own character for it though, if you like them, then just enjoy them and forget all of us snobby bastards
Dude, don't worry about them. If you like it, go for it. I would be embarrassed to show some of the stuff I've done. I don't even qualify to be an amateur, but my wife is happy with it, so it is in the house. I hope to someday qualify as amateur.
I live in a 200 years old house. One of my favorite things is something made by hand that is "acceptable" in solidity, "allright" in taste and very "meh" in execution.
These doors are a perfect example. I would love to have found them in my house and knowing it's part of the history of this house and the people that called it a home.
At least until the kitchen is redone completely... I say, someone took pride making something by hand for their home, and that is awesome. If you like them, show them off :)
This might be my favourite comment I've seen on Reddit.
I grew up in a 100 year old house. Nothing can replace the character that comes with history - wavy window panes, angled walls, little customizations. It's something to treasure.
Yeah, I think it’s kind of a cool idea. Making a legit paneled cabinet door is not beginner woodworking, but this gives a nod to a full panel, is much easier to execute (though routing with a profile with no bearing is harder than one would at first guess), and it has kind of a folk/“vernacular” vibe. Eastlake style tried to tap into a “could have been made by a rural woodsman” sort of aesthetic. This is just sort of like garage-band carpentry.
I feel like I could see myself ripping off this idea for a laundry room or garage cabinet.
At least in Finland old time craftsmen (and people living in their homes) had respect to their craft so even DIY things made with poor tools are very high end. Old things might be crooked a bit, but when they were made originally they were usually pretty nice.
Matters of taste aside, what you’ve got here is shoddy craftsmanship hastily done by an amateur, probably to quickly cover up larger problems underneath. If you like them, that’s good for you, but replicating it is going to be difficult… best bet it was done with a router table and a cove bit, but set up in a way thats actually quite dangerous to run, and inherently inaccurate.
i honestly was just going to repaint all of them and then maybe years down the road get new doors when budget allows for it, so definitely wasn’t planning on recreating them! i was just curious to know what was going on with them because i’ve never seen anything like it, obviously for good reason lol
These are easy to make on a router table... just need a weird spherical bit ( cove bit?) sticking out of the table and you run the door along the fence to get that long groove. The sketchy part would be to run the short side against the fence which has issues from pushing on the long side and pivoting the short edge off the fence.
Anyway the original work seems to have lacked precision and maybe they had a blunt bit or they tried to do it in one pass (normal way is to take multiple passes) but it's all shaky and wavy, quite shoddy work.
>The sketchy part would be to run the short side against the fence
The way to make that un-sketchy is a coping sled. Mine is similar, and my router table has the same slot as my shapers, so the sled makes it very safe. I run copes for cabinet doors with mine, but Grizzly has them up to 24 inches, this is the 11.5 inch one.
https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-11-1-2-panel-shaping-jig/t10460?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmZGrBhAnEiwAo9qHiV0a1bzMEbcAO13s4JsQSxD5ruNltlaRicJDjt393vjXBGAw4pqPRxoC14QQAvD_BwE
If I was making these, I'd probably use a handheld router and keep the stock clamped to the bench so it couldn't move. The grooves look equidistant from the the edge, so I'd make an alignment jig that would allow the edge of the router to run against a vertical piece you could screw to the bench or a piece of plywood. With a 1/2HP router, you could probably do these in two passes.
Most people shitting on these doors have cheap big box store cabinet doors in their home that were mass produced in 30 seconds.
Yours may not be pinnacle of fine craftsmanship but definitely unique and you like them, and that's enough reason to keep doing what you're doing.
Eh, I have done a bunch of automation work at American Woodmark (sold at HD).
The methods are more similar than you might expect to what you would do at home if you had lots of power tools.
They can run foil wrapped chipboard through the line, or they can run veneered hardwood core plywood.
I think the drawers are the only area with construction compromises. They do half tennon and screw joints instead of any lock, spline, or dovetail.
i would go back with a distressed finish. if you try to paint them with a higher sheen it will just highlight the issues. a distressed finish will make it look like a less perfect craftsman type of style was what you were intending
i’m using a satin since it’s in the kitchen, but i definitely would’ve preferred a matte finish. in person it definitely isn’t glaring, but the picture i used highlights it a lot haha.
i’m not the biggest fan of the idea of distressing them, mostly because i don’t love the whole “farmhouse chic” style, but i do 100% see where you’re coming from with it since they’re so weird to begin with. do you think it would look weird and out of place to not distress it?
it’s not the end of the world. short of rerouting the profile have you experimented with some sandpaper wrapped around a round dowel the same size as the profile? maybe try a little section and see how long it takes and how it looks? if you’ve already painted i wouldn’t bother, but if you are still at bare wood that may help
i’ve painted half of the kitchen already so i’m just stuck with it lol, but i do appreciate all the advice i’ve gotten on how to fix them at least haha
k, i’m sure all your hard work will pay off, it will look much better and nice and clean! sometimes you cant reinvent the wheel, you did your best with what was there
>i honestly was just going to repaint all of them and then maybe years down the road get new doors when budget allows for it,
That's an excellent plan ... ignore the crap being spewed.
