DIY Glass Cabinet Doors Using Pocket Hole Jig

For years my wife had wanted to add glass doors to this open shelving in our kitchen. She wanted them to be an accent color matching other items in our kitchen. I made them for her as a surprise gift.

I had not crafted a door in years so this was a chance to brush up on my skills. I used a lower grade pine for the price since it was a practice project. The lower grade pine is easier to shape and sand but doesn't finish as nicely. It tends to warp as well so I had to be extra selective with my wood.

The doors will be painted so staining wasn't going to be an issue.

As always, safety first. Use hearing protection, a dust mask and safety goggles. Use gloves when handling rough edges. Clamp your work as needed to keep it from moving while cutting and sanding.

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Tools and supplies:

Miter Saw

Drill Driver

Orbital Sander

Clamps

Pocket Hole Jig

Pocket Hole Screws

Wood Glue

Euro Hinges

Router

Hinge template

Since I was just adding the doors to an existing set of cabinets, I was able to copy the dimension height from the other doors in the kitchen. I am going to use Euro Hinges with a half inch overlay. That means my doors along the hinge side will overlap 1/2 inch. We are making two doors so you want to measure the interior cabinet width, then add 1" to the total so that you will have an extra 1/2" on each side. Now you must subtract 1/8" inch from the total to give a small gap between doors. Now divide by 2. That is the width of each door. Now you have to do the math of subtracting each side piece to determine the width of the board in between. It sounds harder than it is. You don't want the doors to collide. Euro hinges offer adjustability so you can have a little movement if the doors are wacky. More on that later.

The boards were cut to size and rough sanded. Pocket holes were drilled on the short middle pieces to allow for easy assembly. If you haven't use a pocket hole jig before please refer to my guide How to make a stool using pocket hole joinery. I clamped the boards together and used glue and pocket screws for assembly.

I clamped the doors to my work bench. I used my router with an round over bit to give the doors a little character. I didn't have a bit that would match the existing cabinetry but this was going to help it blend in. I then flipped the doors over and routed a 1/4' groove on the inside edge 1/4" deep to hold the glass. Everything got a good sanding.

Euro hinges are very forgiving to use. I had bought a template in the past to help line up the drill marks for uniformity. I used a mortiise bit to drill a shallow hole to hold the hinge. It is really easy to drill straight thru your work so be careful. I test fit the hinge as I go so as to not go too deep.

I took the doors to our backyard and sprayed them with left over turquois paint from a previous project. While out there I was surprised as a baby turtle walked up! We have box turtles roaming our backyard. Maybe I'll do an Instructable on them in the future.

Once the doors dried I carried them back into the workshop. I added a glaze to give them a more vintage vibe. Glaze is applied, then wiped off before it dries. It is very subjective how much you remove. The doors were top coated with a clearcoat spray varnish. The hinges were installed and the doors hung for a test fit. Now we are just waiting for glass.

I hope you have enjoyed this Instructable. As always please leave any questions or suggestions in the comments. Thank you!