Secret compartments, hidden drawers, mullions and tiger maple

Making glass doors for cupboards is always a time consuming process. All the cuts, parts and pieces make for a time eating day. Lots of figuring and tweaking to get everything to fit right and look good. There is also the time spent planing and jointing parts and letting them rest to see if they get twist or warp.

I use shapers for most of my doors. I have one set up for cutting the copes and one for cutting the rails and stiles. I always follow the advice of a good friend of mine and nibble away to eliminate any chipping in the tiger maple. Rough the pieces out, run them through the shaper, joint the edge again and re run them. Makes for nice sharp crisp edges and good looking doors. I took lots of pictures to show the steps, but I am not a photographer. A lot of them were blurry and not in good focus. Its also hard to take a shot while pushing a piece into a cutter.

Chip out in the tiger maple. This happens with most figured woods. Take a 1/32" off on the jointer and re run the piece and you get a nice clean cut.

Running the piece through the shaper with a small feeder works great. No fingers get chewed up and the feeder holds everything in place. It also allows a varible
feedrate.

Lots of small pieces. Getting everything to fit right takes lots of trimming and test fitting. You need to take your time and not get excited when things don't fit the third or forth time...My dad would call it piddling work. You piddle around until it is right.

I also have the secret compartment done on the upper section. Learned that also from my friend. It is a slick way to add something extra, plus it is just cool. I will be adding some secret drawers as well. I guess that is enough for today. I hope to get the doors sanded and ready for finish tomorrow. I've had enough "piddling" for today.