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Thread: T&G Door glue up question

  1. #1

    T&G Door glue up question

    Hi all,

    Long time lurker and first post. I have a few questions about a door im building for a millwork company who outsourced it to me. I worked professionally in architectural millwork as a benchman for 2 years and am now doing it on the side semi-professionally

    My customer wants a door that consists of 6 vertical stiles with ~6" thick with v-groove. He got me engineered stiles made, however they consist of 3 - 3/8" poplar boards on the flat glued up. This is not the way that I've built with engineered stiles in the past. A pine inner core with laminated poplar surround is what ive always used. He is convinced it wont be a problem but im not. He is also concerned about my 5/8 stub T&G not being enough to keep a 3-0 door held together over the course of 6 stiles. I believe the T&G will suffice but considering the potentially unstable stiles I am not convinced.

    1st question: Are the stiles he had made for me, while not ideal, sufficiant for what I am using them for?

    2nd question: Will my jointery method (5/8" T&G) sufficiently hold up?

    I apologize if I missed any protocol with this being my first post.

    Let me know!

    -P

  2. #2
    My understanding is the three piece solid wood stile is widely used in UK. I've seen it used here, I guess it's OK....but I prefer the "Mercan" method of pine stave core with thick veneer facing. The important thing is you are not liable for result of someone else's work .

  3. #3
    Your description is not very clear. Can you post a drawing?

    It sounds as though you are proposing to make a plank door with no horizontal members on the face, edge glued together, which is not what I think of as a stable construction. To make a door like that I would use a ladder core joined with substantial spline tenons and shiplapped or t&g faces glued to the core with room for expansion between. This works well for 2 1/4" thick entry doors, not so much for thinner ones. Many a rustic door has been made with horizontal ledgers and a diagonal brace on one side of a non-glued t&g face.

    I don't think the stiles described are well "engineered". Three plies of equal thickness can work on a thick door (2 1/4" or more), but poplar would not be my choice. Finger-jointed pine core with 1/4" or less veneer faces is more commonly seen, and many doormakers use LVL or similar as a core.

    If making a door with vertical planks and top/bottom rails, 5/8" stub tenons would be marginal. Much better with longer tenons/dowels/dominos. Simply edge gluing the staves will result in a door that will change in width seasonally and probably not remain flat.

  4. #4
    I apologize for the confusion. Here is a photo of what I was planning on doing.

    Door Quote.jpg

    The "Mercan" method you described is what I have always used for engineered stiles and done it in the manner above with stub tenons. While I agree there are better methods, it worked well for production work and held up fine over a 5 year warranty from what I understood.

    Unfortunately, there was some confusion and this is what was given to me.

    IMG_20171017_072613.jpg
    While not what I would use, my customer thinks it will be fine. As such, he is warrantying not me.

    Let me know if that clears up what I left out. I agree with you that the stub tenons do not seem like enough given the potential unstability of the stiles. I will most likely go the peg route but wanted your thoughts first.


  5. #5
    The construction shown in your drawing is asking for trouble. It is an edge glued solid wood panel with no framework to keep it flat or restrain its width dimension, made of material that is not the most stable to begin with. The fact that your client is supplying the material does not relieve you of the responsibility to engineer a structure that will do what is expected.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Bellingham, WA
    Posts
    1,933
    I assumed that each stile is floating T&G, not glued into a single panel. Hope that is the case...
    JR

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Southwestern CT
    Posts
    1,392
    Same question others have asked. What keeps the door flat? Are there rails top and bottom and stiles right and left? Is the final panel floating T&G or glued up. How is it attached to the buck?
    "the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius

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