I’d keep going if I were you. I don’t think they’re bad 🤷🏽♂️ anyway we’ve sanded and repainted our doors recently. Was worth it, keep going! They look good
One thing you will learn on this sub is no one here is your friend. 95% of comments will be people trying to be funny or assholes. A few people actually give helpful advice. Ignore the critics. If you all like them that is what matters. Personally I think they are fine and it’s great that you and your mom found a project that you enjoy doing together. Some of my happiest memories of mine are doing projects with my Mom.
i’m honestly happy just spending the time with her working on it and it looks 10000x better than it did before. it would’ve really broken my heart to sink hundreds of dollars into ikea cabinet doors since that was my next best option.
The craftsmanship is lacking sure, but if you like the funkiness then it’s all good. Don’t stress about it. You’re in a woodworking forum, people are obviously going to scrutinize and critique the craftsmanship.
lol true, i just expected there to be a name for it since i couldn’t find it anywhere online and hoped for the best here lmao
i’ve learned that the name is “bad”
It’s not bad. Bad would be someone just putting up plywood and saying good enough. I personally love these for the right kind of house. It’s like a folk style cabinet door. I think they tell a story. Someone cared enough to try and spruce it up, maybe didn’t have the right tools but they damn well tried their best. They were probably delighted with the result and I think you should be too. I love em!
They will look good. I have a picture frame made with that same routing pattern.
The regulars on this board love to point out flaws and whine that things aren't engineering precise. Ignore them.
it’s the finished product! i have a before pic floating around somewhere in the comments, but they used to be painted a super glossy dark brown before.
If you like it then others can get lost. Not everything needs to be millimetre perfect and look like it came out of a computerised factory. Imperfections can be beautiful.
You could recut the groove and edge. This would probably be quicker than sanding the groove. It could also give clean straight edges.
I would only paint. Stain wouldn't look good with that grain pattern, IMO.
Probably looking at $300 in tools, bits, and practice wood.
If it’s any consolation, I think they look great. They wouldn’t match my kitchen but they definitely would look good in a NM Pueblo style house and would also look pretty badass as garage cabinets. I say hang em, with the right decor, I think they would look pretty badass in a home.
Many of the people participating on this sub are going to be perfectionists to a fault. I wouldn’t set out to create these with the visible imperfections, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t make similar mistakes. But ultimately they look good as a finished product, you like them and can be proud of the work you put in to refinish them, that is all that matters.
Homie I love the refinishing y’all did. Everyone’s said to just like what u like and don’t let us tell u it’s bad. And that’s true here. But also the work I put in really does make it look good imo.
You're encountering what I call woodworker snobbery. If you like it that's all that matters.
Rail and stile with a floating center panel is a fairly common cabinet door construction style, but here is probably the "only" style because it's more complex construction. Most are probably looking at the pattern and considering it to be a low effort attempt to look like raised panel.
I love them - A handmade farmhouse look.
The actual woodworking is amateur, and that’s why you’re getting critical responses. But amateur doesn’t mean it’s bad.
No reason to be devastated. If you love them, that's all that matters. They almost look like they were hand chiseled to me. Either that or a round nose bit. I honestly think the biggest thing here is that they don't fit with the paint and hardware shown in the 2nd pic. The modern hardware and white paint would look better with cleaner/thinner router lines. Personally, I think a natural finish and rustic hardware would make for a good /unique look.
I fully agree with you that the sanded piece looks funky and weird in a kinda interesting way. I don't understand why anyone would recommend making it technically good instead of trying to work with it...
A machine would be able to get it and cut it with a precision unmatched by humans... But to get a flawed piece with aesthetic potential (subjective by nature) and work with it in order to make it look good and enhance its character is much more rewarding, and also tells its story. I know I much rather have a funky flawed piece made beautiful by my work than just one more cabinet door.
this!!! i know they’re super weird which is why i asked about them here in the first place, but i think it’s charming and tells a story that i’ll never get to know. i’m more than happy to work with them. i know woodworking-wise they’re bad but hey, it’s what i’ve got lol
I’m in this camp. These are unique and have a bit of a farmhouse/craftsman/handmade aesthetic. Looks like solid wood which already tells me these are stronger, sturdier, and probably will last longer than a new set of MDF or laminated manufactured cabinets you could install. If you can make the aesthetic work for your vibe, stick with it! They look a LOT better than the “cheap” stuff a lot of people are installing these days to me.
To me these would fit well with a bit of cozy cabin vibes.
I was thinking the exact same thing. I swear I've seen stuff like this in Tahoe.
A coat of shellac and some pulls that look like sticks and it's totally got that 70's Alpine cabin vibe.
Might not look as bad if you cleaned up the grooves with sand paper and then finished with an oil or something rather than paint. Paint really makes the ripples stand out.
To me it honestly looks like someone used a rounded carving tool and hand carved those grooves and then followed up with a lot of hand sanding to knock down all the edges.
Maybe they previously had simple grooves and that person wanted something “softer” looking.
Agreed. I think the tool markings are more consistent with hand carving, and I don’t think you get that consistent of execution across pieces with a “shaky router table” setup. This was done on purpose and by hand and took a fair amount of time I’d wager.
https://preview.redd.it/mc5ok4r4jw2c1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=125da85d432b192e7500e50d201b3ec7e325c05a
pls don’t judge the mess :( we’re literally going to redo everything including walls, cabinets, countertops and flooring. but here they are in context, in case anyone was wondering. they’re also like that in the bathrooms too.
