I will be building mitered cabinet doors. What is the best way to keep the miters tight and the doors flat. Can you give me a few ideas. (how about those little bow tie thingies).
Thanks, Lou
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Replies
Lou
When I miter doors, I use a shooting board and miter plane to shoot the miters. This way, they are very tight. Also, you will definately want to reinforce the joint. I prefer splines. You can make them a decorative feature by using a contrasting wood, or hide them by using the same wood. Either way, it's important to reinforce the joint. Glue alone won't get it done.
Here's a few pics to demonstrate what I'm talking about.
Jeff
Thanks for the pics. I have to make 4 cabinet doors for my office. Didn't think of using splined miters. Yours look great.
Ray
Lou, I have for some time thought that shooting mires was the way to go (I currently use a 90 degree sled on the table saw). However, I have never been able to shoot a mitre reliably. I have created a shooting board, think that I hvve a good and sharp plane (Veritas low angle smoothing plane) and try to take the lightest cut possible but can't get a consistent shaving.
Does shooting take extra-ordinary strength to muscle the plan thru the wood, or can you suggest something else I might be doing wrong?
/ Al
Al
You sent this to me, but addressed it to Lou. I'll go ahead and reply. Shooting a miter requires a plane who's sole is perfectly perpendicular to it's side. Stanley made the #9 miter plane, and several have copied it over the years. There are also infill versions available, but that's not important. What is important is that the blade be sharp, and capable of shaving end grain.
The other equally critical part of shooting miters is the construction quality of the shooting board. They are extremely easy to make, and plans are available all over the internet. I'll enclose a picture of mine. You'll notice that they almost always look alike. The critical factor in construction is that the angles are 90° to each other, and checked with a very accurate square. This way, if you are unable to perfectly line up the miter wedge on the board to a perfect 45° to the shooting lane, at least the miters will still be perfect, as long as you miter one on one side, and the mating miter on the other. After all, 46° plus 44° still equals 90°!
When I shoot, it takes very little effort at all. Perhaps something is wrong with your setup. Check mine out, compare, and ask questions.
Hope this helps.
Jeff
Thanks for the reply Jeff. I like your setup in that it uses complimentary angles for the mating pieces, avoiding the need for precise 45 deg angles.
I will give this a try. Usually I have been working with 1 inch thick oak, so perhaps it is just to much wood or too hard a wood.
Thanks again / Al
Al
I have used this setup to miter 1 3/4" hickory, which is much harder than oak. It's not the wood!
Jeff
You could also do a splined miter join like Jeffs,except the spline is internal (dare I say, like a biscuit but home baked and therefore better since it will not swell ridiculously)*, and then inlet a dovetail key on the face using router free hand as close to the scribed line and then finish the corners and final fit by chisel. Sounds difficult but in fact is easy if you have marked well.Dovetail key goes in a bit proud, when glue dries you merely plane flush-it can be a contrasting wood.
Then you can get fancy by doing a half miter-from the front it looks like a miter, from the back it looks like mortice and tenon.
You can also do a double splined or keyed miter- the thin keys or splines go in from the sides.
Or you can merely epoxy glue a plain miter and re-inforce with plugged screw(s) -or use your Kreg thingmajig (I don't have one am theorising there a bit).
Or you can go "weird architectural", do a normal miter and then bash in a couple of corrugated fasteners per joint- stainless ofcourse (;)
* I am anticipating an airstrike from the Jolly Biscuiteer.
Phil, An ''airstrike from the jolly biscuiteer'' Who may that be? And thanks for the help! I think I will go for the spline. These doors are being painted and then a suttle glaze over. My only question is: How do I clamp these up when glueing?
Thanks, Lou
Louc and Jeff,
The Jolly Biscuiteer is the venerable Lataxe-it was one of his auto christenings recently.He seems to like biscuits a lot.
Clamping these frames : I use sash clamps and rely on the internal spline or tongue to prevent any sliding. One pair of clamps below and one pair above-at right angles to each other.I suppose one could use those clamping straps-I have not got those so not used by me.The key or splines go on after the initial joint is dry.
I have no pictures of the dovetail key.I always used it for my military style desk tops, although it was on the underside.Philip Marcou
Edited 1/25/2007 2:36 pm by philip
As a point of interest only: Are they still rails and stiles when they meet in a miter? Or are they simply top, btm., and sides of a frame?
Philip and Lou
What a relief to know I'm not the biscuiteer!!!!
Philip, I always use band clamps to clamp my mitered doors. The one's I have came with little metal corners/cauls to wrap the bands around, and I glued on some cork. They really pull together very quickly, and the miter alignment lets me know that they are square. Those little cauls insure that the corner edges line up perfectly without slippage. For me, it's the easiest glue up that I do. I think I paid about $5 apiece for them 10 years ago or so, so they are probably at least $100 now :-)!
Jeff
Lou,
I use pony band clamps for mitered picture frames and doors. Look kind of like a ratcheting clamp you would use to tie something down in the back of your truck. I bought mine at HD for about $8 each.
Lee
Lou,
Jeff is "dead on" in his approach to mitered doors. I've done them this way quite a bit. When the miters are perfect you can use a strap type ratchet clamp to glue together the frames/doors as the case may be. After they dry is when I cut the slot for the spline using a jig on the tablesaw. The initial glue-up is strong enough to take the additional machining. Slipping the spline into the grooves with a little glue requires no clamps. Having to machine the joints in separate pieces and then deal with all those clamps and parts with glue is almost always a disaster. Gluing up miters is a pain in the neck.
The jig is simply a cradle that holds the frame firmly at a 45* to the saws table. Set your rip fence according to the jig, set your blade height, make sure your fingers are out of the path of the blade and blast away. You could use a couple of spring clamps to help hold the frame to the jig . You could even take the extra step of having the jig straddle the rip fence for a little extra security.
-Paul
Philip
When you say a dovetail key, do you mean like a 'butterfy' dutchman. We all have different names for them, I guess. I think that would look terrific! Do you have a photo of one?
I'm curious who the jolly biscuiteer is, too! I sure hope it isn't me. If you followed that other thread, I concurred that biscuits could be used in this case, but that there were other 'better' choices. Keep smilin'!
Jeff
what about a mitered mortise and tenon? you get the look of the miter joint with the strength of the mortise & tenon...
if not i would at least use a pretty significant spline or a floating tenon. as you know a miter joint is just end grain to end grain, i would definately want something more substantial for a cabinet door, they take a lot of abouse...
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