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MDF for Door Panels
Question
Forum Responses
From contributor J: As long as they are interior doors and you are using carbide tooling, I see no problem. I've built plenty of doors with MDF panels, and not one returned because of panel breakage. From contributor B: As long as your rails and stiles are of poplar or a similar wood, you will have no problems with MDF panels. The door takes the beating on the rails and stiles, versus the center panel. I would still leave about 1/16" overall for movement, just to be safe. You might look into Ranger Board (or similar) versus standard MDF. It will be a bit more expensive, but cuts a sharper detail edge and takes paint a bit easier on the open cut surfaces. From contributor C: The panels on the door should have a 3/4" thick tongue, not 1/4". Sandwich a sheet of 1/2" MDF to both sides of a 3/4" center piece with waterproof glue to create your finished 1 3/4" thickness. If you want a deeper profile, you could go down to 1/2" on the tongue, but no thinner. Check the available stacked cutter heads to see what they typically accommodate. From contributor K: Simpson Door Co. makes exterior paint grade doors, MDF panels, Douglas fir stiles and rails. They have had good luck with them. From contributor M: Not a problem for interior doors. The stability of MDF can actually be a bonus, since there's less likelihood of having the paint crack on the joint between panel and frame. As mentioned above, you might consider a larger groove and keep your tongue thickness at 1/2" or larger. From the original questioner: Thanks to all who responded. It looks like it's okay to go with MDF as a panel material. I'm also looking at a new set of cutters that will give me the 1/2" tongue that some have suggested. I too will feel better about having a thicker tongue. That was actually one of my main concerns that a 1/4" might not be strong enough. From contributor F: To be slightly argumentative, I think if someone or something hits an MDF panel that has a 1/4" tongue hard enough to break it, that that would be abuse. I would not hesitate to use it. From contributor A: I believe most people are not so concerned about the panel tongue thickness as to the overall cope/stick profile for a 1 3/4" door. 1/4" is fine for 1 3/8 interior. 1/2"-5/8" is more typical for 1 3/4 and 3/4" is for 2 1/4" exterior. From contributor F: Oh, you're right! My addled mind missed that one. From contributor S: Not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here. Just out of curiosity, what do you mean you got beat up on price? Did you bid it and specs changed, or did you make a major blunder in proposal on materials or labor? I want the answer so we can help so you don't get put in this situation in future. It sounds like you have not built many passage doors. I learned the hard way years ago. From the original questioner: Thanks for the offer, but I too have built many passage doors over the years. What I meant by "beat up" was in order to get the job, they wanted the lowest possible price I could come up with, hence the use of MDF for the panels. This is a first for me. The order was quite large (140 doors) and I feel comfortable with my numbers and I now have the job. Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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