My faceted glass door in FWW #306 (“A Riff on the Faceted Glass Door“) is a rather complex build with lots of angles and facets. That’s what makes it so attractive, but glue-up can be a bit of a challenge. One particular technique for gluing the thick facings to the solid-wood core is shown here.

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Gluing the facing to the core of the faceted rails is easy, and there is a great tip I learned from James Krenov for tightening up the mitered joints. Once a satisfactory joint has been accomplished, the end facings will be located with small brads before gluing. An attempt to clamp the joint tight would, at best, be awkward. To achieve a tight-fitting miter, Jim’s solution was to lay a strip of index card stock on the core, near the joint. He then placed the end facing, pushing against the joint by hand, and when satisfied, clamped the facing. In the waste area of the stock, he drilled for two brads that serve as indexes for gluing. The cardboard strip forces the joint end of the facing to be a little high. When the cardboard is slipped out, the joint will tighten as the facing is clamped to the core. Pull the brads, apply glue to the core, replace the brads, and clamp. Trim to length when the glue has dried.

Glue the center piece in place first.  Begin by clamping the end facet facing to locate the center facing. Then dry-clamp the other end facing before gluing the center. Once the center piece is dry, you can glue the ends to it one at a time.

Shim it up. Placing the shim under the facing near the joint. The small discrepancy created exaggerates the length of the facing, ensuring a tight final fit.

Set the end in place. With the shim in place, push the joint as tight as possible by hand and set the locating wire nails.

Apply glue. Remove the shim and apply glue, staying shy of the end joint.

Re-locate the facing. using the previously established nail reference holes. Clamp the joint using a caul to distribute clamp pressure.

	A riff on the faceted glass door Improv with some classic Krenovian techniques
	James Krenov’s dowel joint Use a simple shopmade doweling jig to create cabinets that stand the test of time.
	Tips for creating custom clamping blocks Extra effort ensures glue-up success