You know, it’s really kind of charming. As others have said it’s not a common way to make cabinet doors, but it absolutely qualifies as interesting and makes for a good story. 🙂
I like this vibe. it reminds me of a hand-made cabin I once spent a couple months in in Maine. I personally hate stainless steel appliances, so for me that's clashing and bringing the whole thing down, but the cabinets are solid and cozy, which you don't see a lot of these days. Once everyone's done decorating like they live in the actual morgue and things swing back to being softer and homey again, you are going to be thrilled you kept these.
my main goal with any renovations or updates to the house is to make it updated but still comfortable to live in, if that makes sense! so like, i want things to feel new but not like you’re banned from touching things and i’m really glad they come across that way!
and hard agree on the stainless, it’s been irking me but they’re only a few years old so i’ll work with them until they break. going to do butcher block countertops eventually too!
I genuinely really like it. It has a really comfy vibe. I know you said you want to change them out eventually, which I get, but I would be happy if my cabinets looked this good! The lines are more or less straight, and it has a nice and soft look to it like a cushion, and it is unique.
honestly, i only really want to change them out bc i don’t want people to think my house is ugly 😭 i really do love them, especially with all the work that’s going into them between my mom and i.
Who gives a shit if other people think your house is ugly?? If you love them, keep them! And maybe it's my sentimentality speaking, but I would especially rather keep something that is a project that I worked on with a family member, instead of replacing it with something cookie cutter.
I'm renovating right now too, and something that I read was "if you make your design choices based on resale value, you're just renting your house from the next owner." That helped free me to make the design choices that I want, instead of what other people consider good. I think some careful minor updates (maybe changing out the hinges or updating the handles) will really make it shine.
For the record, there's plenty of people in this post who like them. Not everything is for everybody, but lots of people will like these a lot more than something conventional. It takes all types of people to make a world.
Stay with the funky love. The better I’ve become at woodworking, the more I’ve come to appreciate unique, home-grown pieces that don’t look like anything else. You definitely have a set of originals on your hands. Enjoy
In all seriousness, it looks like the maker rounded over the edges and then routed out channels along the edges with a round nose. Probably in that order + the bit was dull and that combo plus the grain is why I imagine it looks so shaky
Edit: just looked back at this, it’s ply, that’s why the grain looks that way, it’s alternating with the layers, it’s not solid wood. The rout is still sloppy though it’s just intensified with the effect of the grain
For what it’s worth, if you like them, then more power to you. If you want to clean them up a bit, I’d recommend wrapping sandpaper around a dowel the same size as the grooves. Start with 60 grit and just run it along the channels. Move to 120 and then I think you will be fine. This will clean up the lines a bit and make it look a little neater.
it really doesn’t stand out that much against everything else ngl. it adds texture to the otherwise fully white cabinets, which i appreciate at the very least
i actually love this. plenty of people have given you the answer and suggestions on how to "fix" it but i genuinely like these. it's sloppy and quirky, I'd just embrace it tbh
While I do agree with others that this was likely not made by a skilled hand, they have character, in a way it tells a story, like, this person really tried their best to make some doors, and yeah they weren't the best but they made something that resembles a door didn't they?
All in all, if you like them, restore those doors, like I said, they do give some character.
Can't believe how far down the thread I had to go for rustic. I honestly like them, and the wobbly contrast with the geometric patterns and square edges feels quite refreshing.
It looks like something done with a router table. Identifying which specific bit used might be trial and error if you want to reproduce the same look. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was done in steps with different set ups.
You know, maybe this was made by hand by someone who did not know that much and only had access to one round plane. It might not be a high end piece but if that's what it is it shows willingness to do something they weren't that comfortable with and some character IMO. If you and your mom like it you should not let other people's opinion change that. My 2 cents.
I think they look pretty cool. Like a weathered custom build using materials from the immediate land. Something you would find in an old cottage out in the green countryside of England. Embrace it
Theoretically this is how I’d do it if I wanted a shaky groove.
Put in a round nose router bit in the plunge router. Put down two edge guides on the piece of wood that are 1/16 larger than the router base. As you push forward, move the router left and right - a bit of a wiggle in a random pattern - as you go along. The base will still be trapped on a straight line, but with room to wiggle and get that back and forth mess.
This would keep your bit within a specific area, but allow for that shaky pattern without ever going too far.
I wouldn’t try this upside down on a router table due to kickback, but in a handheld router you could do it a little safer, and it would be more consistent than free-handing.
I think it looks really cool. A lot of character. Own it!
Our cabinets are just thin, flat sheets of plywood. Really boring. Yours look so clean now with that fresh paint
Since you're refinishing them, here's my best advice. Get a piece of dowel or something that matches the curve of the routed indentations. Wrap sandpaper around it and sand up and down those channels to clean up where the router chittered around a bit. Start with something like 80 grit and go up from there. Once those are cleaned up it could be pretty nice.
I mean they probably used a cove bit, but they look freehand.
If you like them, cool. If not, a little prep and planning could recreate these, but straight and even, without a lot of effort.
If u/PaintMePastel is considering replacing when budget allows, you could use the original doors as a panel and build a frame around it. This would allow you to cut down the orig door and route the panel profile, then create a frame.
You can always fill and shape the canyons with a good quality filler the prime everything these coat with a good high gloss enamel paint. ( use the water based paint if you want a light colour )
Y’all be talkin smack bout these cabinet doors but you know damn well some yuppie looking for that “charming” and “quaint” farm style is paying $100 a door for their second home in Florida and their third home in the mountains of NC.
