The door panels have glass inserts. I am not fond of open bookcases with all the dust floating (and settling) in our home. This is only my second cabinet with glass. It allows my Lost Art Press books to be seen, but protected.

The thin strips are flush with the rails and stiles. In general I like them to be a bit proud, but in this cabinet this doors close flush to the shelves, eliminating the opportunity to create shadow lines of proud strips.

Strips were cut slightly oversized at the band saw, then taken down to final dimensions using a block plane. The strips were slightly rounded over on the outer edge and fit snug to each opening with a small backsaw (dovetail). Each piece was labeled on the non-show surface and given a few coats of finish.

A thin bead of silicone applied to the rabbets, the glass cleaned, put in place, and the strips were secured with 23-gauge pins. I wanted to use escutcheon pins, however, even my smallest drill bit (1/16″) was too large to make a suitable pilot hole. The old-growth, figured sinker Mahogany was too dense to risk driving those pins without pilot holes. I did try a few samples and decided it was not worth the risk. So 23-gauge pins it was.

The doors were installed with the Brusso knife hinges and pilot holes were drilled in the top to be secured with #8 by 1-1/4-inch brass-coated screws.