I’m building a custom wooden entry door for a customer and have a question about the glue up. I’m using stave core for the rails and stiles, and my bottom rail is going to be 12″ tall. Therefore, how should I approach gluing this rail to the stiles in order to accommodate the inevitable wood movement? Should I use a double tenon? Should I glue one of the tenons and dry pin the other? Can I glue both fast? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
J.D.O.
Replies
My first inclination would be to double tenon. Glue the bottom and dry dowel the top (with oblong holes for expansion). See what others say, however. Good luck!
I agree with the first answer on this one - double tenon and glue only the bottom one. Another option on exterior doors is to make one fat through tenon and then pin or wedge it. In fact, many of the hand made exterior doors that I've seen don't rely on glue as much as the m&t joinery. The key is to make that joint substantial.
Matt Berger
Fine Woodworking
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