I am building a Gustav Stickley No. 700 Bookcase from drawings that I got from www.craftsmanplans.com and I have some questions regarding the joinery strategy for the door.
See: http://www.craftsmanplans.com/Furniture%20Plans_4.htm for a pic.You will have to scroll down a ways.
The door is a 28″ish x 49″ish divided light door with 2 1/2″ vertical styles and 2 1/2″ & 3″ rails for the top and bottom respectively.
Inside this frame are two 1 1/4″ vertical dividers and three small 1 1/4″ horizontal dividers that go between each of stiles and vertical dividers to form single horizontal divider across the door.
Traditionally, the door would be constructed with haunched mortises for the rails and stiles which I plan on doing using 3/8″ mortises.
Also traditionally, the vertical and horizontal divider are tenoned with a pretty complicated bare-faced tenon and mortised into the rails.
This assumes that all of the rail,styles and dividers have the appropriate rabbet make in them before making the tenons.
I was wondering if I should attempt the bare-faced tenons or If I should just use “normal” mortise and tenon joints and then use the router to rabbet around the inside where the panes of glass go after the frame is assembled. Also chiseling the corners square.
Thoughts? I am look to go a good job on the door, but I also need to get a move on this project since I need to build a crib for my first born who is due at the end of June and I want to get this project out of the shop before I start.
Thanks in advance.
-Brian
Replies
brian,
If by bare-faced tenon, you mean that there is no shoulder stopping the front cheek of the tenons, dry assembling the rabbetted frame of the door will easily give you a shoulder-to-shoulder length on the back side of the vertical sashbars(muntins); then assemble them dry and get a measurement for the shorter bars (mullions).
If you do cut the rabbets first (as a self-respecting craftsman should), be aware that the front and back shoulders of the doors' rails must be offset by the depth of the rabbet. If the muntins and mullions are flush with the face of the doorframe (not barefaced), the offset will be the same for these, too. A fullsize drawing (front and top views) will go a long way in making all this clear to you, and if you are a careful workman, might eliminate much of the need for dry assembly. Cutting trial joints from extra stock probably won't hurt your chances of success, either.
Routering the rabbets after assembly is easier-it won't make your brain hurt, but chopping the round corners square in the delicate sash is a pain, the short grain at each joint is weaker, and butt ugly in my opinion.
Regards,
Ray Pine
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