Having reviewed a number of web sites on the manufacture of raised panel doors, it seems that the cope and stick method of joinery is predominate. My question is, “Is there another acceptable method?”
Thanks,
dlb
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The undisciplined life is not worth examining.
Replies
dlb ,
Some factories and shops miter their corners , other more custom may M & T or even half lap them . Dowels , bizkits , loose tenons and splines as well .
dusty
Here's a couple of pic's of doors done the 2 different ways that I make them. The maple door is cope and stick, with floating tenons for strength. The cherry door is mitered, with a spline for added strength. If you're going to miter doors, you definately need to reinforce the miter, as it's a weak joint by itself.
Jeff
dlb,
The term "cope and stick" is a millwork expression. A molding that is worked on the edge of a member is called a "stuck" molding or a "sticking", as opposed to one that's worked separately, then nailed or glued in place. A cope, as you probably also know, is a negative space worked on an end, corresponding to the shape of the molding exactly, so as to fit over or around it, making a corner.
Nowadays, in making quantities of door frames for kitchen cabinets, etc, it is most efficient to have a pair of shapers, one set up to run the sticking on the frame edges, and another set up to cope the ends of the rails. The "tenon" on the rail is cut at the same time as the cope, and is generally of minimal length ("stub tenon"), usually only as long as the groove for the door's panel is deep. The small shop's alternative is to continually change the setup back and forth as needed.
There are alternatives for those who are only making a single door, or only a few doors. You can miter the moldings together at the inside corner. The molding gets milled off, or wasted away by hand, from the miter to the end of the stile. The rail's tenon will need an offset on its shoulders, equal to the amount lost by removing the mold. But you can have a tenon of any length you want, making for a stronger door.
Alternatively, you can chop a short cope into the end of the rail's molding, not all the way across the end, but just a "pocket" to accept a short length of the stile's mold. The rest of the stile's mold gets cut away, like with the miters. Many old doors were done this way, back in the days of handwork. The advantage of a short cope over a miter is that as the rail shrinks, the joint doesn't open up, as a miter would. Really only an issue with wide rails, as the kick rail on a house door.
To cut the miter or the cope by hand, you will want a short length (2-3" is plenty) of stock mitered on both ends, and hollowed in a reverse shape of the molding on its edge to fit over the sticking. You lay this at the end of the mold where the miter (or cope) will be, and with a sharp pencil, trace along the miter onto the molding. This gives a line to pare to when mitering, or to chop back to, when coping.
For just a pair of doors, this is easier than setting up shaper or router to cope.
Ray Pine
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