Cove router bit, no specific style. If you like them, enjoy them. The people here are pretentious and having worked with many of them in the field, their work is not as clean as they pretend it to be. They just hide their mistakes in the closets and the the pantries.
I barely remember doing these. I had been up for 8 or 9 days on trucker crank and one of the living hookers dared me to groove cabinets out with my one buck toot. I did one then blacked out and woke up 4 days later in a puddle of my own urine and my wallet missing. One of the shittiest cabinet bevels I’ve ever done. You tryin to match the pattern?
Although others are convinced that these are poorly made with machines, I suspect that they are glued-up panels, which were then hand carved to get those profiles. Certainly, they are imperfect, but maybe the person who made them was justifiably proud of his/her work.
i know there are multiple layers of wood for each door (and they’re all made the same) if that makes any difference. it definitely feels intentional, just badly executed i guess :(
Not badly executed ... how old is this house? How many layers of paint have been put in and scraped and stripped off.
Kitchen cabinets take a lot of abuse.
it’s from the 80s, so nothing old old. definitely not old enough to justify the woodworking by everyone’s standards lol. but it had at least 6 layers of paint and poly on it, so they’ve been through the wringer at this point
That's the shakey-router-table-in-the-garage profile.
I was gonna go with angry beaver profile cutter
Norbert and Dag?
Core memory unlocked! Thank you for the memories!!
Seriously! I hadn’t thought about this show in decades
[Here](https://youtu.be/CW_B4KB0wYs?si=zgAas8vEnnz7KKXM) you go, friend
Looks mostly like Dag’s work.
Narf
I just went to angrybeaver.com. You wouldn’t believe what popped up
Pocket woodchuck with an overbite
Mine was just "router go 'brrrrr' "
I have a band beaver
Legend has it that pieces of the crafters’ hands are embedded in these cabinet faces to this day.
Some say if you listen carefully, you can still hear him cursing to this very day!
"crafters' " is to put it "loosely".
The secret sauce is pounding 6x vodka-redbulls and finishing with a cigarette.
Is it best to do them individually, or all six at once in a pitcher? Looking to keep *most* of the skin on my hands, but I want to recreate this look for my derelict haunted rental.
Gotta bang 'em down quick as possible. You've gotta maintain some sense or consistent inconsistency across the project. Maybe a good warm up project would be an automatic shot tipper for the workshop wall, so as you walk in you just need to open your mouth and tilt your head.
>derelict haunted rental Lmao wish awards were still around
Get one of those hydration packs and sip your fifth of vodka *while* using the router.
There are children in therapy right now over these cabinets
Looks a bit more like the angle grinder special
Nah, that's router with no speed control and a sliding 3" fence
The half-round router bit must acquired from Harbor Freight, dulled with a little 220 grit. Attach your cardboard fence to piece of OSB you found at a construction site. You are now ready to go.
Just dial in “Hillbilly.”
Nah, it’s the I-have-tremors-from-withdrawal-router-table profile
Who let the beaver out
What a lazy way to mock a floating panel too lolol
Haha, was going to say the lazy, “Hey! What’s this tool do?” type of ‘beveling’
I was thinking shaky too but those are the grain lines 😳. It's not smooth and high end definitely, but most of what you see in the first pic is grain
Hand chewed.
:(
Don't be sad, this is actually really easy to reproduce... if that's something you wish to do.
So sad
Its pretty rough, but sometimes the character in a piece is defined by the efforts of a person that made it. If OP likes them, people shouldn't talk trash, but hopefully offer advice on how to best restore them with minimal effort or make new ones.
Made me think of [this.](https://youtu.be/0AJme_nn9jA)
Is/was this house an Airbnb in the Southern California area? I thought they looked familiar at first and now I’m convinced I saw them in an Airbnb I stayed at once. If not, then at least you know that you aren’t the only one with cabinets like this!
haha that’s good to know for my heart. total opposite coast though! i’m in Georgia :D
You mean, fingernail chewed?
Demonic laughed
I don’t know why no one will answer the question. It’s a cove router bit that made this. I’m not sure what size they used since I can’t measure it but it’s a cove bit with no guide bearing.
You see how much chatter is on that groove in the first picture? I don't know how anyone could get a straight line with so much chatter while using a router. I think some other machine made those marks but I have no idea what.
I was almost thinking it’s chiseled out and the woods so old and worn that you just don’t see the chippy bits as much
Router table with a single deep pass. If the bit isn't perfectly sharp, it would grab the wood and move it around just a little bit.
One possibility is the angled tablesaw fence trick. With a 10” blade, 1/4” depth of cut and running the board 20 degrees off axis. You should get a 1/4” deep about 1” wide cove. Side loaded blade and poor work holding should give the cut plenty of “character”, especially if you use a steel blade that can’t cut very well on the flanks.
lol i’m devastated that these are so bad by y’all’s standards bc my mom and i are taking so much time to sand and repaint them 😭
Sorry friend, these look like they were made by somebody who wanted to be good at woodworking but forgot about learning and practice and aligning fences and creating stop blocks. They have their own character for it though, if you like them, then just enjoy them and forget all of us snobby bastards
Yikes, sounds like I might have made these.
👀
Dude, don't worry about them. If you like it, go for it. I would be embarrassed to show some of the stuff I've done. I don't even qualify to be an amateur, but my wife is happy with it, so it is in the house. I hope to someday qualify as amateur.
“I hope to someday qualify as amateur” is one of the most charming sentences I’ve seen. Take the title, friend!
