I made a door... - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

**Leo G** · 10-30-2009, 09:14 PM

But this is actually a first for me. I have made thousands of bead and cope style doors. But I don't ever recall making a miter door. Sounds easy, but getting 45.00º is really a big feat. Not sure if I attained that accuracy, I think I was off by .05º because I had the slightest of an open on one corner, easily fixed by some clamp pressure.

I had to copy a door profile that a GC brought to me A 2" wide stile/rail with a 3/8" bead with a large quirk. The outer edge has a 1/2" radius cove. The door is a tall skinny one, 10 5/8"w x 70" tall. The panel is a cove style. I didn't have an exact match for the panel, the radius of mine was sharper, but that's as close as I have. I couldn't believe the thickness of the panel, or should I say the thinness. It was only 7/16" thick, I made mine 1/2".

tuffplay · 10-30-2009, 09:20 PM

Working with miters is a pain, the door looks fantastic. Just wondering how long did it take you and what is it for?

Thanks,

Paul

CookeCarpentry · 10-30-2009, 09:24 PM

I could tell by the picture that the miter was off and the door was 1/16" too thick.

Just kidding, nice work as always, Leo.

The panel is 1/16" to thick, the door is perfect, 3/4"

I can't believe how thin the panel is. On the original door it is 1/16" below the surface of the stiles and rails. This is so they could sand the panel and install it into the door and then send the door through the widebelt without hitting the panel. The original door has cross grain scratches on the rails, wasn't even random orbit sanded. Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am doors. Not even sure there is any glue in the joints, they used a metal joiner that is slide in on the backside of the door into a slot. You can see the metal pc. Looks like poop.

WarnerConstInc. · 10-30-2009, 09:26 PM

Beginners luck, you still using that hand miter box?

**Leo G** · 10-30-2009, 09:33 PM

It took me too long. I figured on about 2 hours to do everything. But because of all the different setups adjusting jigs and testing it took me about 4 hours.

I used my Osborne miter jig to do the miters. I did a test setup with 4 of the rails which are 10 5/8" long and after three tries on the Osborne setup I got it. It was perfect. Then I did the longer stiles (70") and they came out good, I think because of the length I had a slight drag and it might have caused the angle so go off slightly.

My normal panel setup is for a 1/4" tongue and this needed a 3/16" tongue, so I didn't want to screw up my normal setup. So, I decided to make a dedicated fence for the cove panel cutter. That took about 1/2 hour. But now I have the fence for future use.

The joints are secured with biscuits. I used #20, but it would have been to big. I cut the biscuit slot on the inside of the door leaving the outer edge slot free so I could run the perimeter cove. I had to cut th biscuit to 2/3 length and put a angle notch in them to match the inside corner of the door.

I glued it up using a band clamp and then used 4 pipe clamps to help it along.

It is just for a cabinet. It obviously needed to match the existing doors in the room.

stp57 · 10-30-2009, 09:46 PM

Very nice Leo. What kind of wood is that?
Steve

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo G

But this is actually a first for me. I have made thousands of bead and cope style doors. But I don't ever recall making a miter door. Sounds easy, but getting 45.00º is really a big feat. Not sure if I attained that accuracy, I think I was off by .05º because I had the slightest of an open on one corner, easily fixed by some clamp pressure.

I had to copy a door profile that a GC brought to me A 2" wide stile/rail with a 3/8" bead with a large quirk. The outer edge has a 1/2" radius cove. The door is a tall skinny one, 10 5/8"w x 70" tall. The panel is a cove style. I didn't have an exact match for the panel, the radius of mine was sharper, but that's as close as I have. I couldn't believe the thickness of the panel, or should I say the thinness. It was only 7/16" thick, I made mine 1/2".

**Leo G** · 10-30-2009, 09:49 PM

Soft Maple, I found some nice clean pcs. The color of the door is a light red orange. It is not a stain but a spray on colored lacquer. I am not doing the finish. If I did it would cost more than the door just to match the color. I think the guy (painter) is going to try to stain it. Not going to work. He wants me to give him a pc of the same wood for sampling on.

basswood · 10-30-2009, 10:00 PM

Looks good. Mitered cab doors are tough to get just right. I have a secret weapon now for those... I have to wait to post about it for another week or two though (until the tool review about it rolls off the presses).

