I’m building a set of solid maple raised (fielded) panel kitchen cabinet doors. Since the client is requesting an added accent of an applied wood rope moulding, I’m considering (reluctantly) making these doors with mitred – rather than with cope & stick – joints, since this would allow me to glue the the moulding to the rail and stile stock prior to cutting those pieces to length. ( I’m thinking of setting a 1/2 round piece in a shallow dado a slight bit back from the inside perimiter of the rails & stiles). My concern is that the mitred joints may tend to open up over time , particularly given the kitchen environment where humidity variations could be quite significant. Anyone have thoughts on this issue?
I’d also welcome any thoughts on various ways to incorporate this type of moulding (either 1/2 round or a 90 degree cut similar to an inside corner moulding) into a cope & stick raised panel door of solid wood. I’m not enthusiastic about the prospect of laying the moulding into the cope & stick doors in the same placement as described above after the doors are glued up – all 20 something of them. And I haven’t been able to come up with a method I’m satisfied with for applying the mouldings so they appear to be an integral part of the stick cut. Don’t care for the idea of having a bunch of filled brad holes when the job is done, and it seems a dicey proposition to try to glue the 90 degree mouldings to the inside edges of the rails & stiles after the doors are complete without ending up having glued the moulding to the panels in places.
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I would plough a groove to accept the rope moulding before ploughing the groove for the panel. Then glue the rope in; otherwise you can snap-off the top lip. For corner joints...a mitered half-lap; a mitered joint in a cabinet door is asking for a callback.
Securing the "rope" before hand, you can determine the "repeat" and adjust the groove placement for it accordingly; OR tell the client beforehand that the rope profile will not "flow" evenly at every corner.
Purchase ENOUGH "rope", figuring 20% waste.
Practice...'till you can do it right the first time.
Much thanks for the important warning about cutting for the rope moulding first! You're right about arranging for the rope pattern to meet in the corners appropriately. Given that this is a full set of doors of many different sizes, I think it's unlikely I'll be able to set the rope well on all the doors without having to vary the position of the grooves from door to door in a way that becomes noticable. We'll see. I think a door is a lousy application for rope moulding if only for this reason, but then I think rope moulding is pretty hokey in the first place.
Thanks for keeping me straight about steering clear of the regular mitre. Sometimes a reality check is just what we need.
If you explain to the client about the "repeat" factor inherent to rope moulding, he/she may accept simple half-round moulding as an alternative.Either way, try steering her/him from you having to plough grooves to bed it in. For a cope&stick frame, these will have to "stopped" on all the stiles, and need some exacting chisel work to square-up the ends.You will, most likely, have to buy the half-round moulding. I have three beading bits from Jesada, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2", the "base" edge, furthermost from the bearing, on each bit cuts a tad deeper than the other. They do not produce a symmetrical moulding that can be slabbed-off and applied. If you decide to buy this type of bit, examine the two "returns" on the bit beforehand. A 1/4" roundover bit could produce an acceptable edge treatment (to be slabbed-off) but you need a router table with plenty of hold-downs and hold-ins to keep the stock in good contact with the fence.Arlington, Texas (The dash in Dallas-Fort Worth)
Practice...'till you can do it right the first time.
Yes, I am half hoping he'll just decide he doesn't really want the rope. At least that's where I was at yesterday. The thought of all the stopped grooves on different sized doors and squaring up 80 corners was making me feel lazy. Now, having resigned myself to what would need to be done, I can accept doing it if the client is truly determined and willing to pay for the additional labor. Maybe It'll even be fun. (And there's nothing like making the customer really happy.)
Thanks for the info on the router bits. I expect if the rope doesn't prevail, I'll do conventional doors and let some form of ogee cope/stick bits plus an integral edge treatment constitute the ornamentation.
While I have the ears of all of you who are more seasoned raised panel builders that I...
The species is still to be determined, but soft maple, poplar, birch, & cherry are all in the running. The doors are narrow enough that I could actually do them in maple or poplar using single boards for the panels (widest panel would measure 10 5/8"). If we end up using cherry( which I can't get any wider than about 8"), then most would have to be joined stock, which I would book match. Two questions here. Do you consider properly dried single panels of this width still likely to warp? And regarding the book matched panel option, I have in the past bookmatched mahogany and was very happy with the resulting pattern, but found that - due to laying out the two leaves in a way that exposes different grain orientations - the reflectivity of the two sides was quite different (like having two pieces of velvet side by side with the nap going in the opposite directions). Anyone know a way to overcome this problem?
"The dash in Dallas-Fort Worth"
Heh heh, I never heard that one. I live in N.E. Tarrant county. No cool by line for that.
Mike
I would make what you do best AND GET THAT that molded trim Rope.. Think on it a bit and you know the customer better en' I do!
"Think on it a bit" may just be the very best piece of advice always. Amazing how daunting problems resolve themselves with a few days of reflection, figuring, and acceptance. Thanks for the reminder.
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