cope & stick…add tenon or dowel?

mlvance | Posted in Joinery on August 1, 2000 11:48am

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I’ve completed all the kitchen cabinets! Face frames are on! Trim work is complete! The refrigerator and pantry now look built in. It’s time for the doors…..this is the reason I started this remodel effort. The 20 yr old doors had started to crack at the stile tenon stubs (plain cope & stick joinery). I was wondering if I should add dowels or tenons to my cope and stick effort. It sure seems like it would add strength/life. The doweling seems easier. Comments/encouragement/suggestions are WELCOME. mike

Replies

gpwestmoreland | Aug 01, 2000 06:49am | #1
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mlv,

On your base and upper cabinet doors, in my humble opinion you shouldn't need additional reinforcement, IF you:

- Be sure the rails are plenty wide (this joint gets a lot of strength from wide rails).

- Be sure your cutters are adjusted to give a good (not sloppy) fit between cope and stick.

- Are meticulous in gluing.

If you have full length pantry doors, adding dowels here might be a good idea. Also, are your panels raised or flat? If they are flat 1/4" plywood, you can get some extra strength by gluing the panel into the groove. GP

rob.kelly | Aug 01, 2000 11:48pm | #2
*mlv--Search the term on this site. That should answer your question. MY short answer would be that of course you need more reinforcement because the previous door came apart. Dowels and loose tenons are about the same amount of work but the latter is about 3x as strong, as well as being more accurate for registering the pieces and easier to assemble. If God intended us to use dowels, He would not have given us mortisers.