Replies

1. 
   notDusty | Jan 14, 2004 06:14pm | #1

             jzeitoun ,

         I was taught to try and limit the width of frame & panel doors especially solid wood raised panels to 22" give or take a bit . If I could not split the 30" into a pair of doors, I would probably run a center stile and make 2 panels in the door . This is the way I avoid the chances of too much shrinkage .

                                  dusty

1. 
   johnzeitoun | Jan 14, 2004 06:19pm | #2

   thank you dusty, that's exactly what I was looking for. I should have mentioned this to the client beforehand, but hindsight if 20/20, my foresight at least seems to be about 10/10.

1. 
   notDusty | Jan 14, 2004 06:23pm | #3

            jzeitoun ,

        You are very welcome . We live and learn . When we make  mistakes it gives us an opportunity to learn . An old mentor of mine once said try and learn something every day.              dusty

2. 
   JohnWW | Jan 14, 2004 11:04pm | #4

   It is not at all unlikely that the door panel shrank that much.  In fact a quick calculation shows that a flat sawn hard maple board 25 inches wide with a 12% moisture change will change a full inch in width. 

   You didn't say what climate you live in or whether the door was exposed to the weather and sun, but a 12% moisture change would be likely in a lot of places, it is the figure I use when making furniture calculations.  Whether or not the wood was kiln dried makes no difference in the seasonal movement of the wood.

   There are several guides and charts for calculating wood movement, my favorite is the Lee Valley wood movement reference guide, which cost only a few dollars.

   John W.   

1. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Jan 14, 2004 11:57pm | #5

   j,

   I allow 1% when using our local hardwoods as a summer/winter shrinkage plus another 1/2 - 1% for drying from supplied (16%) to equilibrium (13%) moisture

   say, 2% of a panel width of 600mm (24") = 12mm/1/2" from supplied to driest season.

   John's approach shows even more shrinkage and is based upon shrinkage coefficients for maple, not my empirical approach to our local eucalypts.

   Cheers,

   eddie