Gluing wainscot

[Dennis Jarchow]

I am building a bar out of cherry. The front will have 9' of wainscot (is it still wainscot if it isn't on a wall). Construction will be traditional cope and stick with captured 1/4" flat cherry/mdf panels. I have done paint grade raised panel wainscot before but that was not cope and stick. All my rails, stiles, and panels are cut and ready for assembly.

Yesterday I would have thought this was a stupid question, but today I am not sure. I was watching some videos on building wainscot to get some tips on the actual assembly since with the top and bottom rails, 6 stiles, and 5 panels I will have to move pretty quickly during glue up, plus trying to keep it all centered and square. In both of the videos I saw, one trim carpenter and one hobbyist, neither of them glued their stiles in. They just assembled all the parts, tapped them together, and moved on, no glue. I assumed I would just glue this up just like a cabinet door. I know the parts are all captured and held in place by the top and bottom rails, but not gluing the rails and stiles together doesn't seem right either. I do see the benefits of not having to hurry as glue is setting up, no squeeze out, etc.

Any thoughts on glue/no glue and any tips on assembly.

Thanks!

[Kevin Jenness]

I would glue the joints. If you need more time, use a slower setting glue - Titebond Extend, liquid hide glue, plastic resin or epoxy. If you are organized and efficient you can do it with standard pva. Start in the center with one stile and one rail, glue and clamp the stile in place, insert the panels on either side, add the next two stiles and so on. When the stiles and panels are all in place and the glue tacked off, remove the clamps and add the second rail. Finish by gluing the end stiles. A dry run will work out the kinks.

A neighbor of mine, an old school Polish cabinetmaker, did coped wainscoting in his house without glue. After some years it generally looked ok, but there were some loose joints that probably would have stayed closed with glue. You will need fewer fasteners with a glued assembly.

[Richard Coers]

Definitely glue. Clamp you two rails together and mark out the center stile centerlines on both boards at the same time. Mark the centerlines on all the center stiles, Then follow Kevin's glue up advice. If your layout lines are right, you can very accurately position the parts.

[Bill Dufour]

I have seen TV folks micro pin the joints and only clamp the last few.
Bill D

[Jared Sankovich]

Mark all your centers and reference those during the glueup. I start by gluing all the stiles into the bottom rail, then add the top rail and square/clamp.

23g pin from the back through the cope stub tenon doesn't hurt.