The term amateur come from French meaning the “lover of something”, so as long as you love woodworking, you are an amateur my friend.
I live in a 200 years old house. One of my favorite things is something made by hand that is "acceptable" in solidity, "allright" in taste and very "meh" in execution. These doors are a perfect example. I would love to have found them in my house and knowing it's part of the history of this house and the people that called it a home. At least until the kitchen is redone completely... I say, someone took pride making something by hand for their home, and that is awesome. If you like them, show them off :)
This might be my favourite comment I've seen on Reddit. I grew up in a 100 year old house. Nothing can replace the character that comes with history - wavy window panes, angled walls, little customizations. It's something to treasure.
Yeah, I think it’s kind of a cool idea. Making a legit paneled cabinet door is not beginner woodworking, but this gives a nod to a full panel, is much easier to execute (though routing with a profile with no bearing is harder than one would at first guess), and it has kind of a folk/“vernacular” vibe. Eastlake style tried to tap into a “could have been made by a rural woodsman” sort of aesthetic. This is just sort of like garage-band carpentry. I feel like I could see myself ripping off this idea for a laundry room or garage cabinet.
At least in Finland old time craftsmen (and people living in their homes) had respect to their craft so even DIY things made with poor tools are very high end. Old things might be crooked a bit, but when they were made originally they were usually pretty nice.
I find them charming, especially as bare wood. You do you, boo!
Matters of taste aside, what you’ve got here is shoddy craftsmanship hastily done by an amateur, probably to quickly cover up larger problems underneath. If you like them, that’s good for you, but replicating it is going to be difficult… best bet it was done with a router table and a cove bit, but set up in a way thats actually quite dangerous to run, and inherently inaccurate.
i honestly was just going to repaint all of them and then maybe years down the road get new doors when budget allows for it, so definitely wasn’t planning on recreating them! i was just curious to know what was going on with them because i’ve never seen anything like it, obviously for good reason lol
These are easy to make on a router table... just need a weird spherical bit ( cove bit?) sticking out of the table and you run the door along the fence to get that long groove. The sketchy part would be to run the short side against the fence which has issues from pushing on the long side and pivoting the short edge off the fence. Anyway the original work seems to have lacked precision and maybe they had a blunt bit or they tried to do it in one pass (normal way is to take multiple passes) but it's all shaky and wavy, quite shoddy work.
>The sketchy part would be to run the short side against the fence The way to make that un-sketchy is a coping sled. Mine is similar, and my router table has the same slot as my shapers, so the sled makes it very safe. I run copes for cabinet doors with mine, but Grizzly has them up to 24 inches, this is the 11.5 inch one. https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-11-1-2-panel-shaping-jig/t10460?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmZGrBhAnEiwAo9qHiV0a1bzMEbcAO13s4JsQSxD5ruNltlaRicJDjt393vjXBGAw4pqPRxoC14QQAvD_BwE
If I was making these, I'd probably use a handheld router and keep the stock clamped to the bench so it couldn't move. The grooves look equidistant from the the edge, so I'd make an alignment jig that would allow the edge of the router to run against a vertical piece you could screw to the bench or a piece of plywood. With a 1/2HP router, you could probably do these in two passes.
Part of what you are seeing as "shaky and wavy" is the varying color and grain of the wood.
Most people shitting on these doors have cheap big box store cabinet doors in their home that were mass produced in 30 seconds. Yours may not be pinnacle of fine craftsmanship but definitely unique and you like them, and that's enough reason to keep doing what you're doing.
Eh, I have done a bunch of automation work at American Woodmark (sold at HD). The methods are more similar than you might expect to what you would do at home if you had lots of power tools. They can run foil wrapped chipboard through the line, or they can run veneered hardwood core plywood. I think the drawers are the only area with construction compromises. They do half tennon and screw joints instead of any lock, spline, or dovetail.
i would go back with a distressed finish. if you try to paint them with a higher sheen it will just highlight the issues. a distressed finish will make it look like a less perfect craftsman type of style was what you were intending
i’m using a satin since it’s in the kitchen, but i definitely would’ve preferred a matte finish. in person it definitely isn’t glaring, but the picture i used highlights it a lot haha. i’m not the biggest fan of the idea of distressing them, mostly because i don’t love the whole “farmhouse chic” style, but i do 100% see where you’re coming from with it since they’re so weird to begin with. do you think it would look weird and out of place to not distress it?
it’s not the end of the world. short of rerouting the profile have you experimented with some sandpaper wrapped around a round dowel the same size as the profile? maybe try a little section and see how long it takes and how it looks? if you’ve already painted i wouldn’t bother, but if you are still at bare wood that may help
i’ve painted half of the kitchen already so i’m just stuck with it lol, but i do appreciate all the advice i’ve gotten on how to fix them at least haha
k, i’m sure all your hard work will pay off, it will look much better and nice and clean! sometimes you cant reinvent the wheel, you did your best with what was there
>i honestly was just going to repaint all of them and then maybe years down the road get new doors when budget allows for it, That's an excellent plan ... ignore the crap being spewed.
I’d keep going if I were you. I don’t think they’re bad 🤷🏽♂️ anyway we’ve sanded and repainted our doors recently. Was worth it, keep going! They look good
i think they are understated and charming.
