Advise on building a divided light door

[Ken Shoemaker]

I'm in the progress of building a bookcase for my daughters new house. Frankly, this is well beyond my skill level, but I can't say no to those "baby blues" :rolleyes: . Anyway, I'd like to make two doors with divided glass panels. Does anyone have an artical or advise on how to propel me down this slippery slope????:o Any help would be greatly appreciated. Ken

[frank shic]

ken, mill a bunch of extra stock! consider one of those divided lite router bit sets from freud. i used 3/4" stock coped with coping cutter on my raised panel door set. i ran a roundover profile that was smaller than the sticking cutter so that i would have a 1/4" bead running down the middle. cutting and fitting the sticks is where you need a ton of patience. good luck!

[Jim Kountz]

Ken, frank gave you some good advice there on the extra stock and the Freud set of bits. There are other sets out there but I have no experience with them like the Freud. Like anything else they require some tinkering to get set up but nothing major at all and they cut really nice like a good bit should. Make yourself some good holding jigs to properly push the stock through as the pieces get small.

[frank shic]

jim just jogged my memory. i remember doing the roundover cuts on each side first and then ripping the mullion off and repeating it A LOT OF TIMES. udo schmidt's book on building kitchen cabinets outlines the process as well although the KEY to making the mullions look right is to use a roundover bit with a smaller radius than the coping cutter.

[Charles Wiggins]

Ken,

I found an article with details about using the sash bits that Frank described. I sent it to you in three pieces via Private Message (illegal to post publicly).

[joe pezza]

Ken,

there was a article about 1 yr ago in fine homebuilding or woodworking, will get you the mag number, about building a divided light window.

i used my freud cope and stick set, moved a couple of cutters around and presto, it worked like a charm. i built a set of doors for my shed with 9 windows per door. it came better than i ever expected.

if you have a cope and stick set that can be adusted, then you already have what you need. i made my window frames then set them in the door frame, put a 1/4 bead of silicone and bedded the glass. then i used a razor blade to clean it all up and it was not hard at all. time consuming but prety easy. and yes, mill extra stock.

joe p in RI

[Alan Schaffter]

A lot of great advice above!!!

Another thought- do you want true divided light doors, which means separate panes of glass, or just divided light grids and a single sheet of glass?

I designed and made my own doors with divided light grids for my shop entry, shop office, and shop cabinets, but used single sheets of glass for the glazing in each case. It makes it much easier to install or repair broken glass. Since the shop entry and office doors are always viewed from both sides I made a permanent set of grids on one side and a removable set of grids held in with small screws, on the other. The cabinet doors just have grids on the front and a stop strip around the rabbet in the back to hold the glass in place.

For the shop door I used a rail and stile bit, but removed the slot cutter from each bit to make the grids. The shop office door and sink cabinet are A&C style and have rectangular grids so didn't use a router bit on those. I just cut, pieced, and glued them in place. You need to carefully design your grids to ensure they look the way you want. It also takes patience and careful measuring and fitting to make and install the grids.

Here are some pics:

Shop entry door (prior to finishing):

http://members.cox.net/schafftershop/door-6.JPG

http://members.cox.net/schafftershop/door-9.JPG

Mullion detail:

http://members.cox.net/schafftershop/door-7.JPG

Removable grid detail showing one of the retaining screws. These screws were replaced with aged brass ones so they would blend better with the dark stained oak:

http://members.cox.net/schafftershop/door-10.JPG

Shop sink cabinet doors. Two pieces of glass for each door- one for the lower section, and one for the upper, grid section:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/SinkUpper-4.jpg

I also used the same divided light doors on my back bench cabinets:

http://members.cox.net/schafftershop/Backbench-54.JPG

Shop office door. I rabbeted the front side of the grids for appearance because I thought with the 1 3/8" thick door the grids would have been a bit too thick looking. A single sheet of glass is behind the grid, and an identical grid holds the glass in place:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/OffDoor-6.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/OffDoor-5.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/OffDoor-8.JPG

[John Durscher]

Alan, nice work on the cabinets and doors!!

I like Marc Sommerfeld's Glass Panel Doors Made Easy DVD. He has some good ideas and shows you how to make some simple jigs that make divided light doors relatively safe.

John

[Michael Weber]

I used the Freud 99-270 Divided Light Cabinet Door bit set to make the doors for my recent kitchen rehab. PITA cutting all those mortises. 16 or so in each door. I'd just as soon forget:p. No frosted glass in the doors in the pictures yet.

[frank shic]

here's yet another method that i have yet to try:

http://eagleamerica.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_179%2D3312

[joe pezza]

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

[Alan Schaffter]

here's yet another method that i have yet to try:

http://eagleamerica.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_179%2D3312

I know of one guy that used those bits. He said they worked really well.

[Brian Penning]

I used the Freud set also.
Great instructions using this set in American Woodworker magazine issue 115 of July 2005. Lots of photos and the instructions were pretty clear.

[frank shic]

alan, forgot to mention: NICE JOB on the windows and especially the door!