door construction methods

[joe milana]

Doing some 72" x 24" x 1 1/4" painted raised panel amoir doors in hard maple. Looking for construction methods to prevent warpage? I've got some nice 8/4" hard maple, but just too risky IMO, & I really want to do these myself. Ideas? Books? anyone doing passage doors? Thanks!

[Todd Burch]

I watched a nice video series (parts 1-5) on youtube the other night. The guy is using pretty basic tools too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14xYVyoqyYM

BTW - warpage would be from the wood - not your construction. If you wood was properly dried, and you choose your stock wise, you should be fine. And, planing 8/4 down to 5/4 is a bit of a waste.

Todd

[Ben Abate]

Hi Joe,

I've built a lot of doors passage and what i'd call single use panel doors. similar to what you would see on an furniture and closets. The same as I believe you are building. I've only once had a problem and I being naive at that time caused the problem. I was building a set of 8 doors all about 18 inches wide our of figured cherry. One stile had a bit of a bow after milling, my thinking was that the 1" panel will straighten it out and I'l have no problem. Well, the stile ended up pulling the panel with it and I ended up with one door that had a bit of a bow inwards when I was finished. Since then I learned that if your stock is flat after milling you'll not have a problem. As I mentioned I build a good many doors, cabinet doors, passage doors, entry doors, closet doors and I've always had good fortune after that one experience and I learned from it. On construction I'd use a standard cabinet style type build. Depending on your style you could have a mid rail or not. A door that tall I'd probably use a dowel mid way if you're not using a mid rail two panel style.

hope this helps a bit.

[Sam Murdoch]

The most important step is to make certain that your frame stock is flat. The 8/4 maple is not too thick to start with though you might do fine with 6/4 but nothing thinner. Assuming that your boards are long enough (at least 78") and that you will be using the table saw, thickness planer and a jointer. These following steps apply.

1) Make your rails and stiles. I would first establish a straight edge on 2 edges of my 8/4 boards (if they are wide enough) then rip your rails and stiles from each straight edge to rough width - if you can spare the width allow at least 3/8" of trim. If you can spare more without compromising your yield do so, especially if your lumber looks like it might release from the saw out of straight.

2 )If you can, set all your rips aside for an overnight or two - that's not a bad thing.

3) Cross cut your rails stock to the short dimension x 2 + approx. 6" of waste. (The 6" of extra length on your stock will allow for some snipe on the thickness planer - they aren't all set up perfectly you know. Add more if you get super snipe - or stop and adjust your planer before step # 5.)) In other words 1 rip will give you 2 rails + 6" or so. I always cut my stock to the shortest practical dimensions before jointing. This allows you to select the least straight board and cut it up into shorter more manageable lengths for straightening. Why joint an 8' board when 2 at 4' will yield better results?

4) Take your stock to the jointer and establish a flat face. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP.

4a) Depending on how thick your stock is at this time you might choose to rip some thickness off with the table saw before proceeding to step 5. I would leave at least a 1/4" of extra to go through the planer.

5) Take your 1 flat face boards to the thickness planer and process your stock to the finish thickness needed. Starting with your flat side on the table until you have 2 flat surfaces and then flipping your stock on alternative passes until you reach your thickness.

6) Reestablish a straight edge on the jointer for your newly flattened stock. Now back to the table saw to rip your stock to within 1/8" of finished width. I build my doors to exact size - don't bother anymore with trimming after the fact, but you likely should choose to allow an 1/8" of trim factor on all your frame parts. Your choice.

7) Cross cut your stock to the tolerances indicated in step 6. Here be aware - if you did have snipe - make certain that those thinner ends are removed.

Your door frame stock should now be ready for jointery, mortises, dadoes etc.

8) Don't know here if you are using sheet goods for the panel as it is paint grade. If you are using solid maple, prepare your panel stock much the same way as for your frame stock. For paint grade I would glue up 3" to 6" boards with confidence if they have been properly flattened.

Putting it all together is another post if you care to ask. The keeping things flat question was the main point of this long response. It always worked for me. Keep an eye on your lumber as you begin to process it and you will know how user friendly or argumentative it will be and allow waste factor as needed between each step. Take care - have fun.:)

[joe milana]

Ahh, a little reading and I came up with the term I couldn't think of: "stave core".
222543

I'm thinking this may be my best bet. Looks like they used poplar in this example. I wonder if some woods are favorable over others.

[Sam Murdoch]

This is a technique for mass production and totally unsuitable for a home shop. Involves lots of glue up, lots of straightening, wide belt sanders, veneer work etc. - not at all your "best bet". Buy the doors from your local lumber yard to the sizes needed. IMHO

[Mike Cutler]

Ahh, a little reading and I came up with the term I couldn't think of: "stave core".
222543

I'm thinking this may be my best bet. Looks like they used poplar in this example. I wonder if some woods are favorable over others.

Joe
That's a lot of extra work to do there. It's going to take a dedicated clamping table also.
Follow Sam's #4 post and you should be fine. Pay particular attention to the sentence #5. It's critical to release any stresses equally from both sides of the board.
The only thing I could possibly add is that I would personally only use as close to Q sawn lumber as I could get