What would you do..

[Bruce Page]

To flatten this door?

I went to great lengths to keep these 26X36 doors flat when I made them. The rails & stiles were all face jointed, joinery is M&T & will be pegged. As you can see, one door sits perfectly flat while the other one kicks out at the bottom about 3/16. Anyone know of a way to tweak it flat? LOML has this little steam cleaner thingy called a “Shark” that puts out super hot steam. I’ve been thinking about steaming the inside middle of the stile to see if it would pull in, Do you think it would work, or should I just use a mechanical latch on the inside to hold the door in the right position?

Thanks

[John Keeton]

If you steam the "inside" of the stile, it will make it worse as it will swell the wood on that side. IF, and I use that cautiously, you choose to steam it, I would take a test piece of oak from the same stock, make a template of its shape, and steam it to see how much effect you get. Of course, it will raise the grain, and could cause a difference in the end result on finishing unless the grain is raised on all parts.

It looks as if the wood may not have been dry or stable. If it hasn't been constructed very long, you may want to wait a few days to see what happens.

You may also want to consider some sort of mold, or form, in which to clamp the "offending door" for a couple of days with some mild heat applied. Again, a test piece may be in order. It looks like a very nicely done piece, by the way.

[Brian Peters]

Once a door starts twisting its shotty if you can ever get it perfectly flat again. It all depends on how bad it is now and how much you can cheat it. I've had divided light doors twist up on me at times, sometimes lost a lot of them at one time because the wood wasn't properly kiln dried. Was machined dead flat glued up dead flat sanded in a wide belt dead flat, wrapped together flat on a table next day they start twisting up. Stuff happens, wood is a living breathing thing and always will be. But a lot has to do with moisture content and your environment. If its worth it to you and you can't cheat it and it gets worse just redo the door. Using a steamer probably won't work and I have tried a host of things, if its for a high end customer don't risk it just build a new one; if its for you or family pull back the hinge and cheat it.

[Bruce Page]

I don’t know if the lumber was kiln dried properly but it has been sitting in my shop for several years acclimating. I actually made these two doors about a year ago - I work on this project in spurts…:rolleyes:
I doubt that steaming will work but I’ll probably give it a try on some scrap pieces from the same lot of wood.
John, I hadn’t thought about how it might affect the final finish, I’ll have to experiment with that too.
I’ll probably end up with some sort of mechanical library latch unless somebody has a magic bullet that will fix it.

Thanks

[Rick Lucrezi]

I had doors that were made from good kd and brought them in and leaned them against the wall where the wood stove was on the other side. It caused the one on the wall to warp the stiles just slightly. They were from good dry wood but built in the shop where it gets 65 degree or so and brought in to a house that was 80. The wall was warm to the touch. I wonder if you had a good hot place you could lay the door out with a shim at the apex of the stile and weight the ends to load the stile in an effort to "encourage to wood to flatten out as it loses the remaing moisture. Just a thought.

[Ben Franz]

If nothing else works, try a few light "taps" with a 10 lb. sledge. Doesn't do anything to fix the problem but you'll feel better. I like to use this technique to fix my computer. More serious note, I think steaming may be adding fuel to a fire - the wood is already unstable due to moisture issues. I'd vote for trying Rick's weight with shims. Good luck.

[Clifford Mescher]

I had doors that were made from good kd and brought them in and leaned them against the wall where the wood stove was on the other side. It caused the one on the wall to warp the stiles just slightly. They were from good dry wood but built in the shop where it gets 65 degree or so and brought in to a house that was 80. The wall was warm to the touch. I wonder if you had a good hot place you could lay the door out with a shim at the apex of the stile and weight the ends to load the stile in an effort to "encourage to wood to flatten out as it loses the remaing moisture. Just a thought.
I had a case like that a few months ago. I did the same thing with weights. I sprayed the middle with water. It took 2 days and 2 sprays but it was straight as an arrow.Clifford

[Paul Atkins]

Nice work. Steaming might make it worse. You might have to readjust the hinges a smidge and average the difference -not the greatest fix, but better than making a new door. Sometimes the case can be 'just a hair' out and a shim in one corner will twist the case just enough to get it back. Being a good woodworker is not being error free, just fixing them before they leave the shop.

[Jim Kountz]

You can fix this easy with a spray bottle and a clamp. Google Charles Neil and watch the video he has on doing this procedure. Works great and saves you alot of work!

EDIT: Here I found the link http://www.antiquesbuiltdaily.com/tips.htm
Go to the"Quick Woodworking Tips" tab, its the very first video.

[Pat Caulfield]

Bruce:
Charles Neil has a great video on how to correct twist in a cabinet door, maybe it can help (I used it on my Cowboy Sideboard doors and it did the trick) . Look at the Quick Tips tab for the "correcting twist in a door" video at this url: http://www.antiquesbuiltdaily.com/tips.htm

Pat

[Bruce Page]

Thanks, Jim, Pat, That sounds like what I've been looking for. My work is blocking the link but I'll check it out when I get home tonight.

Have a happy holiday!

[Jim Kountz]

Bruce:
Charles Neil has a great video on how to correct twist in a cabinet door, maybe it can help (I used it on my Cowboy Sideboard doors and it did the trick) . Look at the Quick Tips tab for the "correcting twist in a door" video at this url: http://www.antiquesbuiltdaily.com/tips.htm

Pat

Um yep, now where did I hear this before?? Oh yeah from me!!:D:D:D:D

[Greg Cole]

Hi Bruce,
I had a set of maple doors do the same thing. My project was mych the same, worked on periodically for umm..well a long time.:rolleyes:
I couldn't get the misbehaving door to cooperate with any of the tricks, so I installed the bullet catch style hardware to keep them as close to flush with eachother as I could.
Just another option.

[Bruce Page]

You can fix this easy with a spray bottle and a clamp. Google Charles Neil and watch the video he has on doing this procedure. Works great and saves you alot of work!

EDIT: Here I found the link http://www.antiquesbuiltdaily.com/tips.htm
Go to the"Quick Woodworking Tips" tab, its the very first video.


Jim, thanks for the link. I’m going to give this a try this weekend; it’ll be interesting to see if it’ll work on 1” thick QS oak. I’ll let you know.

Thanks again

[Chris Padilla]

Hey, Charles Neil has this great tip...oh, I see....WHOOPS!!! hahaha

I just watched this yesterday...hope it works out for you, Bruce!