[Katalase]

I vaguely recall that someone had already done this. Does anyone know how to take an Adel (birch or medium brown) door apart? I need to shrink it by about 3", but don't want to lose the proportions of the rails/styles, so I figured I could pull it apart, cut the panel to size, cut the rails, and then put it all back together again. This is for a custom cover panel at the end of a cabinet run that will be painted.

Thanks,
Katherine (coming out of hibernation, only to hear that they're predicting snow tomorrow)

[DesignDiva]

What is the size of the area you need to cover?

I could see fabricating something out of MDF, it would be a simple construction and you could paint it to match.

[Katalase]

About 12"W x. 15"T. I figure that MDF would be my next step, however, I picked up two 12"W x. 18"T (1 birch, 1 medium brown) doors for $3 a pop from As Is. I'm pretty positive that someone took one of these apart to resize it and said it was easy. Since they're solid wood, they should refabricate OK.

[orangecat]

In the words of Sparkydude from 11/06:
"just to update everyone It is possible to disassemble an adel birch door and relativeley easy too. All you need is a pair of quick clamps, the ones that can be spreaders aswell as clamps. Remove the rubber foot and then place in the recess of the door. then apply presure to the door trying to push the stiles out from the rails, and after a bit of pressure they come apart. Whilst clamped down it is possible to break the glue bond on the other sides aswell. Then to refix just trim to length, chamfer the newly cut edges to match existing . Then just match the dowelling holes in the stiles with your new cut piece and re-drill, glue panel clamp and voila one shortened and custom sized adel birch door.

Nick"

I also need to make some Adel Birch as-is doors smaller (to fit a non-Ikea upper corner cabinet that is "easy-reach/L" configuration rather than the Ikea diagonal upper corner). I haven't done this yet, but am hoping to follow the path Nick/Sparkydude has blazed for us on this. Seems like it should be relatively straightforward. You'll need a pair of strong spreaders, and then a table saw, wood glue, dowels, and a drill I think.

[sdfine]

I am resizing Birch Adel doors and it is definitely NOT easy to disasemble them. I used high quality Bessey clamps and they were not strong enough to push them apart. I ended up creating wedges and using a dead blow hammer I drove them apart. They didn't come apart easily. For an end panel it would definitely be easier to make it out of MDF.

Looking at your picture again, you could take a door and instead of disassembling it simply cut it down on the inside of the left or right stile. Then cut it to size. Since it doesn't need the structural integrity of a door you can just reassemble it without the dowels/

[kirsty]

this is wtmoose's post on pulling the doors apart:

Disassemble Adel Door

I doubt it's easy, but apparently it can be done... in sandals no less.

I have 2 15 x 39 doors (full price!) that I need to do this to as well.

[orangecat]

I've resized perhaps 10 Adel Birch and Medium Brown doors via the "WTMoose" procedure linked to in the last post. Mostly they've been quite straightforward. Some had a more liberal use of glue, but if you're careful, it's not a huge amount of time. It certainly makes it easier to achieve the objective of an entire kitchen and master bath done with 'as-is' cabinetry!

We've picked up so many surplus doors I think we may need to use them on the garage cabinets, instead of the Adel White we were initially planning for there.

[kelly]

This is a great thread- lots of continuity and member-tested strategies to customize your kitchen! If you got value out of this conversation, take a look at the thread in my signature below, and considering helping IKEAFANS keep the conversation flowing!

[argeeleh]

Originally Posted by orangecat

I've resized perhaps 10 Adel Birch and Medium Brown doors via the "WTMoose" procedure linked to in the last post. Mostly they've been quite straightforward. Some had a more liberal use of glue, but if you're careful, it's not a huge amount of time. It certainly makes it easier to achieve the objective of an entire kitchen and master bath done with 'as-is' cabinetry!

We've picked up so many surplus doors I think we may need to use them on the garage cabinets, instead of the Adel White we were initially planning for there.

Just picked up my cabinets this past weekend and will need to modify a 12" wide cabinet into 9" wide. I like the "WTMoose" procedure but have few questions. After taking the door apart, I guess the best thing is to remove 3" strip from one side only of the middle, top and bottom panels. Did you drill holes for the two wooden pegs? Thanks

[orangecat]

I think you are asking if I reassembled my cut-down doors with dowels. I did. This required drilling new holes for the dowels . I also glued the door frames. Don't glue the interior panel-- it 'floats' in the exterior frame.

But consider what style door will look best on a 9" wide cabinet that is 30 or 39" tall. You might want to use a solid slab door, rather than the frame/panel look. You can take an Adel drawer front (a big one), and cut it down to size. You'll need to drill hinge holes and mount it vertically (instead of the horizontal orientation it was intended to be used in). Or depending on your skills and time, build a solid slab door.

For all the Adel doors I cut down, I just shrank the inner panel the necessary dimension, and kept the frame the same as neighboring doors. That is, I didn't cut the frame smaller. I can't tell from your initial question, but perhaps you are considering shrinking the exterior frame and not the interior panel. It certainly would be possible, although don't forget you'll need to redrill hinge holes and the different proportions might look strange unless this cabinet is off my itself without 'normal' neighbors.

hope it goes well.