Difficult (for me) Door Construction

[Paul Nock]

I need to build two sets of doors of a design similar to the ones pictured for some corner hutches in my dining room. I had gotten the advise from a guy to attach the upper rail to the outside stile with glue only on the top inch or two to allow for wood movement. My concern is that it is going to have a painted finish, and allowing for the movement would crack the paint line. My other thought was to make the outside stile and upper rail out of one piece of wood. Any thoughts?

[Todd Burch]

First, I would glue more than 2". I would glue at least 1/2 of the joint, and that would be the top half. Depending on my mood at the time, I might even glue the whole thing. :eek:

Second, you could caulk the joint during assembly - just a fine line and wipe off excess with a wet rag. Acrylic latex caulk - no silicone.

If this is for yourself, consider it a learning experience. Pick one method, and watch it over time to see how it behaves. I learn a lot this way.

Todd.

[Bobby Hatfield]

I need to build two sets of doors of a design similar to the ones pictured for some corner hutches in my dining room. I had gotten the advise from a guy to attach the upper rail to the outside stile with glue only on the top inch or two to allow for wood movement. My concern is that it is going to have a painted finish, and allowing for the movement would crack the paint line. My other thought was to make the outside stile and upper rail out of one piece of wood. Any thoughts?

Paul you may have to live with the cracked paint at the joint using real wood, if the possible crack is an unliveable fact, use 3/4" MDF for the rail or for rails and stiles. I use MDF rails, stiles and panels for economy cabinet doors where there will not be a chance for water spills, and they don't show cracks, I glue the joints and MDF panels all around. Will you make the curved mullions ?

[Rob Russell]

I'd be tempted to make the doors out of 3/4" 13-ply baltic birch plywood. MDF won't move as much as wood, but it's heavy and I'd wonder if you'd get sagging over time. You also don't want much twist with that sheet of glass there.

You could route out a rabbet and inset the mullion frame (I'm assuming the glass is behind the mullions set into an 1/8 rabbet).

You might spend a little more time to finish (getting a nice smooth surface), but it could be less time than cutting pieces and assembling rather than cutting out the door from a single sheet of BB ply.

Just an idea.

Rob

[Paul Nock]

I will be makinig the curved mullions. Rather than routing the profile and bending it, I plan on cutting it out of a wider board. I'll bandsaw one side, route that side's profile so I've got a decent sized work piece, then bandsaw the other side routing that side's profile by attaching the mullion to a form that follows the curve. I'll rout out a cove in the form, and hotglue the mullion to it to keep it in place. Is there a better way? Again, first time at attempting this, so I'm going in figuring it will take a few attempts to get it right.

[Paul Nock]

Hi Rob, nice to see another CT guy out there. I don't see too many of us on these boards. I'm over in Wethersfield, actually just added the location to my profile.