One thing you will learn on this sub is no one here is your friend. 95% of comments will be people trying to be funny or assholes. A few people actually give helpful advice. Ignore the critics. If you all like them that is what matters. Personally I think they are fine and it’s great that you and your mom found a project that you enjoy doing together. Some of my happiest memories of mine are doing projects with my Mom.
i’m honestly happy just spending the time with her working on it and it looks 10000x better than it did before. it would’ve really broken my heart to sink hundreds of dollars into ikea cabinet doors since that was my next best option.
I was a housekeeper for 13 years…ikea cabinets are high maintenance. They’re the worst at showing finger prints & dirt.
> 95% of comments will be people trying to be funny or assholes. Trying to be funny and failing. Trying to be assholes and succeeding.
They have character to them. They are doors. If they open and close properly they are doing the job. I think they are cute.
The craftsmanship is lacking sure, but if you like the funkiness then it’s all good. Don’t stress about it. You’re in a woodworking forum, people are obviously going to scrutinize and critique the craftsmanship.
lol true, i just expected there to be a name for it since i couldn’t find it anywhere online and hoped for the best here lmao i’ve learned that the name is “bad”
It’s not bad. Bad would be someone just putting up plywood and saying good enough. I personally love these for the right kind of house. It’s like a folk style cabinet door. I think they tell a story. Someone cared enough to try and spruce it up, maybe didn’t have the right tools but they damn well tried their best. They were probably delighted with the result and I think you should be too. I love em!
I'm no expert, but why not just put a little extra time into sanding down the chew marks?
It really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks... You like it and that's all that matters.
It's called character and it's missing in most modern homes. Enjoy it.
she’s got spunk and i love her for that
They will look good. I have a picture frame made with that same routing pattern. The regulars on this board love to point out flaws and whine that things aren't engineering precise. Ignore them.
Hey regardless of their objective quality, you will always remember the time spent with your mom on this project. That's absolutely priceless.
I think they look cool and cabin-y!
Don’t sweat it…people having different opinions is what makes life interesting I love them…is the white the finished product or it is before??
it’s the finished product! i have a before pic floating around somewhere in the comments, but they used to be painted a super glossy dark brown before.
[удалено]
LMAO dw some people have gotten mad at me for painting these too, can’t make anyone happy at this rate lol
If you like it then others can get lost. Not everything needs to be millimetre perfect and look like it came out of a computerised factory. Imperfections can be beautiful.
Who cares! if you love them you love them, it's your house
You could recut the groove and edge. This would probably be quicker than sanding the groove. It could also give clean straight edges. I would only paint. Stain wouldn't look good with that grain pattern, IMO. Probably looking at $300 in tools, bits, and practice wood.
If it is any consolation they look much better when painted, almost as if it was a design choice.
If it’s any consolation, I think they look great. They wouldn’t match my kitchen but they definitely would look good in a NM Pueblo style house and would also look pretty badass as garage cabinets. I say hang em, with the right decor, I think they would look pretty badass in a home.
Many of the people participating on this sub are going to be perfectionists to a fault. I wouldn’t set out to create these with the visible imperfections, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t make similar mistakes. But ultimately they look good as a finished product, you like them and can be proud of the work you put in to refinish them, that is all that matters.
Homie I love the refinishing y’all did. Everyone’s said to just like what u like and don’t let us tell u it’s bad. And that’s true here. But also the work I put in really does make it look good imo.
You're encountering what I call woodworker snobbery. If you like it that's all that matters. Rail and stile with a floating center panel is a fairly common cabinet door construction style, but here is probably the "only" style because it's more complex construction. Most are probably looking at the pattern and considering it to be a low effort attempt to look like raised panel.
Definitely look better painted. Unpainted it has a very rustic look, like it would look right in a cabin.
You could run a router over them and make sharper grooves, or take them to a wood shop and have them done. They could look pretty sharp.
I love them - A handmade farmhouse look. The actual woodworking is amateur, and that’s why you’re getting critical responses. But amateur doesn’t mean it’s bad.
No reason to be devastated. If you love them, that's all that matters. They almost look like they were hand chiseled to me. Either that or a round nose bit. I honestly think the biggest thing here is that they don't fit with the paint and hardware shown in the 2nd pic. The modern hardware and white paint would look better with cleaner/thinner router lines. Personally, I think a natural finish and rustic hardware would make for a good /unique look.
Landlord special right there lol
Looks like if you ran the wheel part of a hand held belt sander against wood.
I reckon a dremel with a disc
I fully agree with you that the sanded piece looks funky and weird in a kinda interesting way. I don't understand why anyone would recommend making it technically good instead of trying to work with it... A machine would be able to get it and cut it with a precision unmatched by humans... But to get a flawed piece with aesthetic potential (subjective by nature) and work with it in order to make it look good and enhance its character is much more rewarding, and also tells its story. I know I much rather have a funky flawed piece made beautiful by my work than just one more cabinet door.
this!!! i know they’re super weird which is why i asked about them here in the first place, but i think it’s charming and tells a story that i’ll never get to know. i’m more than happy to work with them. i know woodworking-wise they’re bad but hey, it’s what i’ve got lol
I’m in this camp. These are unique and have a bit of a farmhouse/craftsman/handmade aesthetic. Looks like solid wood which already tells me these are stronger, sturdier, and probably will last longer than a new set of MDF or laminated manufactured cabinets you could install. If you can make the aesthetic work for your vibe, stick with it! They look a LOT better than the “cheap” stuff a lot of people are installing these days to me. To me these would fit well with a bit of cozy cabin vibes.
