re: Constructing the door

I can only do one at a time because I only have one flat table. I have done 2 at one before when the doors were the same size. I attacked them on top of each other when I clamped them and put cauls on the edges so one set of clamps could hold both. I have three 24" doors to make so I may try that but it’s a bit risky because of all the time it takes to glue them up. The first one assembled would be set by the time I Finnish the last one and that could cause problems. Maybe if I get a helper I can do that. But yeah, a production run would be a lot faster because of all the set up time. I learned the hard way that you need to glue these things up right away or they won’t go together. It doesn’t take long for the internal moisture to start releasing through those deep mortises on the stiles.

I have to say, though, once they are glued they are pretty good about keeping their shape. The 2i just hung sat in my garage unfinished got a whole year. They racked in the winter and came back to shape in the summer. I sealed them with BIN and, based on the older ones I made, I’m not expecting any issues.

I used to cut my tenons horizontally but it’s a lot more work, as you said, and not as clean. I think I’ll make a throat plate this week and that should solve my issues with the shoulders.

Sanding these things is not that bad. You’ll see in the upcoming blog.