I'm interesting in building some interior doors and have two concerns.

First, the plans I've got show the kickplate (bottom-most rail) at 9"
wide and secured with dowels (as well as with glue, I assume). If I
just use glue on 9" cherry, am I going to have problems with cross-
grain on door rails (the stiles)? Is glue adequate?

Secondly, if I just make a single raised panel for the top panel of
the door (versus several smaller panels separated by stiles) will I
encounter movement problems even floating it in rails/stiles? I notice
that commercial doors with single panel seem to all be composite (e.g.
MDF) and designed for paint only versus solid wood.

Thanks for the help.

~Mark.

wrote:
I'm interesting in building some interior doors and have two concerns.

First, the plans I've got show the kickplate (bottom-most rail) at 9"
wide and secured with dowels (as well as with glue, I assume). If I
just use glue on 9" cherry, am I going to have problems with cross-
grain on door rails (the stiles)? Is glue adequate?

Lord, NO! Tenons or dowels are needed.
___________

Secondly, if I just make a single raised panel for the top panel of
the door (versus several smaller panels separated by stiles) will I
encounter movement problems even floating it in rails/stiles? I notice
that commercial doors with single panel seem to all be composite (e.g.
MDF) and designed for paint only versus solid wood.

What's going to move?

I made all of mine with a single top panel. Doors vary from 24" - 36" wide.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

"dadiOH" wrote in message
news:XQGTj.15482$qW.3515@trnddc06...
wrote:


What's going to move?

I made all of mine with a single top panel. Doors vary from 24" - 36"
wide.


If the top panel is solid wood, it is going to contract and expand with
humidity and temperature changes, not so much if you keep the environment
controlled. If you often leave your exterior doors open and it is humid you
are going to see movement.

wrote in message
...

I'm interesting in building some interior doors and have two concerns.

First, the plans I've got show the kickplate (bottom-most rail) at 9"
wide and secured with dowels (as well as with glue, I assume). If I
just use glue on 9" cherry, am I going to have problems with cross-
grain on door rails (the stiles)? Is glue adequate?

Will you have problems with the door? Probably. Is glue adequate?
Probably not by it self. I'd not build the door with out dowels or tennons
they add the strength needed when the wood does eventually move.





Secondly, if I just make a single raised panel for the top panel of
the door (versus several smaller panels separated by stiles) will I
encounter movement problems even floating it in rails/stiles?

Probably unless you use plywood or MDF panels.


I notice
that commercial doors with single panel seem to all be composite (e.g.
MDF) and designed for paint only versus solid wood.

Yeah, there is a reason for that.

On May 5, 12:45*pm, "dadiOH" wrote:
wrote:

SNIP

Secondly, if I just make a single raised panel for the top panel of
the door (versus several smaller panels separated by stiles) will I
encounter movement problems even floating it in rails/stiles? I notice
that commercial doors with single panel seem to all be composite (e.g.
MDF) and designed for paint only versus solid wood.

What's going to move?

I made all of mine with a single top panel. *Doors vary from 24" - 36" wide.


A wide, solid wood panel "floating" between two outside rails will
move proportionately more than a narrower panel.
A single panel will only have area for expansion provided by rails on
either side. Multiple panels will have area for expansion provided by
rail on either side. Two panels will have twice the expansion area
provided by the rails as a single panel door will.
My concern is that with a 30" door and a single panel on the order of
22", do I have to worry about movement causing problems?


~Mark.

I would think door construction would be mortise and tenon, not
dowels. They take a lot of racking forces from opening\closing and
hanging from the hinges. I haven't built any doors that size but it
seems I have seen lots of examples with M&T joints.

Yes, I would build in an allocation for movement. I wouldn't woory too
much about a 9" width of cross grain for expansion if I used yellow
glue but I would woory about a butt joint with dowels in a condition
where it has dynamic loads.

I built a screen door with triple doweled butt connections when I
first started out and it failed in a few months. It was exterior and
slammed a lot but that is just a faster test environment to what an
interior door will have to handle over the years.

BW

On May 5, 8:02*am, wrote:
I'm interesting in building some interior doors and have two concerns.

First, the plans I've got show the kickplate (bottom-most rail) at 9"
wide and secured with dowels (as well as with glue, I assume). If I
just use glue on 9" cherry, am I going to have problems with cross-
grain on door rails (the stiles)? Is glue adequate?

Secondly, if I just make a single raised panel for the top panel of
the door (versus several smaller panels separated by stiles) will I
encounter movement problems even floating it in rails/stiles? I notice
that commercial doors with single panel seem to all be composite (e.g.
MDF) and designed for paint only versus solid wood.

Thanks for the help.

~Mark.

wrote in message
...
On May 5, 12:45 pm, "dadiOH" wrote:
wrote:




A wide, solid wood panel "floating" between two outside rails will
move proportionately more than a narrower panel.
A single panel will only have area for expansion provided by rails on
either side. Multiple panels will have area for expansion provided by
rail on either side. Two panels will have twice the expansion area
provided by the rails as a single panel door will.
My concern is that with a 30" door and a single panel on the order of
22", do I have to worry about movement causing problems?

YES. Now whether you consider panel movement a problem is up to you. If
you varnish and the varnish gets down in the groves that the panel fits in,
the varnish could effectively glue the panel in place causing it to not
"float" if the panel contracts you get a split in the panel. My front door
has this problem. If you do not pre stain or varnish the panels before
assembly and if your panel contracts it exposes an unfinished area where the
panel fits into the stiles.

Leon wrote:
"dadiOH" wrote in message
news:XQGTj.15482$qW.3515@trnddc06...
wrote:


What's going to move?

I made all of mine with a single top panel. Doors vary from 24" -
36" wide.


If the top panel is solid wood, it is going to contract and expand
with humidity and temperature changes, not so much if you keep the
environment controlled. If you often leave your exterior doors open
and it is humid you are going to see movement.

Yes, I know but OP seemed worried about making one panel vs two. Both are
going to move but - assuming there is enough "float" in the rail & stile
grooves - it doesn't matter whether one panel or two moves. N'est ce pas?

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On May 5, 8:02*am, wrote:
I'm interesting in building some interior doors and have two concerns.

First, the plans I've got show the kickplate (bottom-most rail) at 9"
wide and secured with dowels (as well as with glue, I assume). If I
just use glue on 9" cherry, am I going to have problems with cross-
grain on door rails

The usual approach would be to make two or three 2" tenons
instead of a full 9" wide glue joint. If you have a full door
of cherry, I'm not sure how dowels could hold the joint against
that weight...

Cross-grain gluing of a relatively narrow (2") tenon
should be safe enough. Loose tenons (use a router to
make pockets on both rail and stile) are easiest.

Secondly, if I just make a single raised panel for the top panel of
the door (versus several smaller panels

Unless you have wide boards available, the 'single raised panel'
will have to be glued up. Your wood can be prettier if you select
strong grain patterns and put no joints in midpanel, which leads to
small panels.