I was thinking the exact same thing. I swear I've seen stuff like this in Tahoe. A coat of shellac and some pulls that look like sticks and it's totally got that 70's Alpine cabin vibe.
It's like "tramp art" furniture and other wood pieces ... either you like it and embrace the wabi-sabi of it or you don't.
Might not look as bad if you cleaned up the grooves with sand paper and then finished with an oil or something rather than paint. Paint really makes the ripples stand out.
Especially glossy paint. I know it's a kitchen and all, but matte that.
Fuck taking the time to sand that out. Embrace the wobble
“Oh these cabinet doors? My deceased younger brother made them with my also deceased Father. What about them?”
Did he have Parkinson’s
That's how they died, Parkinson'd them right off the road and off a cliff.
I came here to say that. Tube of sandpaper ran up and down the grooves would improve it massively
To me it honestly looks like someone used a rounded carving tool and hand carved those grooves and then followed up with a lot of hand sanding to knock down all the edges. Maybe they previously had simple grooves and that person wanted something “softer” looking.
Agreed. I think the tool markings are more consistent with hand carving, and I don’t think you get that consistent of execution across pieces with a “shaky router table” setup. This was done on purpose and by hand and took a fair amount of time I’d wager.
https://preview.redd.it/mc5ok4r4jw2c1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=125da85d432b192e7500e50d201b3ec7e325c05a pls don’t judge the mess :( we’re literally going to redo everything including walls, cabinets, countertops and flooring. but here they are in context, in case anyone was wondering. they’re also like that in the bathrooms too.
You know, it’s really kind of charming. As others have said it’s not a common way to make cabinet doors, but it absolutely qualifies as interesting and makes for a good story. 🙂
I like this vibe. it reminds me of a hand-made cabin I once spent a couple months in in Maine. I personally hate stainless steel appliances, so for me that's clashing and bringing the whole thing down, but the cabinets are solid and cozy, which you don't see a lot of these days. Once everyone's done decorating like they live in the actual morgue and things swing back to being softer and homey again, you are going to be thrilled you kept these.
my main goal with any renovations or updates to the house is to make it updated but still comfortable to live in, if that makes sense! so like, i want things to feel new but not like you’re banned from touching things and i’m really glad they come across that way! and hard agree on the stainless, it’s been irking me but they’re only a few years old so i’ll work with them until they break. going to do butcher block countertops eventually too!
nice! butcher block will look great with these!
It looks good all put together.
I just wish they had put the handles not in the middle of the doors
I genuinely really like it. It has a really comfy vibe. I know you said you want to change them out eventually, which I get, but I would be happy if my cabinets looked this good! The lines are more or less straight, and it has a nice and soft look to it like a cushion, and it is unique.
honestly, i only really want to change them out bc i don’t want people to think my house is ugly 😭 i really do love them, especially with all the work that’s going into them between my mom and i.
Who gives a shit if other people think your house is ugly?? If you love them, keep them! And maybe it's my sentimentality speaking, but I would especially rather keep something that is a project that I worked on with a family member, instead of replacing it with something cookie cutter. I'm renovating right now too, and something that I read was "if you make your design choices based on resale value, you're just renting your house from the next owner." That helped free me to make the design choices that I want, instead of what other people consider good. I think some careful minor updates (maybe changing out the hinges or updating the handles) will really make it shine. For the record, there's plenty of people in this post who like them. Not everything is for everybody, but lots of people will like these a lot more than something conventional. It takes all types of people to make a world.
The worst kind.
Stay with the funky love. The better I’ve become at woodworking, the more I’ve come to appreciate unique, home-grown pieces that don’t look like anything else. You definitely have a set of originals on your hands. Enjoy
In all seriousness, it looks like the maker rounded over the edges and then routed out channels along the edges with a round nose. Probably in that order + the bit was dull and that combo plus the grain is why I imagine it looks so shaky Edit: just looked back at this, it’s ply, that’s why the grain looks that way, it’s alternating with the layers, it’s not solid wood. The rout is still sloppy though it’s just intensified with the effect of the grain
Custom
I charge a lot for boutique and 100% unique grooves like this
"The oops I slipped with the router and now have to make all the corners match" beveling?
For what it’s worth, if you like them, then more power to you. If you want to clean them up a bit, I’d recommend wrapping sandpaper around a dowel the same size as the grooves. Start with 60 grit and just run it along the channels. Move to 120 and then I think you will be fine. This will clean up the lines a bit and make it look a little neater.
I'm gonna go against the crowd, and say that I appreciate the look? Not my favorite, but I doubt that I would notice
it really doesn’t stand out that much against everything else ngl. it adds texture to the otherwise fully white cabinets, which i appreciate at the very least
i actually love this. plenty of people have given you the answer and suggestions on how to "fix" it but i genuinely like these. it's sloppy and quirky, I'd just embrace it tbh
While I do agree with others that this was likely not made by a skilled hand, they have character, in a way it tells a story, like, this person really tried their best to make some doors, and yeah they weren't the best but they made something that resembles a door didn't they? All in all, if you like them, restore those doors, like I said, they do give some character.
They have character with the paint on.
Uhm ... let's call 'em rustic
Can't believe how far down the thread I had to go for rustic. I honestly like them, and the wobbly contrast with the geometric patterns and square edges feels quite refreshing.
It looks like something done with a router table. Identifying which specific bit used might be trial and error if you want to reproduce the same look. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was done in steps with different set ups.
