Refinishing Raised Panel Doors

Pull the scraper with the grain.

Refinishing raised panel doors.

Lay the door across the. I first strip using goudey paint or lacquer then scrape it off wash with diluent and sand. Sand the side and front surfaces of the old cabinets. Flat front doors and drawers are easily refaced but if yours have raised panels routed profiles or other architectural detailing you can opt to buy new unfinished doors and drawers and stain them along with your cabinets.

A solid wood panel will not work here because you can t glue a solid panel in place. Place the door flat across two sawhorses. Remove the door from the jamb. In this case just wipe a coat of your finish on the edges of the panel to seal and saturate the wood s color before assembly.

Set up the sawhorses outside or in the garage. This free video diy guide provides some much need help. Usually with a refinish job sanding is awfully time consuming especially on raised panel doors. How to sand raised panel doors.

Leave the hinges on the jamb. Avoid sanding inside if possible. For more and better information take a look. Clean the cabinets with a mineral spirits dampened rag to remove surface contaminants.

Use two hands and apply only gentle downward pressure to reduce the chance of an accidental slip gouging the wood. Then thoroughly scrub them with a 50 50 solution of household ammonia and water. Use mdf for the panel and glue it in place when you assemble the door. Sand the cabinets with 80 grit sandpaper to remove bumps and roughen the surface.

Small razor sharp scrapers reach into corners across narrow profiles and on the end grain of raised panels where no rotary sander can safely go. Raised panel cabinet door refacing raised panel cabinet doors have a center panel that s raised to the same height as the doorframe. Use a drill driver to unscrew the hinges holding the door to the jamb. A recessed border between the frame and the center panel has space for decorative carved detailing which will also be featured on the drawer fronts.

Start by removing the cabinet doors drawers and all hardware. Use a hand figuring out how to go about refinishing a pine door. If there s some dye stain left in the wood i use chlorine bleach which is good for removing dye stains without affecting the natural color of the wood. Finally rinse with clear water and allow to dry.

Use a short thin screwdriver and a hammer to drive the pins out.