Cheers,

Bass

**Leo G** · 10-30-2009, 10:05 PM

Yer a damn tease.

Now that I have the Osborne miter setup I shouldn't have to worry about it to much. I can finally make some picture frames without the worry of gaps. Hopefully the setup will stick for a long time.

**genecarp** · 10-31-2009, 02:21 AM

, Nice, these days i buy them, GMOD

**framerman** · 10-31-2009, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basswood

Looks good. Mitered cab doors are tough to get just right. I have a secret weapon now for those... I have to wait to post about it for another week or two though (until the tool review about it rolls off the presses).

Cheers,

Bass

I don't see what the problem is, I see mitred doors all the time at HD

beautiful mitre and door Leo. That's a thin door. Do you feel that thickness is prone to distortion more than 3/4"? Warping, twisting or curving?

Careful of that edit button btw. I see you edited a post above instead of quoting.

72chevy4x4 · 10-31-2009, 05:21 AM

do you use biscuits or a spline at the miters to keep them together...or just glue?

very nice looking detail

IHI · 10-31-2009, 07:13 AM

Amazing....not the doors, but the hiding powa of caulk

Your ready to go out on your own young grasshopper

**Leo G** · 10-31-2009, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by framerman

I don't see what the problem is, I see mitred doors all the time at HD

beautiful mitre and door Leo. That's a thin door. Do you feel that thickness is prone to distortion more than 3/4"? Warping, twisting or curving?

Careful of that edit button btw. I see you edited a post above instead of quoting.

The door is 3/4" thick, just the panel is thin. Not really worried about it canging shape. I let the parts sit around for 2 days before assembly, they were stable.

**Leo G** · 10-31-2009, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genecarp

, Nice, these days i buy them, GMOD

He needed it in a few days. Not a few weeks.

**Leo G** · 10-31-2009, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 72chevy4x4

do you use biscuits or a spline at the miters to keep them together...or just glue?

very nice looking detail

Biscuits and glue. I had to cut the length of the biscuit down because the stile is only 2" wide, and even with the miter on it a #20 biscuit was to long.

**Gus Dering** · 10-31-2009, 09:09 AM

Nice looking door Leo.

Almost looks like an applied molding. 3/8" bead looks good.

Would you consider a whole job with this door? Would look good with a flat panel too.

What else you working on these days?

JonM · 10-31-2009, 09:15 AM

Time to fine tune the miters and go digital http://www.hitachipowertools.com/store_item.php?iID=213&arrPath=1,11,53,p213,

**Leo G** · 10-31-2009, 09:20 AM

I would rather not do a whole kitchen worth of these doors, I'd rather outsource them. But now that I have the setups done and everything tuned it it would be a lot easier than the first door.

I got a whole lot of stuff going on right now, you know the feast or famine saying, well right now we are in the feast time. 2 months ago it was famine.

Right now I am working on a 10' wide desk out of birch with a dark stain with mixed overlays, some have FF's some don't, along with that is a set of built in filing cabinet/bookcase. I have a set of 3 cabinets along with 2 mirrors for the bath, all painted BM Dove White using MLC Resistant and Krystal.

After that I have the starting of a home theater in a basement. It is going to be done in stages because they like my designs and craftsmanship but have a hard time affording it in one pop.

Then I have a natural Cherry kitchen to do. I have a couple of other prospects, one is quite large and would start sometime in March of 2010. They are thinking way ahead. I really like that - planning, imagine that.

How about you, busy?

**Leo G** · 10-31-2009, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonM

Time to fine tune the miters and go digital http://www.hitachipowertools.com/store_item.php?iID=213&arrPath=1,11,53,p213,

I have that exact saw. Not a chance in hell it could produce 4 miters that would suck up perfectly. My saw has a 1/2º error when you cut 45's, but it is in the vertical. At 90 it is perfectly vertical, when you swing a left 45 it is tilted one way and when you swing right it is tilted the opposite way. I was very disappointed. For crown it makes little difference because you can tweak the crown to get rid of the error. But when you need it to lie flat there is no tweaking.

Plus the digital is just a gimmick. Only goes out to 1/2 degree. Hell I can eye that. If it went to 1/10 degree it would be useful.