Making Full-Sized Doors Combining machine and handwork makes a tightly coped joint where rail meets stile ng sd doors eae ob Mitten ese cle poe doors ces a erty caw fen aroadepecrn efron yes One of ener fat dig queits Cnc song Po ontario ee (es in ancy fm ole ore To held wpgreaee be emma ue te ‘with ful iorise-an denon jolaeey- vad |_| dowels I've made more than two dozen doots for focal contractors using dowels, and Thave decided that its a demanding, tedious and unforgiving method. ‘When Ifoundtime to build several doors Formy own house, { devised a method that ‘combines simple machine work and tradi- tional mortise-and-tenon construction. The joints are strong, and they can be ited and tuned before final assembly, convenience that doweling does not offer. You can cut the joints in anumber of ways that don't re- quite expensive toolsor machinery. use a shaper to cur the pantera molding on the Inside edges ofthe rals and stiles, But you could also cut i with a router, tablesaw molding head or even by hand with a smoking plane Lay out the joints with scraps Rip and joint all the frame stock to the fia- ished width, Leave all the pieces several inches long forthe initial pawern shaping toallow for snipe and to dress off any bad ends At the same time, mill several test pieces for ayingout the molding, the pan: grooveand the joint. These test pieces can be the same width as the stiles, and by Joseph Beals Appassage door bul 0 ast The a ways dryfits a door before final asemty cing pgs) ad insti ‘the joints as requtred. The finished door (above) is weit suited for tte site,a T5Ospear-old house in New England. the pieces shouldbe at least afoot long for convenience and safer. ‘Wath the first test piece, set up the pattern ‘molding and panel groove. Install a single standard pattem cutter on the shaper to make the molding, (use a single cutter as a simple profiling too, so i's not restriewed to a particular door thickness. And 4 mill the pattern molding ononeedge of the test, piece ata time, making a separate pass for each side. I the pattern looks good, plow the panel groove with my shaper. You ‘could also cut the groove with a dado blade on the rablesaw, The First pass re- moves the bulk of the waste.a second pass rade with the stock nirned over will en- surea perfectly centered groove. ibe panel. groove must ote paueen sholding (ee the top deawing on p. 60). The width of the panel groove will define the thickness ‘ofthe tenons, about win fora 14 in-thick ‘exterior door and Ya in, for a I-in-thick interior door, The exact width can be fine- tuned to work with the pattern molding and can be adjusted as needed Lay out the mortises with a pencit— Use the first test piece, with the pattem: and-groove cut, a8 a guide or marking the stiles, Clamp the two siles together, Face 10 face (see the bottom drawing on p. 60), and define the two up edges as the inside edges. Mark the top and bottom of the door, leaving an equal amount of excess length ateach end, Mark where each of the three rails intersects the stiles, ‘Within these three pairs of marks, lay out the bottom of the panel grooves, as mie sured off the test piece. That mark will show youwhere ro cutthe mortises. Final- ly, mark Lin. inward fom che top and bor. tom of the door «0 define where top and bottom rail moxtises will end Cut the mortises before shaping the frame pieces—Cut all the mortises witha ‘drill press and hand chisels before doing,iolrery By combining machine and Fd ehiquns, theautor mates durabo ‘ors wrod ‘Sing expensive machinery tndtootng. Tepral Remove pattern | ano from the se | ‘here ors the ra uw Go a Section through mA Tim excess alter d00r i glued up. ‘Marking the mortises Silas. rippod and oie 0 with ae lft ong and trknmod ator tho Outside ins inceate ne oor hat been aseembicd: Pel mara provide eaty ustnes to Tae ft treo ‘alow in ting the [na on i oe Santo fe fished or Profte anc groove scraps the same ‘wich 98 ra 0 fay out joinery on stiles, a offset 119. ot the top and bortern ‘fine door aves ‘stoct for ‘rimming ater. Inside tines indicate where the morieas wil be out. These imate also datine where to cut back he pattern molding.any more werleon the stiles Using the test piece as a guide, sec up the drill press by centering 4 regular twist bit in the panel froove. IPs important to use a fence or a ‘lamp, like the one shown in the photo at right, to register the stiles so that the bit cuts consistently at the center of the mor tise, Set the depth ¥* in. of $0 short of the outaide edge of the stile to leave enough ‘material o trie the door to with Ais bit equal in diameter to the widkh of the panel groove is ideal for drilling out the mortises. A smaller bit will serve the purpose, but you will have more hand- ‘work when cleaning out the mortises Avoid using spade augers They can wan ipaber The cbviouscuclstostorten bem fy decesaty tr eoenies we oo shor he oben canbe corrected by shifting the fepor banous ul eat lock ral You Sekai access Tog ‘ess ate edge oi ral trneeg de patra molding on these by the same amount. This will allow the rail teste ow the Toc a ighterng the Ioose oti I shin the tp ce Doty fal cme ser Ne coartc soul et the opening youl have tobe eb ieand mac new martin Check that the frame is flatWhen the frame s fully assembled and all the joints are tight, clamp lightly across the rails © siniolate the pressure applied when the Final assembly takesplace. The large shoul ders onthe cals wil square up the frame, butthey are not proof againstrwisting You can correct twist by shaving the tenons or paring the insides of mortises cn diagonalely opposite joints unt the damped frame lies dead lat Such a small amount of stock is removed that it isnt compromised “Take panel dimensions ofl the assembled door frame, with appropriate allowances for panel movement, There are several ‘ways to make panels (FW #94, p. 65) ‘One design option ike isto make panels that are raised on both sides. They can be sold. or made from a pair of panels placed back to hack, which i especially useful for exterior dors. Panels ean be machined 10 {ithe groove snugly, inhibiting water en ryan tbe inside and outside surfaces can move independently. Use epoxy for the final assembly Morise-ane-ienon door joints are tradi ‘iomally fastened by pins or wedges, buitior exterior doors, epoxy is superior aterna- tive.] use West System epoxy topether with a thickening additive (available from Gougeon Brothers, Ine, 706 Martin St, Bay ‘Cutpanel groove to the Some depth a2 Tepon City, MU 48706, 517-684-7286), Epoxy is sirong, waterproof, gap-filing and creeps ‘only slightly under load. West System epoxy hhas a very long shelf life and mixes easily using metered dispensing pumps. Unlike aliphatic resin glues, epoxy has no initial ‘grab, In fact its lubricity isa great conve- rience when drawing together the large ‘multiple joints in a fullsized door. Since 1 started using epoxy, 1 dumped my plastic resinand resorcinol glues in the bin Assemble the door by making a tree of the rails and muntins, slip the panels in place, apply glue to the mortises and tenons, and draw both stiles home sinvulta- ‘neously. Clamp lightly, check for twist and make any corrections by fine-tuning op- posing pressure on the clamps. Check the pattern molding at the copedjoints,andre. move glue squeeze-out a Joseph Beals is @ custom woodworker in Marshfield, Mass. Coping the rails~To define the shape of the cope, he author stars by mitering the rail ofthe pattern molding on the tae Desc: He uses a stop Dock off the fence aas.an index. The pone! mark along the ‘edge helps fo highlight where the cope teal be cut. The curved part of te cope tseut with and ineanntel gorge All fiat Surfaces are cut with paring cise.