Door warpage, can you help?

[dougj1715]

I just made my first set of raised panel doors. After dry fitting in the base unit I notice that one of the doors is warped a bit. When the hinge side of the door is flush with the face frame , the bottom inside corner wants to flare out. Or visa verse. Is there a fix for this?
Any and all help is greatly appreciated, Doug

[Martin Shupe]

Doug,

I had this happen once. I was told to only use quarter sawn wood for rails and stiles on doors, and that would reduce the tendancy for warpage after glue up. I have not found a solution for the problem after the fact.

By the way, you might want to update your "name" in the database. Thanks,

[Ken Salisbury]

Doug,

You didn't mention what type wood you used. It could simply be the wood had a high moisture content and warped after assemble. Since most raised panel doors have narrow rails it is important to use material which has been seasoned properly. I would never use wood for rails/stiles that had a moisture content above 10%.

I know you asked for a solution --- and I don't really have one other than making new rails/stiles -- and hopefully you can salvage and reuse the raised panel.

On another note --- please read the following post:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1940

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

The problem can also be a flaw in the machining of the wood. Or, you may have put the clamps on a little tight. Both of these will cause the door to warp a little bit. Also warped center panel can twist the frame.

If the warp is pretty small, you can just live with it.

My guess is that about the only way to tell what went wrong, is to cut it a part and see if you have warped wood, or flawed assembly.

[Doug Jones]

Doug Jones here, previously known as dougj1715

It may not be the best solution but here is what I ended up doing, I mounted the doors on the face frame via the hinges and found that the top of the door (left door only) flared out just a bit from warpage. So after pondering the problem for a day or so I cut a small rabbit in the bottom of the inside of the door. This way the bottom will set in a bit further and help draw in the top so it will sit more flush with the frame. After a little sanding the door should look good, for appearance purpose anyhow.

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

Glad you found a way to live with the door. Seems like nothing ever comes out perfect and being able move along in spite of it takes some doing. Hey, when it comes time to throw away a few hours of work and start over you will be even.

[Bobby Hatfield]

Doug, when I first started to make cabinet doors I had a cutter problem, the fit of the joint between rail and stile was loose and the clamps pulled the joint into a distorted fitup and when the glue dried it was permanant. It took a few tries to discover this and I made an assembly jig that kept them flat.