I have a problem with some red oak raised panel doors..some have shrunk to the point of coming out of the stiles slightly. I used a standard rail and stile cutter set so the grooves are normal depth. Think my mistake was “spaceballs”. The project was made in the summer of KD stock, but now the wider (18-20″) panels have shrunk that much. Never had this trouble before. Short of starting all over, or at least cutting off and making new rails along with widening the panels, is there any other fix I can consider?
Bill
Replies
Hey Billy,
Bummer........ Lose the space balls on the next project. I suspect they allowed too much space during a summertime construction. If you can, center the panel in it's frame and use a small brad or two (small wooden pins would work too) from the back side top and bottom to hold it there. This will still allow movement and may at least keep any gaps consistent from side to side. If tolerances are tight enough you won't notice the problem the same as if all of the gap were on one side.
If they continue to shrink and expose an even wider gap, perhaps a small moulding placed around the inside edge of the frame would hide the gap. This may be problematic depending on the profile that was used. I agree with you- starting over would be a last resort.
Do a search on wood movement. You will find info on expansion and contraction of various species. Always good for reference.
Good luck.
-Paul
Paul..The space balls are already history !!Also, thanks for the suggestion. I will take a serious look at the possibility of it working.Bill
Bill,
There's no easy fix for this. However, (and this is a big IF) if the rear side of the panels can allow being somewhat changed in appearance, you can try the following to make the fix easier:
Use a router and a straight bit to take off the back lip all around the panel, and thus free it without damaging the face of the frame at all. Make your panels wider by either adding material at the edges or ripping and adding something in the middle. Put the panels back in place and secure in the frame with some molding from the rear side, the same as if you were holding a pane of glass.
If these are doors and you don't want to change their "look", then I don't know of any fix short of major reworking.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
David..Thanks for the idea. Sure makes sense and I will certainly see how I could make it work. The rear appearance could be altered a bit without much concern.Bill
Billy -
If you can get the panels out, I would add pieces to each side instead of the middle. It may be a real pain trying to get an "invisible" stain/finish match on a new center section.
I've never used space balls and I prefer to use a small "dab" of glue in the center of the top and bottom rails to hold the panel - and allow it to expand/contract as necessary.
The more I think about this, the more I realize that Rings idea of routing off the rear portion of the groove to remove the panel is likely the best approach. Should be able to do this without any damge to the front. Would likely rout off a wider piece than just the back side of the groove, thus creating a shelf of about 1/4" onto which a new piece can be glued and not lock in the panel. Could be prefinished as well. Like your idea of a dab of glue in the centre of the rail..would keep movement equal on both sides..thanks.Bill
Hi Bill ,
Another way to correct this would be to make a center stile and split the door into two panels . This would cut the movement down to less than half.
My concern is what made the panels shrink to begin with ? I know you said you never had the problem before so , perhaps the mc was a bit high when you got the stock , or for whatever reason the stock was not or may not be stable then or in the future .
If you deducted the normal amount in width of the panels , then the spaceballs probably had nothing to do with the shrinkage , imo .
Rule of thumb most makers I know follow is to keep cabinet doors no wider then 22 1/2" more or less . Even then you may have an 18" raised panel .
good luck dusty
A couple of pieces that do have a centre stile are OK so far. Obviously the wider panels will be most affected. The router set leaves a 3/8" deep groove but the space balls, uncompressed, are almost 1/4". With heavy pressure they squeeze down to 1/8" but that would put a lot of stress on long narrow stiles likely bowing them out of alignment. They did not get squeezed as much as that as I recall. I know I won't be using them anymore.I have since learned that an 18" red oak panel will move as much as 13/32" with only a 6% change in MC. Fine Woodworking #187 article by Christian Becksvoort was where I found that info. Like he says, I did to much guessing..getting a MC meter tomorrow!! In my neck of the woods we get very humid summers and dry winters. Also interesting to see that red oak is one of the most active woods when it comes to movement.Bill
I don't think spaceballs had anything to do with panel movement. Their objective is to prevent panels from rattling in the frames, by adjusting thickness not width of the panels.
Edited 12/18/2006 2:09 pm ET by jackplane
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