Filling In Router Line on Cabinet?

Qusetions:All of my kitchen cabinets have a single, very shallow line router pattern in them. To give you an idea of the depth, you can place a 5mm size BB in the router line and ½ of the BB would be exposed . The cabinets are made of very thick oak wood (no MDF or particle board here) and the cabinet doors are made of a softer birch wood. I thought about purchasing new wood cabinet doors, but when I started to measure I found that out of twenty cabinet doors, no two pairs are the same size. In other words I would have to order 10 (x2) different sizes cabinet doors. That option is out of the question at this time.

I don’t work with wood, but I’m sure someone on Yahoo Ask is. Could I fill in the router line with a wood filler, sand and get a good, smooth finish? Once all that’s done can I route out a new design on the cabinet doors or would the filler crumble when the router passes over a filled in area?

Answers:Your options are kind of determined by they type of finish you want to apply. If you plan on painting or using a very dark stain on the doors after you've created a new design then it should be easier to do with a much higher chance of success. Simply use an automotive filler like Bondo to fill in the grooves, allow to dry, and sand flush with the surface. Cabinetmakers use these types of fillers on surfaces to be painted because it dries quickly, is relatively inexpensive, machines easily, bonds extremely well, and most importantly, doesn't shrink as it hardens. It will work well with Birch because the wood has a relatively smooth texture.

An alternative would be a good quality wood filler, which no matter what the packaging says, will not stain to look exactly like wood, especially in lighter shades. I've found that the newer water based products are much easier to use and produce a surface that accepts stain much better than the older, solvent based ones. Famowood is my preferred brand, though I'm not sure of its availability in the UK, you should be able to find a retailer with a little research, or you can get it online at Rockler http://rockler.com or Woodcraft http://woodcraft.com. Make sure the can says "solvent free". You can route or carve it when it's dry just like Bondo.

Another thing to consider is using the existing quirk (a small groove in a cabinet, usually colored black, at the edge of a surface to mask any slight differences in height) as part of the new design and simply adding to it so you don't have to actually fill it in. But if this isn't an option for you, then you should be able to fill it in as described and redo it, but your results will be a lot better if you're planning on painting the new doors. It sounds like the groove is simply a kerf made by a table saw blade, so theoretically, you could glue thin strips of Birch in them and sand flush, but because there's finish in them, it may not be a viable option and could produce an inconsistent result. Or you could reroute them so they're clean and add the strips, but the grain may still not match the surrounding wood, so fill and paint would be your best alternative.

I hope that helps and I didn't go too far with options. You can email me with further questions or added details. You properly spelled MDF, so I already assume you're way ahead of most people on these types of projects. By the way, my son's name is Kevin Kelly, but I assume you're not him as he's only 15 and our cabinets are fine, though I didn't build them.

Answers:Put wood trim on them. Save your self a mile of insanity. I'm going to guess they have a groove something like this http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2773/4459… These can be trimmed in wood like this http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4479… or this http://www.thehandyhusbands.com/resource… Trim the top and the bottoms while tour at it with a crown molding and a bottom edging. The second trim posted will require a miter saw.