build doors technical question

get the jointer. flatening with a planer is time consuming. planer’s are not realy for that. they are thicknessing machines. you realy need both. starting out flat and strait is key to good doors.

-- hey honey! watch this!

Try to stick to rift and quarter-sawn stock. It typically stays straighter and flatter.

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The last two about sum up what I was going to say particularly 1/4 sawn wood.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

The planer won’t solve your problem. depending on the species of wood you are using, quarter-sawn is your best bet. If you’re not able to get that, I find using woods like maple I will try to rip my stock as long as possible and pull the straightest of the long stock for my longest stiles, working down to my shortes stiles or rails. Usually I can use most of the material with very little waste. If they are twisted or bowed too bad they are used elsewhere.(like faceframes, etc.) I would rather rip it down to 1 1/2 and use it then waste it completely. If you’re doing kitchens, you’ll always have some waste. That’s what small projects are for. LOL.

-- John @ Myrtle Beach

I like the ideas you all have given me. I have really never seen a strong need in a jointer, and I know that some of you might think I am crazy. At this time I have glued up in the hundreds of panels without a jointer, just using a very sharp and high quality blade. I have never thought about using 1/4 sawn, I have never even asked for that. I am in a large area (San Antonio). We have a lot of hardwood dealer/competition so we tend to have a good pick of lumber at fair prices. I have an upcoming job, they want it painted but insist on using maple. I am going to buy paint grade maple for the job. 1/4 sawn may not be an option in that case. Oh, and they want flat panel but their cabinets are only going to be 36” uppers. I have found the problem mostly exist or is more noticeable on longer doors like on 42” uppers.

Huff, I like the idea of taking the 8 or 12’ style and picking out the straightest portions of it for my longer doors. I have never thought about that and it does make sense that it would work.

Oh, and rebuilding the door is a great option. I just get busy and tend to try to fix the door if I can. Otherwise rebuilding the door may sometimes be the only option. I have heard of ideas of bending the wood straight but I am skeptical on that.

Sometimes a 6” to 10” board will be mostly flat but when I cut the 2 3/8” stile is when it cups on me. Sometimes I have had a board cupped so bad I just toss it, of course using for frame material is a good deal. We build frameless but we edge our plywood with 3/4” solid stock. But that is a whole nother topic there.

Well, I need to get to bed. Thanks a lot for the comments. Jerry

-- Jerry Nettrour

Jerry, we build over 100 doors per day in my door shop so I’ve got a liitle experience there. I agree with huff.
We do the same thing—cutting the long styles first and working our way down to the shortest ones. That has worked well for years—Like almost 40 (Wow,I’m old) I wouldn’t try to straighten a long piece. we also cut styles first in order to get the sraightest lumber we can. Then panels (if they are raised panels) Then rails which are the shortest—se we you most of the cut offs from every thing else. We seldom have a door returned because it is bowed. Sometimes we cull a style that is bowed before assembly. We just cut it up into shorter styles.

You are right, a flat panel door usually creates more problems. Cutting styles is typically the hardest part because they need to be staight. We really hate tall doors for this reason.

I hope some of this helps.
1/4 sawn is a good idea, but the lumber is more expensive, and the grain would be different if you use flat sawn on the panels.

-- Kent Shepherd * The goal is-----More Tools!

I find 1/4 sawn would be too expensive for the kitchen market. I use Kents method. Maybe figure just a bit more waste on a kitchen with 42” uppers and pick your stiles carefully. I do use my joiner for this, on occasion, just because I can.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

I will use the ‘pick the straightest portion’ and cut styles first idea. Since I have never done this before, I am sure it will make a world of difference. Thanks a lot.

Dennis, I looked at your webpage. Stunning furniture! I just wish we lived closer, I would have you build us something if we could afford you.

Hey Kent, I like the goal, ‘More Tools!’

-- Jerry Nettrour

This is really a good thread and the stuff of which I like to see on this site.

An additional comment about the price of stock…

When ripping narrow strips for door frames, there is often plenty of rift sawn wood in a batch of plain sawn stock. Reading the end of the board will show sections that are more desirable for door stock than the rest. The two sides might be the keepers, with the center the waste. You won’t have to pay a penny more for it.

On another note… To my eye… In certain species, the closer to rift sawn sections of plain-sawn stock look a heck of a lot better for straight narrow parts than the cathedral sections. Red oak is a great example. This is a design choice as well as a reach for stability, but I nearly always prefer straighter figure for frame stock.

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Two hints:
1. Buy the narrowest boards. Ripping a wide board to size almost never results in it staying straight.
2. After ripping, slightly oversized, let the board acclimate for a day or so, then use the jointer to get it dead on.

-- Abe Low, Fine furniture, Sacramento, CA

This was a great discussion and I learned a few things that I never really thought about before. Thanks to you pro’s for enlightenment.

-- Mike, American in Norway