Can I take out old wood center of cabinet and replace with glass or plexi glass?

November 112009

Posted in take out | 5 Comments »

I want to reface my cabinets. They will be cream colored with antiquing. I want to take out the middle piece of cabinet door front and replace it with either glass or plexiglass. Is this possible to do myself or would I need new cabinet doors to do this?

If you mean a panel inside the frame of the door, yes you can. You may need to rabbet the back portion of the frame to hold the glass in place. Using a router, create a rabbet along the edge the glass where it is to rest….then, on the inside of the door, you can install very small clips to hold the glass in place. If the panel is "floating" inside the frame, the door is probably strong enough to do this project, if it is glued in, it may not….you will have to check it out before hand, if you can. Go to a cabinet display, and view the cabinets with glass panels.

5 Responses

  1. T C Says:

    It would depend on the construction. What you certainly could do regardless how they are constructed, is to cut an area from the center and place the glass over the opening.
    References :

  2. LuckyD Says:

    It’s not impossible. If you know how to take the door apart and have a router table to reshape the back side of the shaker panel, yes… you can do it!

    Otherwise, buying the new doors will be worth it.
    References :

  3. Dr. Feelgood Says:

    If you mean a panel inside the frame of the door, yes you can. You may need to rabbet the back portion of the frame to hold the glass in place. Using a router, create a rabbet along the edge the glass where it is to rest….then, on the inside of the door, you can install very small clips to hold the glass in place. If the panel is "floating" inside the frame, the door is probably strong enough to do this project, if it is glued in, it may not….you will have to check it out before hand, if you can. Go to a cabinet display, and view the cabinets with glass panels.
    References :

  4. adevilchild38 Says:

    It can be done but it depends on how the door is built, it may be worth just to get new doors cause for one you have to know what you are doing. That’s something you can’t just tell somebody how to do without even knowing how it’s built……The stiles and rails on the door will need to have rabbits put in so the glass can sit in, but the stile and rails may not have enough wood to put a rabbit on…. Need to see….But like I said you might want to buy new ones, or pay someone that knows how to to it….That would be the cheapest and easiest way to do it…..
    References :
    Retired Cabinet Maker Work at the Berkeley Tool Lending Library

  5. jr Says:

    Yes.
    References :

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