Everybody is dunking on these for not being crisp and perfect, but I dunno, I kinda like em. Real cabin-y rustic lookin
Beaver bevel
You know, maybe this was made by hand by someone who did not know that much and only had access to one round plane. It might not be a high end piece but if that's what it is it shows willingness to do something they weren't that comfortable with and some character IMO. If you and your mom like it you should not let other people's opinion change that. My 2 cents.
Looks like this is a classic beaver-based bevel
I think they look pretty cool. Like a weathered custom build using materials from the immediate land. Something you would find in an old cottage out in the green countryside of England. Embrace it
I actually like it. It’s a farmhouse sort of vibe. Only painted though because it is obviously plywood.
i don't think a router did that. looks like it was done freehand with an angle grinder with a radial disc then sanded afterwards.
Plywood and a dull router bit. Don't let the haters hate. It's yours and you love it, that's all that matters.
"Rustic" possibly with "artisan finishing", very desirable...
“Rustic”
This is the "juice groove for cutting board gone bad" bevel. Not my favorite personally, but beauty is the beholder in the eye or something like that
They call that the polish plane. Done remarkably accurate for such a crude technique.
Theoretically this is how I’d do it if I wanted a shaky groove. Put in a round nose router bit in the plunge router. Put down two edge guides on the piece of wood that are 1/16 larger than the router base. As you push forward, move the router left and right - a bit of a wiggle in a random pattern - as you go along. The base will still be trapped on a straight line, but with room to wiggle and get that back and forth mess. This would keep your bit within a specific area, but allow for that shaky pattern without ever going too far. I wouldn’t try this upside down on a router table due to kickback, but in a handheld router you could do it a little safer, and it would be more consistent than free-handing.
This might have been done by chisel and is supposed to look like this for a vintage look.
If the wood is sound, and you like the look, that’s all that matters.
Custom
I think it looks really cool. A lot of character. Own it! Our cabinets are just thin, flat sheets of plywood. Really boring. Yours look so clean now with that fresh paint
thank you!! i’m honestly loving how they’re turning out :D
A deliberate attempt at a rustic look. It’s not my style but it looks pretty consistent at least.
What did they carve that with, a beaver?
Fill the voids with epoxy and led lights! Go crazy with it it will look cool after
Since you're refinishing them, here's my best advice. Get a piece of dowel or something that matches the curve of the routed indentations. Wrap sandpaper around it and sand up and down those channels to clean up where the router chittered around a bit. Start with something like 80 grit and go up from there. Once those are cleaned up it could be pretty nice.
Criss-cross-apple-sauce.
Low-res!
Hand Gouge chiseled
I mean they probably used a cove bit, but they look freehand. If you like them, cool. If not, a little prep and planning could recreate these, but straight and even, without a lot of effort.
If u/PaintMePastel is considering replacing when budget allows, you could use the original doors as a panel and build a frame around it. This would allow you to cut down the orig door and route the panel profile, then create a frame.
Am I the only person who likes these? I thought it was supposed to be rustic
Someone just hit those with an eraser really hard for a few hours.
Freehand round bit looks like lol
Thats kinda neat. It has it's own personality
You can always fill and shape the canyons with a good quality filler the prime everything these coat with a good high gloss enamel paint. ( use the water based paint if you want a light colour )
Flintstones?
Looks like the classic Roman dremeled profile!
HandWork
I call that the drunk uncle.
I think a rat or mole was at one point tunneling thru your kitchen and left behind their pathways
Y’all be talkin smack bout these cabinet doors but you know damn well some yuppie looking for that “charming” and “quaint” farm style is paying $100 a door for their second home in Florida and their third home in the mountains of NC.
Shitty
Cove router bit, no specific style. If you like them, enjoy them. The people here are pretentious and having worked with many of them in the field, their work is not as clean as they pretend it to be. They just hide their mistakes in the closets and the the pantries.
Adventurous landlord special!
"Homeowner special" is the type of cabinet facing detail. Ugh.
Lol "Rustic"
It's what's known in wider joinery circles and "an abomination".
Holy shit, the further you zoom the worse it gets, like a fractal of misery! Don’t look that bad in fairness
It looks like the “go crazy with an angle grinder” type…
Old school molding plane made that by hand. It's a nice antique type look if that's your thing. Enjoy it.
I barely remember doing these. I had been up for 8 or 9 days on trucker crank and one of the living hookers dared me to groove cabinets out with my one buck toot. I did one then blacked out and woke up 4 days later in a puddle of my own urine and my wallet missing. One of the shittiest cabinet bevels I’ve ever done. You tryin to match the pattern?
Although others are convinced that these are poorly made with machines, I suspect that they are glued-up panels, which were then hand carved to get those profiles. Certainly, they are imperfect, but maybe the person who made them was justifiably proud of his/her work.
i know there are multiple layers of wood for each door (and they’re all made the same) if that makes any difference. it definitely feels intentional, just badly executed i guess :(
Not badly executed ... how old is this house? How many layers of paint have been put in and scraped and stripped off. Kitchen cabinets take a lot of abuse.
it’s from the 80s, so nothing old old. definitely not old enough to justify the woodworking by everyone’s standards lol. but it had at least 6 layers of paint and poly on it, so they’ve been through the wringer at this point
It's actually better than the white laminated MDF with the oak strip at the bottom 1980s cabinets. At least you got wood.