Doors
Hinge Cup Mounting
Nine Piece MDF Doors
Hinge Cup Mounting
While its not a great picture, I use screw mounted cups and a piece of 3/4" aluminum angle stock, held to the outside door edge, to keep the holes parallel to the door edge. I use a Vix Bit to drill the holes. Most of what I do is half-overlay, i.e. the doors overlay the panels by 8mm. I get the best clearance, door to box and door to door or finished end, with a 6mm plate and the 35mm bit centered 21.5mm from the door edge. The placement happens to be ideal for the 3/4" aluminum angle spacer/aligner. Other overlays and spacings will likely require a different tool. Using a square aligned to the top/bottom edge of the door works, but isn't a very solid/dependable solution.
There was a post on the WoodWeb Cabinetmaking Forum (expired) about hinges tearing off the doors. I had made a comment about how I trust screws more than dowels. While this is generally true, I decided to test hinges mounted with dowels. It took quite a lot of force to cause any failure and it was the hinge that failed, not the dowels. In this application, with Blum dowels/screws (dowel holding strength, at least in other application, has numerous variables and I haven't looked at other manufacturers products), I'd trust dowel mounting (Blum's spreading dowel / machine screw plate mounts also seem strong/reliable).
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Nine Piece MDF Doors
The first time I did this it was for the Wolf's Family Room and it was 13 pieces with the molding. As may/will be apparent, I use spring clamps and MDF a lot. For most folks, this method of door construction probably doesn't make much sense. Since there are so many glue cycles (I use a 30min timer), you do need space out of the way so that you can be doing other things at the same time. I do have the bits to do a few different door styles and have done Shaker doors with them in the past (e.g. the Robinson's office). What I like about this method is that it is relatively simple, you will never have problems with the center panel expanding/contracting and its stronger because of the edge to edge panel.
I have also done drawer faces using a 1/2" MDF panel and applying 1/4" MDF stiles and rails to the face. The problem here is that, when everything dries, the faces are always slightly concave. I had noticed this with wainscot (1/4" back/panel) built in a similar manner. I would have thought that the moisture in the glue would have had the opposite effect (convex) due to MDF expansion from the water in the glue. Apparently, when the glue dries, shrinkage is the overriding factor. It may be that I need to try different glues.
I use scrap pieces of 1/4" back material to define the panel opening and control the location of the buildup strips. The image is stage two, gluing on the rails. Image two is a closeup. The third image shows the glued up door with the control panel (white) still in place. That pile of sandpaper is from my initial attempt at hand sanding. Using the random orbital sander was much faster. While its pretty easy to a good job with a 5" random orbital, leaving the control panel in place is good insurance (keeps the sander from rocking).
Without molding, the MDF edge around the panel needs to be sealed. As with all MDF edge prep, I use OneTime. When I was trying to describe the stuff to one of my customers he said something about it sounding like you could use a syringe. A syringe is the best solution I have found for applying OneTime to that inside edge. Spreading and cleaning off the excess does take a bit of finesse. The MDF with the sandpaper stuck to it (top left, third image) is for sanding that inside edge after its dried.
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