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If you follow my videos, you know that it’s taken me the better part of two months to get my new shop up and running. A big part of this project was building a huge wall that separated my workspace from my new showroom, which means I was in need of some double doors to join them up.
I found this to be the perfect opportunity to use some reclaimed white oak and hickory from my lumber rack to build out some DIY door panels with glass panes. I’ve been wanting to try these out for some time now as preparation for someday tackling the front door to my home. This arts and crafts style furniture is something I’ve always been a big fan of and I’m stoked to show you guys how I built these beauties.
Tools & Materials for these Stunning DIY Door Panels
Before building Frame & Panel French Doors, you’re going to need a few things. Here are the tools and products I recommend for this build:
Tools
Finishes/ Consumables/ Parts
You may want to keep a few extra woodworking tools on hand. Here are my recommendations for Woodworking Tools!
This page contains affiliate links, but all ideas are my own. For more information, check out my disclosure page.
Kick your project off by choosing your materials. I chose some reclaimed white oak and hickory from my lumber rack. When making your material decision, however, there are a few things you’ll want to consider:
That being said, make sure you know the dimensions of your doorjamb and the doorframe before starting. Additionally, if you have a specific hardware preference, make sure you have that under control as well.
Once you have the wood you want, use a Jigsaw to roughly cut out the parts. This doesn’t have to be too specific, but cutting down to a manageable size will save you a lot of time down the road. I prefer to use a Jigsaw here because it’s super easy to maneuver, and safe to use on a rough surface. A lot of people use a circular saw here too, but I find the jigsaw faster and easier in this application.
Once you have a rough cutout of your parts, let the parts sit for a few days to acclimate to the temperature. This will allow the wood to make any final movements and avoid fractures in the wood in the future. After that, go ahead and square your parts down to final thickness. For this, I use the jointer to plane down one of the faces and an adjacent edge at 90*. From there I planed the boards to 1/16th proud of their final thickness, then ripped them down to my desired final width.
This is also when you’ll want to cut your rails to their final size. For the stiles (the long parts on the sides of the door) leave them long. This will allow you to cut the door down to size with a track saw once it’s assembled.
While the rails and stiles are acclimating, saw the panel parts with a bandsaw. From there I used the jointer and planer to square the boards and prep them for glue-up.
PRO TIP: Leave your panels wider and longer than you anticipate the interior of the door to be. It’s much easier to cut these to size after you measure your final interior length and width of your door panels.
Step 5: Glue Up the DIY Door Panels and Bottom Stiles
Next, it’s time to glue up your panels for the doors and your bottom rail. I wanted an overall height on my bottom rail of 10″, so I glued up two pieces roughly wider than 5″ and after they dried, trimmed them down to final width.
Once your panels are dry, sand them down to 220 grit and water-pop them. Once water-popped, you’ll want to pre-finish your doors. This is important because your panels are going to shrink a bit. Pre-finishing ensures that there is no bare exposed wood around the panel insert.
Next, you want to lay out and clamp the rough shape of your door. Take a moment to make sure everything is square, marking the intersecting joints and using your Festool XL Domino Joiner to cut the largest tenons possible. I made 14mm x 140mm tenons and used 2-4 tenons per joint.
PRO TIP: Cut the tenons tight on the rails and leave them loose on the stiles. You can glue the tenons into the rails once they’re cut. This makes your job much easier when it’s time for the final assembly.
You’re going to want to fully assemble the door WITHOUT applying glue to the joints.
Sit the door above the work table rested on clamps. The clamps simply keep the door off the top surface of the table for mockup. Then you will use a rabbeting bit in your plunge router to cut the grooves for your door. I used a 1/2″ rabbeting bit with the biggest ball bearing it comes with. I then worked down to the smaller bearing to reach my desired depth - about 5/8″-1/2″.
Repeat this process for the top panel. If you choose to insert glass, you’ll want to relieve the top of the rabbet with a flush trim bit, and set the bearing to fit inside the glass channel (as shown above).
Now that you have everything fit, round over the edges on your panels for a smooth finish. Once those are rounded, it’s time for glue up! Here I used space balls to eliminate the door rattling due to expansion and contraction over time. Be sure to use clamps on both sides of the door to keep it flat; flatness in glue up is crucial.
PRO TIP: Be sure to sand the inside edges of your door where the panel will inset BEFORE glue up! You can thank me later.
Let the doors dry overnight. The next day, sand the doors to 220 grit and water pop them one more time. Do a final sand to 220 or 400 grit, using a tack cloth to remove the excess dust. Apply your favorite finish in light coats, sanding in between. I recommend about five to six coats General Finishes Endurovar for a really beautiful finish. You can also spray-apply your finish, sanding in between with a brillo pad or 400 grit paper.
We’re in the home stretch! The final step is to square up the panels on the door glass and insert the glass into the door. I use 3/4″ x 1/2″ material for this, and pin-nail the trim over the glass on the backside. This is how I hold the glass in place. Because I didn’t use glue, I can easily replace the glass if I even find myself in a glass-shattering baseball situation.
Thanks for checking out this build. If you want to see more custom work from my shop, Here are a few more projects for you:
Want to try this build out for yourself? Download the digital plan now for step-by-step instructions, measurements, and a detailed look at how to punch this project in the face.
I used to be an offensive lineman in the NFL, Now I run my own furniture business and am completely self taught. In my videos and posts you'll see a variety of wood and metal work as well as some tips and tricks. Enjoy!
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Pittsburgh-based custom wood and metal worker. Tool Reviews, DIY Projects, and a whole lot of yinzer pride. Join the movement & punch your next project in the face.
