AboutGreg Scholl Expertise Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects, Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings, wood species recognition and usage,tool recommendations, blade types and recommendation,techniques and methods for many Woodworking related issues, etc.
Experience Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.) Sold, built, serviced, setup Home, Industrial, and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools , provided knowledge, parts replacement, service, and on site service, Trade show Demo, and training as well.
Publications Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how")
Education/Credentials Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field. Seminars from major Tool manufacturers, Skil/Bosch, Delta, Powermatic, Ritter, Porter cable, Milwaukee, Dewalt/B&Decker, Performax.
Past/Present Clients Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT. (the Antiques capital of CT.), Golden Age of Trucking Museum, Wilton Historical Society.
Question Hello Greg, We are doing a large kitchen in Greenwich Ct. $190k The cabinet builder made cabinet doors from American walnut veneered (mdf). He adhered 3/8" thick x 4" wide pieces of solid American walnut horizontally across the door fronts and tight together with a v-groove. The doors were fine for awhile with no signs of movement until the humidity one day was up in the 70% range inside as we are working inside and out with doors and windows open. The doors warped severely across the width and height. I never saw anything this drastic and I figured the mdf would have been stiff enough to keep from warping. Is it because the (solid wood) adhered to the face of the mdf doors should have been thinner or thicker? Or should he have counted on warpage because of the difference in materials being adhered to each other? I feel he should have known this, as the clients do want to be able to open windows and doors in the summer and humidity (will) be a problem. I think he should have dadoed the edges of the doors prior to solid edge banding and installed a strip of metal say 1/2"x3/8" say stainless steel around the entire door and then applied the edge banding to hide the metal re-enforcement. What would you say? Thanks, Mike
Answer Hey Mike, 190k huh??? WOW.....for this kind of $ they should've been using solid walnut....one of the first rules in veneering a solid core (be it MDF or Lumber) is, that whatever you do two one side, you must do to the other to equalize the forces. Also, 3/8" is way too heavy to apply to only one side of a panel....I'm assuming he use 1/2" MDF for a total door thickness of around 3/4". From your description, it also sounds like he didn't use any kind of frame around the panels, which makes a panel like this prone to distortion.....There are also different types of MDF, some better than others, and some designed for high moisture areas, and HDF, or high density Fiberboard, that would be more suitable for this application. Finishing would also play a part, meaning that the entire panel would need to be finished with a durable, film type finish (pre Cat. lacquer- or a Cat. Urethane type product), completely sealing it from moisture changes. I'm also surprised they moved this much, and while your metal rail idea may have initially helped to keep the panels flat, somethings gotta give somewhere, meaning the walnut might have delaminated, cracked, warped, the MDF twisted, etc., as this is not proper construction technique. It would also likely pose an issue when mounting the hardware... The main problem is this guy did not follow established rules in panel construction, and suitable materials, and in a harsh environment like a kitchen or bathroom, this is paramount. Sounds like he's got a little learning to do, and a lot of doors to remake, probably at his expense....hope that helps- post back if need be- regards- Greg
